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i 



PANORAMA 



OF 



./V BY_ 



w 



NATIONS; 

OR, 

JOURNEYS AMONG THE FAMILIES OF MEN: 

A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR 

Homes, Customs, Habits, Employments and Be- 
liefs; Their Cities, Temples, Monuments, 
Literature and Fine Arts. 

H. G. 'Cutler, 

Author of "The Grimms," and Contributor to the Magazine 

OF American History; ,.=—.—_. 

y- ^^^ (.Mj(^ 13 iSb -J- / 

L. W. Yagoy, m. s., x!:^^%^ ' 

Author of "Yaggy's Graphic Record," '■ Yaggy's Anatomical Study," "Yaggy's 

Geographical Study," "Museum of Antiquity," " Royal Path 

of Life," "Our Home Counselor," "Little Gems." 



I LLUSTRATED. 
LAW, KING & law PUBLISFIING PIOUSE, 

CHICAGO. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. ; PORTLAND, ORE.; AUSTIN, TEX., 

LITTLE ROCK, ARK.; DENVER, COL. 

MONTGOMERY & WILLI.OIS, TOPEKA, KANS. 

CUICAOO, ILL. : 

WESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 

1888. 






Entered according to Act ot Congress, in the year 1888, by 

WESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. 



% 1 

i 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 026218 






^. .^ FEEFACE. p.. 






%. 



In making our " five great journeys " over the world, as the reader of 
< our book will have done, the aim has been to picture life from the 
^ human standpoint, the frame work being the surrounding conditions, 
such as striking physical features of a country, grand ruins and 
magnificent buildings. The idea has been, however, to follow no plan 
in a cast-iron way, but to seize upon the salient points of a people's 
character, as evinced by their dress, home life, religion, superstitions 
and government, and whether savage or civilized, present them so that 
the good and bad will both appear. When the traveler commences to 
make the rounds of European and American countries, he has, of 
course, left far behind him the civilization of Africa, Polynesia and Asia. 
The contrasts and peculiarities of human life do not stand out in such 
bold relief as among the ancient and savage families of mankind ; little, 
in fact, can be said which would throw any new light upon the habits of 
people whose ways are open to the world. In a certain sense, also, 
private life is secondary to governments, literature, art, industry, com- 
merce and mechanics. European and American races — that is, the 
•more advanced — are, as the centuries go by, coming to have general 
traits of character ; for their civilization is substantially the same. But 
their literatures, their modes of political development, their rivers, 
mountains and valleys, and their public and national works, are the 
points of contrast which appear to be especially a part of the Indo-Euro- 
pean order of things. 

The plan which has been pursued in taking our journeys, and pre- 
■senting the different scenes which form the " Panorama of Nations," is 
to first follow the emigration of the Semitic, Ethiopic and Nigritic races 
into Africa, tracing their course down the Nile and the eastern coast of 
the continent ; to sketch the lives of the people of southern, central, 
western and northern Africa, as they are found grouped in ethnological 
families. It often happens, as in the case of Africa, that geographical 
and political divisions conform to distinct races and tribes, viz.: Southern 
Africa is the home of the Zulu Caffres, Lower Guinea of the Congo 
Caffres, and Upper Guinea and Soudan of the negroes ; yet, invariably, 
we have been careful to show how the geographical division, the country 



IV PREFACE. 

or the state, is founded upon the race or tribe, and that the fortunes of 
war and the advance or retreat of the world's famiHes, are all that deter- 
mine political boundaries. 

From Africa we have gone to the islands of the Indian and Pacific 
oceans, sailing from the Malay peninsula to Madagascar, and taking 
peeps into Borneo, Sumatra, Java ; have visited the cannibals of the 
Feejee Islands, the Sandwich Islanders, the Papuans of New Guinea, 
the Australians and many other tribes of less importance. In the islands 
of the sea, as on the African continent, we find savage life vainly oppos- 
ing itself to civilization, and either furiously going down before it or 
dying a lingering death. 

The third journey is taken through the countries of the " land 
tribes," in contrast to those of the ocean. Starting again from Asia 
among the Tartars, we range over a tremendous expanse, following the 
streams of Tartar and Mongol blood to the Arctic Ocean, in Europe, 
and the Arctic Ocean in Asia, across Behring Strait and the North 
American continent into Greenland. The countless tribes of the Rus- 
sian Empire, and the Esquimaux of both hemispheres are now in the 
"kaleidoscope." Next, during the same mighty journey, the Indians of 
th I Americas are passed in review. 

Returninor to Asia for a fourth time, the interestine task is 
before us of croinof amonsj the ancient Hindus, the Indo-Chinese and 
the Japanese, and "shaking up the Asiatic civilization generally." We 
do not greatly bother ourselves whether the billions of people, among 
whom we are moving, had their origin in Asia Minor, or the continent of 
Lemuria, which is now said to be under the ocean. We tell what we 
see, with sufficient historical information to make it intelligible. 

From Turkey in Asia the fifth journey lies over all of Europe and 
across the ocean to the United States. 

Before we close we would tender our sincere thanks to the authors, 
both in Europe and America, who have greatly aided us in this 
work. Many of the engravings are taken from the greatest v/orks of 
German, French and English artists, while others were produced with 
the utmost fidelity by our own special artist. 



-. xr>. 



^^ CONTENTS^ 




FIVE GREAT JOURNEYS. 



JOURNEY NO. I. 

A BIRTH-PLACE OF RACES. 

The Plain of Mesopotamia— Floods of People Which Poured from it— Ruins of Assyrian Grandeur- 
Nineveh and Babylon — The Tower of Babel Located — A Journey Toward Egypt — The Suez 
Canal but an Ancient Work. 

THE EGYPTIANS. 

The Copts, or Ancient Inhabitants — The Priests, Clerks and Scholars of the Land — The Coptic 
Religion and Churches — The Nile and its Rise— Record of the Nilometer — Harvests and Harvesters 
— The Fellaheen — A Day in their Huts— Gliding up the Nile — A Panorama of the Land of Ruins 
Along the Way — Bedouins and their Villages— At the Last Cataract. 

THE NUBIANS. 

The Gate to Nubia — The God of the Nile —Scenes Along the Way — Nubian Stragglers and 
Their Appearance — Nubia's Aborigines, the Savage Shangailas — In the Jungle with a Hunter — 
Good Traits — Omens and Superstitions — A Terror to Abyssinian Travelers — Another Native 
Tribe, the Dongolese — Old Dongola and the Faithful Priest — Dongolese Manufactures and Agri- 
culture. 

THE ABYSSINIANS. 

Grand Table-Lands and Mountains of Ancient Fithiopia — A Military Nation — The Ras, or Com- 
mander in-Chief and his Drummers — His Troops on Parade and in Action — The Laws of the 
Kingdom — Plaintiff and Defendant, Prisoner and Guard Chained Together — Blood Feuds> Coptic 
Curiosities — Boudda Doctors — Hardy Farmers and Merchants — Their Oppressions. 

THE GALLAS. 

With the ' Tartars of Africa --A Dash at the Abyssinian Army — Warriors and their Horses — A 
Chiefs Idea of Life — The Galla at Home — A Fair Land — His Houses, and Wives, and Ways — 
Off Again to Battle — His Omens — Galla Surgeons and their Feats — Republics of the Gallas — 
Slaves Treated as Equals — How Transgressors are Punished. 

EAST AFRICANS. 

Coast Tribes of the People of Zanzibar — Their Unfriendliness to Travelers — Zanzibar and the Slave 
Trade — Suspicious Natives — The Sultan's Residence — Across the Island to a Unique Tribe - 
The Original Inhabitants— Their Chief's Wand of Office. 

MOZAMBIQUE. 

The Seat of an Ancient Kingdom — Cattle Better Than Gold— Remnants of the Native Empire Along 
the Zambesi River — ^A Kingdom Where Women Have More Than Their Rights — Economical 
Graves— Tribes With Clothes and Tribes Without Clothes, Side bv Side— Men Who Leave Orna- 
mentation to the Women. 

ZULrU CAFFRES. 

Personal Characteristics — Dancing and Courting — Live Birds for Ornaments — A Cruel Barber — 
Married Life — Wife-Whipping by Proxy— The Caffres' Good Traits— Superstitions —Aiding 
the Poor and Helping the Sick — Going for the Doctor — A Native Physician — Rain-Makers — 
Their Failures and Successes— Zulu Warfare —Playing With Shot and Shell— Entire Negli- 
gence of Family Duties, Under Defeat. 



VI CONTENTS. 

BECHUANAS AND HOTTENTOTS. 

Superiority of the Former — Extent of Their Power — The Bushmen — Tribal Slaves — Warfare of 
the Bechuanas — Pitiful Plight of the Slaves — A Bushman Hunt — Withholding Products of the 
Chase — Bushmen of the Mountains — South African Aborigines, the Hottentots— Servants and 
Cattlemen — Their Character — European-Bechuanan Civilization — Tribes of Southvv^estern 
Africa — Scattered Tribes of Central Africa — Large Towns and Manufacturing Villages — 
Courts of Justice — Good Clothes and " Caste " in Society — A Stanch Native Kingdom in the 
Midst of Foreign Colonists. 

THE CONGO CAFFRES. 

Ancient Kingdoms of Congo — Fetich Worship — The Great Spirit and " Its" Uses — The Spirit of 
the Woods — A Feminine Retaliation — Detecting Witchcraft — The Red- Water Ordeal — How They 
Treat the Dead^Rights of Property — A Sweeping Revenge — Coast and Interior Tribes — 
Their Different Habits — Bringing Ivory to the Coast — The King of Congo Inviting Homage — 
Native States— Their Peculiarities. 

THE SENEGAMBIANS (NEGROES). 

The Jalofs, or Nigritiau Aristocrats — The Foulahs and Fellatahs — Their Great Empire in 
Soudan — Its Fragments — Warriors as Well as Scholars— The Mandingoes — Combining Busi- 
ness with Religion — The Most Zealous Merchants and Mohammedans of Africa — Tribal Arbi- 
trators — True Negroes, in Certain Traits of Character. 

NEGROES OF UPPER GUINEA. 

Fetich Upon Fetich — Superstitions of the Negroes — Driving Evil Spirits from a Town — Fourth 
of July Funerals — Coast Tribes and Kingdoms — The Sailors of Africa— Scenes on the Grain 
Coast — Ashanti — Dahomey — Kings with Thousands of Wives— Human Sacriiices — Ama- 
zonian Warriors — Serpent Worship — A Native Republic — How it Nearly Crushed Dahomey — 
The States of Soudan, Boruoo and Begharmi — Their Iron-Clad Cavalrymen. 

THE BERBERS. 

The Touariclis, or Bandits of the Desert— Their Skill in Striking Water— A Warrior on His Great 
Dromedary — Republic of the Seven Cities — Founding a Commonwealtli in the Sahara — 
Artificial Oases— The Mozabites — Tlieir Sacred and Their Military Cities, Founded upon Rocks — 
Mild Laws — People Who Return to Their Desert Homes to Die — The Wareglas — A Singular 
People — Their Immense Date Oases — Deposing Their Ruler. 



JOURNEY NO. 2. 

THE MALAYANS. 

Spread of the Race Over the Islands of the Oceans — Tlie Madagascan Malayans — The Two 
Tribes — Madagascan Slavery — Ancient History — The Tribes and Their Chiefs — Degrad- 
ing the Court — The Queen and Her Government — The Queen's Capital —Christian Persecu- 
tions— The Twelve Sacred Cities— Burning of the Idols — The Benefit of No Roads — 
Wonderful Embankments — ^ Rice Culture — Madagascar Markets — A Conquered Rice Province 
— Houses and Clothes — The Queen Appears —Borneo Malayans— The Dyaks — Marriages 
and Funerals — Other People and Other Kingdoms— Those of the Land and of the Sea— A Bor- 
neo Forest — An Independent English State — Mixed Population — Sumatra Malayans— A Once. 
Great Kingdom — Natural and Political Divisions — Village and Home Life — Acheen, the 
Native State— Cannibals and Mechanics— An Engineering Feat— Rice and Sugar Cane— Buffalo 
vs. European — The Javanese — Houses and People — Sports — Female Fashions — Remains 
of Ancient Religions — The Timorese — The Commercial Tribes — Philippine Islanders — The 
Bughis or Commercial Tribe of the Indian Archipelago. 



CONTENTS. VII 

THE POLYNESIANS. 

The Feejee Cannibals' — Their Grim Chiefs and Awful Appetites— The Tongese — High Toned 
Society — Society High and Low— Royal Reform — The Old and the New — A Tattooed 
Warrior — Houses and Mats — Home Manufactures — The Samoans — The Old Party and the 
New — Lovers of Flowers — Tahitian Idols — War Charms — Savage Marquesans — The Hawai- 
iftns — The New Zealanders — How European Customs are Killing Them. 

THE PAPUANS. 

Race Characteristics — Mental Contrasts — Dress and Ornaments — Coast and Mountain Tribes— 
The Government — Their Idol and Fetiches — Duk-Duk Dancers — Feeding the Dead — Weap- 
ons and Boats — Trepang and Pearl Fishing — Ways of the Trader — Social Regulations- 
Pirates and Coast Tribes — Houses — The Philippine Negritos — Revenge upon the Malayans — 
Homeless Vagabonds — The Extinct Tasmanians — The Semangs — How they Capture the Ele- 
phant and Rhinoceros — Papuan Blood Sprinkled Over the Isles of the Pacific. 

THE AUSTRALIANS. 

Natural Obstacles to a Better Acquaintance With the Inhabitants of the Interior Tribes — The Great 
Inland Flood Breeder — Interior Savages — Native Superstitions — How They Look — The 
Mode of Using the Boomerang — After His Food— Native Dances — Mysteries of the "Bora" 
— Burial Customs — Eating Favorite Children — Spirits of the Woods and "Jumped LTp White 
Men"^Using Skulls for Drinking Cups — An Australian Cowboy — A Dying Race — Intem- 
perance and Disease Extinguishing tue Native Population — On the War Path — Aboriginal 
vs. Squatter — Australian vs. Australian — A Native Boy's Cool Murder of His Mother — The 
Native Police — Mischievous Feasts of Flesh, Fish and Fowl — Their Results — Civilized Aus- 
tralia — England in Australia. 



JOURNEY NO. 3. 

THE TARTARS. 

Turkestan, the Ancient Home of the Turks — Now it is the Country of the Tartars — The Settled 
Population — A Great Battle-Ground of Rices — The Xomads — ^The Kerghez, Children of the 
Steppes— How they Look, Dress and Live— Their Beliefs and Superstitions — The Civilized 
Uzbecks, Who Govern the Rest — The Way in Which They do it — Relation of the Native Gov- 
ernment to Russia — Siberian Calmucks — Homeliest People in the World — Shamanism, or Spirit 
Worship^Lamalsm, or the Corrupted Buddhism— Something About the People of Mongolia, or 
Chinese Tartary — How They are Incorporated into the Great Empire, etc., etc. 

THE ARCTICS. 

People who Dwell in the Frozen World of Asia, America and Europe — A Grand INIixture of Tartars 
and Mongols — The Samoyeds — Formerly a Great Nation — Now Split into Two Widely Sepa- 
rated Tribes — How They Dress ^How They Live — What They Eat — An Insight into Their 
Ways of Thought — Shamani.sm and its Impostor of a Priest — The Ostiacks and Voguls 
^Fishing and Hunting — Their Idolatry — Native Honesty — The Finns — The Cleanly 
Native — Saving a Language — An Ancient City — The Lapps — A Matter-of-Fact People — 
A Religious Mixture — Sea-Coast and Mountain Lapps — A Lapp School and Church — Towards 
Behring Strait — The Buriats — The Good of Lamaism — The Lama and Shaman — The Holy 
Sea ^ The Yakuts — A Horse-Eating People — Yakut Manufacturers — TLc Yakuts' City — 
" Fallen Stars" — The Tungooses — A Native Huntsman — Mounting the Reindeer — Trapjiing 
and Eating — Amoor River People — Tlie Kamtchadales — A Kamtcliadale Village — Winter 
and Summer Huts — Wonderful Runs of Sal -non — The True Hyperboreans — Over Behring 
Strait into America — The Esquimaux — ■" Doctors Disagree — The Truth About Color — Uni- 
formity of Language — An Esquimaux Costume — How the Women Cradle Their Babies — Their 
Skill in Sewing — The Esquimaux, Pride — The Men ,as Sculptors — Ingenious Boats and Spears — 
Easy-Running Sleds — Hunting and Fishing — Esquimaux as Travelers — Feasts and Pastimes — 
Their Christianity — Social and Hunting Regulations. 



VIII . . , CONTENTS. 

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

Alaska — Remnants of the Great Tribes — Present Ways of Living — The Indians' " Totem " — The 
Flatheads — The Apaches, the Navajoes, the Algonquius and the Chippewas — Indian Pio. 
neers — The Cheyennes — The Arapahoes — Other Noted Western Tribes — The Dakotas — The 
Sioux, the Shoshonees, the Utes, the Kiowas, the Pueblos, and the Huron-Iroquois Family — 
The Six Nations — The Five Nations — The Cherokees — Creeks and Seminoles— Choctaws and 
Chickasaws — Tribal Government — Indian Religion and Medicine. 

THE MEXICANS. 

Mythology of Mexico — Its Primitive People — The Holy Cross and Virgin —An Aboriginal Tribe — 
The Mexican as He Is — Miners and Muleteers — A Mexican Bonanza — Mexican Sports — City of 
Mexico — Holy Week — Female Beauty — In the Suburbs — The Central Americans — Remains of 
Kingdoms — The Hondurans — The Nicaraguans — The Guatemalans — Costa Rica — The San Sal- 
vadorians. 

SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

The Patagonians — The Weak Terra del Fuegians — The Patagonians again — Dress and Horse Gear — 
Work of Both Sexes — Amusements — The Children — Entering Society — Hunting Ostriches — 
Guanacos, etc. — A Dreary Country — The Brazilian Indians — Phoenicians of the Amazon — 
Burial Jars — Botecudos-^The Amazons — Semi-Civilized Life — Kitchen Utensils — More Femi- 
nine Work — Human and Brute Fishermen — Reverence for the Aged — Their Religious Be 
liefs — The Brazilians — The Caribs and Arravraks — The Mozcas — Panama Canal — The Ecuado- 
rians — The Andi-Peruvians — Traces of the Empire — Some Inca Tribes — The Antisians, or 
White Men — The Araucanians — The Chilians — The Centaurs of South America — The Gauchos. 



JOURNEY NO. 4. 

THE TURKS. 

Founders of the Empire — The Apostles of Mohammedanism — Church and State One — Turkish 
Reforms — The Koran's Soldier — What Foreigners Have Done — Schools — The Koran's Laws— 
What Part the Woman Plays — The Turk at Home — The Bride of the Harem— On the Street—. 
The Turkish Graveyards — Outside the Mosque — Fasting and Pilgrimages — The Dervishes — The 
Syrians — The Druses — The Maronites — Smyrna — The Hebrews and Jerusalem— The Road to 
Jericho— Bethlehemites — Nazareth — The Armenians — Their Powerful Church — The Kurds — 
Saving Remnants. 

THE ARABS. 

Decline of Mahammedanism— The Marabouts— The Chiefs— Best Breed of Horses— Blooded Camels— 
The Bedouins— In the Tent— Bottomless Gulfs of Sand— As a Commercial People — Desert 
Travel — Town Life— Native Justice— Arabian Architecture . 

PERSIANS AND AFGHANS. 

Their Intimate Connection— Ruins and Historic Spots— The Country— Agriculture— Persian No- 
mads—Brave and Hardy Women— Town Life in Persia— Tlie Water Supply— Village Occupa- 
tions—Unattractive Architecture— Clever Women and Managers— Social and Domestic Cus- 
toms—Calling and Gossiping — Wives and Children— A Persian Harem— Modern Fire-Worship- 
ers—Persian Mohammedanism— The Nestorians— Music and Religion— Persian Superstitions— 
The Shah— The Shah's Time— The Independent Afghans— Geographical Position— The Clans- 
Religious Tolerance— The Belooches— Thieves on Principle— Brave Soldiers. 

THE HINDUS. 

The System of Caste— A Brahman— Castes and Tribes— A Native Hunt— The Tamuls— The 
Rajpoots— The Gypsies' Land— Other Great Tribes— The Ceylonese— Religions of India— In- 
fluence of Buddhism— A Mohammedan— The Fakir— A Parsee— A Sikh— A Hindu Family— 
A Son's Birth- He Goes to School— The Girl's Education— Marriage Ceremonies— Female Edu- 
cation— " The Order of Merit"- A Patriarch's Death— The Sacred City. 



CONTENTS. IX 

THE INDO-CHINESE. 

A Bewildering Antiquity — Neglect of Natural Advantages— The Basis of the State — The School 
Boy — Preparing for His Degrees — Competitive Examinations — Offices to be Filled — Manners 
Adapted to Intellectual Pursuits — Religious Tolerance — Chinese Doctrines — Chinese Gods — 
Domestic and Social Life — Loyal Dress — They Refuse to Shave Their Heads — Chinese Houses — 
Chinese Marriages — Filial Obedience and Respect — Agriculture — Fishing — Chinese Commerce — 
The Mongols — The Thibetans — Lamaism — The Two Lamas — Their Fine Woolens and 
Shawls — The Burmese — ^Tlie Ancient Peguans — The Government — Robbed by Officials — The 
Royal Capital — Classes of Society — Costumes of Ladies and Gentlemen — Ornaments and 
Charms — Building a House — Outside of the House — Courtship and Marriage — Villages and 
Agriculturists — The Priests — Monasteries and Payahs — Buddhist "Shoots" — The Siamese — 
The Parent Race— Personal Appearance — An Asiatic Venice — Vast Palaces and Temples — The 
Two Kings — One-Third of the People Slaves — Buddhism Absolute — The Anamese — The 
Cambodians — Aboriginal Tribes — Riches and Sloth. 

THE JAPANESE. 

Government and Religion — Corner Stone of Society — ^ Marriage and Women's Duties — Dress and 
Personal Adornment — Amusements — Jugglers and Acrobats — The Nobility of Gladiators — The 
Theatre — Bathing and Tea Houses— European Habits — Unworthy of Japan — Style of Archi- 
tecture — Within the House — The Last Resting Place — Agriculture and Manufactures — The 
Japanese as Artists — The First, Last — The Coreans — Coming From Their Shell — Why They 
Fear the Priests— Their Superstitions — Men and Women. 



JOURNEY NO. 5. 

THE GREEKS. 



The Acropolis — Temples of Jupiter and Theseus — Law and Philosophy — The Academy — A Grand 
Stand — A Link Between Old and New — Modern Athens — The Greek and His Costumes— Por- 
ters and Merchants — The Greek at Home — Life and Death — The Famous Laurium Mines — 
Marathon's Plain — Rocky Salamis — From Athens to Thebes — From Thebes to Mount Par- 
nassus — On Sacred Ground — Corinth and Peloponnesus — Agamemnon's City — The Most 
Ancient Greece — Sparta and Messenia — A Famous Statue — Peaceful Olynipia and Her Games — 
Olympia's Ruins — Arcadian Simplicity — Soldier Monks— The Greek Church — The Styx — 
The Waters of Lepanto — Beyond the Historic Waters— A Famous Southern Isle — Among 
the Vineyards — Home Life in Country and Town — Greek Weddings — Brigand and Peasant — 
Ancient Greece in Turkey. 

THE ITALIANS. 

Modern Rome — Capitoline Hill — The Pantheon — The Vatican and St. Peter's — Peter's Prison — 
The Life of To-Day — The Catacombs — The Coloseum and the Forum — The Italian Peas- 
ant—Florence and the Republics — The Medici Family — The City from the Medici Villa — Gali- 
leo's Homes — Vallambrosa's Valley — Within the City — Politics and Religion — Palaces and Gar- 
dens — Historic Bridges — The Genoese — Naples — The Buried Cities — The Dead and the Liv- 
ing — Venice Rising from the Sea — The Church of St. Mark — A Gondola Trip — Milan — Pisa — 
The Sicilians and Mount Etna — The Capital — Syracuse and Her Rival. 

THE SPANIARDS. 

The Basques — Ignatius Loyola — Spanish Gypsies — Cadiz — Carthage in Spain — Spanish Morocco — 
Seville— Cordova— The Gardens of Spain— The Gothic-Roman Princes— Toledo— Granada 
and the Alhambra — Southern and Eastern Coasts — Tlie Cid— Barcelona — The Romans and 
Celts— The Mecca of Spain— Valladolid—Sah\manca— The Escurial- Madrid— Amusements of 
the Native — Colonial Possessions — The Portuguese. 



X TON n\ rs. 

THE FRENCH. 

l''voui-l> MiUTlrtjiU"* " Tho U>Yi|ons ol I'viiuvc i>m \\\\o \\w I'iivhtlu^v \Vi>>Ui The Tcoplc >M' (ho 
rvn-noos Uovidty iuul KoH,s;lv>u ,\ \Vv>iult'i't\il Koiittlod city ri\o Vluoxovd of ilio K.-ivtli 
Knuw Nloo to OoUUs MnisotUos Oosmls niul Kutns l.vonx uml Uor Wonvovs t{li\>in\s lrm\» 
K»VH(on» Ki'iu\»H> — (, 'hoory Nornvomly Tlio l\uuiuoi"tM'"s llon\o Non»»«» (Jirls -Tho Appcouoh to 
rjols A r.inVs V\o Vlow (Mil Pni'ls N>>rth of th<> Solno South of ilu- Soino St, Vinoonl <lo 
I'niil \'lol>>v Uu^uo I'lu" Military ijunrlors Uoulovnnis nwd Tnvlvs riiontvos .Mini lh>lio!»to 

THE GERMANS, 

Tho t}ovtM'n<uoMt sind tho Anwy K*l»o,Mtioi»;\l IhiU Snulonts" Nlolu\!UU(>s l>uols Oroat I'ulvov- 
sity Mj>,'hts .llotdoH)oi\i{ Loipsio A^irioult mists Tho Kotvsts of Oon»\!ii\y Tho IHjj'h ntul 
tho Low Uonuons Tho Uonu.'in find tho Uhino Kolk l.oit> Tho MurtK >Unii\t!»ius- Tho 
nvo»Kon !>»(l Uootho Tho \\:\r{- Towns Manufjxtnro (>f Oorn\nn 15oor Uovaiia ami 
WUt'toiuhorji'- -t,'oU\«;no Uovliu S>>nto Kaniovis liminan Oltios (tstroloh, vm' Anstria \'iinna, 

IHE SCANDINAVIANS. 

Tho Panisli IVasani ri\o UanUU Soatuon (N^ponhawn Natural and Artlt\oianV«»mlary--Uav 
aiiH»(t \^f tho liOiunvUt^tf!* -IVasant and Ootta^uvr Tho Swovlos --t^tookhohw I'ho T^orwt\tflaus"- 
Wild l.ifoontho OvWSts— A tU^^anlio Snow Klold rnv'ovtaintv of l'rv>p,s( — ^V Man and tMli.'ou— 
Tho loola»d<>t"s, 

THE nUTCH. 

Tl\olr nikos Assaultod Tito Zuydor Zoo (N^ntvtt'y Knilhor Uavaj^vs of tho Soa Tho IMkos, ai\d 
llow Thoy Look Tlvo t.'anals 0»>awin>i' otV tho Sons Tho Soa as ai\ Ally Soottos o« tho 
Oanals KvovyvM\o Sodato at\d (.Moan Tho Konttls and Homo -IVat Uod.^. lUjihand Low -Tho 
llotvtnji Fislu>(-io.s A Uttlo Utstovy-Wintor in lK»lla>\d rrv>nu>th^j; tho Ihihllo Uoovl -Tho 

lioltfiuus Uolj^imn's ritv, 

THE SWISS. 

Tho Swiss Uo|ntl>lU»^ l'\t»«lly HIV in tho AUv*- >Phystoal tu^d N«Uot\aHVt\tor— Atvolhov (Glorious 
I'ountry llnnting tho t,M»atuoi.s Land of tho Koforn\ation Tlio Swiss Capital Tho Lako 
l>wolUnjJ-s /.m-ioh a\nl t.\>usta<\oo Tr.aolnji- Iho KUino St iJoih.irvl's Tunnol Tho Khono 
VHuoUn^— 81, Uovtwtxl— Mont Hlauv- 

rHE RUSSIANS 

A t^ii^antlo Land -Tho Tnw Slavs -Tho (.\vssaoks Tho ».M(va.ssians Tho Otvixlans- Modos of 
Travol K\llos tv> Slhocia -U*non\tuotvt atul .Vnny Hfo Tho Swim\I and tho v'ross hna,»i~t> 
NWM-shiplnjj- -Typloal (.Vtvnvv^ttlals— NohlUly ft«d IVassuttvy In a IVasaut Villajiv Utvat 
Mi»l»llo I'lass St, lVto>~shn»\«" Tho Wintoi- l^>laoo IVtov's Stat\io Wintor Spotts ami Sivn»\s— 
Mosoow v>ut-sldo tho KtvntUn Ka.<an Novv\«.\tivd> tho Utvat «Tho Kussian llunlot^—Ctitu 
TttVlttV)"— The Uu»v«;aHa«s<=-Tho lh^ho«vl»«s. 

THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

littstsof tho Knj^llshntan Tho 1 (\ss Kvdinj; tho Vhvator K\plovln,»>: tho Thamos OxtonI Fwm 
OxfotHl to XVinvlsot^ Fi\MU Windsvn- to Loudotv London auvl LouvUhv '"t-Mty" Tho l^tshJvnr 
«hU» \V»^^l Ktul -Tho Oit,\^— Uot\dv>» Tvwor«t\d tho l><u>k8^-Whot>«' IVtov Wv^vkwl—WNHMwioh 
and Uvvonwioh Oantorhviry and Thonvas st UovKot IVvor and UastJoji?.- Tho Thalky t'UtYs 
unvl OUl Fottssts KiKsovn Snlts and Kaoo.s Tho l>Vi\\st of Poath Tho Islo of Wijiht- To Kdii^v- 
stom» H,«hlhoviso--^nw Iho Now FiMvst.lnlttud— AlonjiRvlstoirhat\«oV KU>,>t Arthur's l.«»ul— • 
A LItoran Latul IMwary I'Varlnvvv^r Kvvksa\>»l Klowovs Uous«\sattd Mhx^ Au»»M\«;Mlnorsa»d 
Klshovnion A IVad I ai\»;t»a»i«^ Bristol and Ualh- Sh( k«sp<a»o V Axon- A Soiond Uollnud— 
iNUhodral OUlos— (■«»uhrUI,tt<>- Uunyau. l.Vw|\or ami V<^iulau\ Yarmouth Klats^^ A h^uuous 
r«attlo Kiold Uaok to Nottingham Uv''*^" '<»'** KoMu Uood A t,Vstlo atul Ooutitry Inns— 
Amorloa In Kn^iland Kn);lish W'tk Manohostor l.lvorpov^l Oladslom^ and Ills Kstatt^-Ma«. 
ufaoturl\>)j and Moohattloal Knjjland "^IVvorllof tho Toak"- Tho IVttorv Shhv- Tho l5onlor 
l.«t\d ThoSootoh, Kdlnhurjih Mohwso and AhhotsfowL Hums and tho Ay \^ Tho Oly do ami 
0la^kix>vv Ulasjixnv Tho Svvttish Ul,vihlands Tho Aotual Mi>ihlauds— Tho Wolsh atul Sno\v\Km 
— TUo Irlsh—Ut^li OUlos a»\d Soottory— rho Uritlsh iu Aiuorlo». 



CONTliNTS. 



\1 



THE AMERICAN ANGLO-SAXONS. 

Tlio Typloiil Aiucriciiii Mninc All I'lmt. In li(«fl, of Tlicni- Miiino Hc«n(MyTli<i Hrholiiiiy I>Ih- 
lri(;ls — Now YuiU I'liilmlclpliiii Tlic Iron iiiiil (ioiil lttip;l(ii)M 'V\w CiiinlxirlnndM niid tlir 
I'olonmc — OUU) Iron iiiid VVool Ciiicinimll 'rii(M,J,u('fii of tlid l/tiluiH— Wliciil niiivcHlcni I, He 
on llw lMiilns~'rii(^ Western Mliiinr, ( 'oiiiilry- VclldVVNlunc Niilldniil I'lirk- IMiili Ch lll/iilidi 
Tlio (\)lun»l)lii Itlvor -Siilmoii l''i.Mliiii)>-'rU() ()(.l(l(-ii Htiitc- Hun li'nuK'lNco- Old (!alli(.lle 
MlHNlonH— Nivtnre'H Wonders — Tliroujijh to tlio MIsm1mh1i)1)1— 81. LouIm— Mow OrloiuiH— Hcnuwod 
Lifu of the tioutli. 







^ 







1\)1MC\\L INDl^^X. ^ 






f 



A l,!\ml i>l' IVvny. 

AbyjmlnlH, 

TUo Tovliu-tof ,\fvlo!». 

'V\w Ki>!*t Afvloaus, 

Tl\o /,nh\ rulYvos, 

Tho HvHiUuMU IU>olvuttun». 

TI\o Mrtlrty!U\>». 
'V\w M!\(l(>,»in>;o!«v M«\uy«ns. 
Monu>v> Mnliiynnx, 
vSunvmvn MHU»y««j<. 

'ri\l>.li»V!U\OSO, . - . 

TUo IVlyiu'slonM. 

T\\^ Avistrrtltrtus. 

Tho AivUos, 

•l\w«A\» UohHivtf 8lVtttt. 

Tho Ksq»lu\!>\>\. 

North Auvovloiuv IndinoN, 

TUt> MoxU>«iu» Hml lVv\t»'ttl A«vorlo»«s 

»^(H\lh A»\\orlo«u ImHsnw. 

T»»o TvuKts. 

Tl\«> Amlw. 

IVv!»t!»(»« iW\\ Afji>h«\\». 

Tho Un\>\u>«, 

Tho Imio Ohlnow, 

Tho ,ln\v»<u>»o «nvl t.\»UMV«s* 

Tho v}\voU!», 

Tho UHllfUis. . 

Tho S^v«ut«\^^^<. 

TI>o KvvMoh, 

Tho ^^OV\U!n^^>> 

Tho 8v>H»\ Mu!>vl«t>s, 
Tht» Hutoh. 
Tho Swiss. 
Tho Kv\.osi«ns, 
Th«» A»\)!;h>-8«\vn»», 
Tho A«»ovloH<\ AHglo^xons, 





- 04 

- 7>J 


7«- 


.. SO 


<<»- 


- 80 


S7 


IM 


jm- 


10« 


. 107 


l\J8 


tvM> 


I.VI 


. W 


UVi 


UW 


17» 


. tsi 


100 


tlH 


U>\J 


, m\- 


-\JIO 


'i\\ 


\)l.% 


. VM(> 


V>\)\} 


'xVv>a- 


-a«8 


. vntft 


\>ft4 


v»w 


78 


. xvn> 


»I\J 


JUS 


:wo 


. Ml 


;»M 


iUft 


:uui 


. ;ui7 


«so 


rsu 


-410 


. Ill 


4\>S 


•rou 


too 


. 4rti 


-108 


■uty 


Ml 


. vM^ 


.V40 


Ml- 


-.%74 


. a:^ 


04\) 


(U;i 


M{\ 


. «(U- 


1\^ 


•;iw 


7!U 


. 7;!«^ 


J 00 


7fi7^ 


-8lH> 


. 801 


S40 


SI I 


SAV^ 


. 8.V5 


sri 


S7.N 


S)>0 


. SIM 


<A'<S 


!):u> 


1 00 1 


. uuu 


HVJM 



\IV 



»>■ 



(T-^- 



»-. 



tl 



^) o. 



^^JV, 



.^..Ski.. 



-- ^t. ■■ 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



■'<i^. 



(.') 



An E^ryptlan Toiuplc, 


li) 


A CJopI, . . . . 


ao 


Egypliiui Ornamonls, 


. aa 


A JcVv of (!iiii(), 


ai 


Egyptian Siii/^crH, . 


. ai» 


An Kgyptian (Jlialr, 


ill 


IScciic on Mic Nilci, . 


. ill 


A Nubian, . . . ■ 


-II 


DinkalhitH, 


. nt 


CcnI.ial Africa War Weapons, 


•t.'-) 


Tattooed WairiorH, 


. •1(1 


On the HIiortiH of tlio Nya.n/,a, 


■l!» 


PrinccHH and Warrior of lln'imda, 


. r.(» 


Audicnco Hail of (lit^ Kin^, 


r.i 


llgun(ia lltdM, 


. r,a 


An Al)yHsinian Warrior, 


M 


An AI)ysHinian Kinfj, 


. r,7 


AliyNMliiiiin drown, 


(-.1 


Al)yHHinian iloiiHciioId, 


(i;s 


AbyHHinlan Shivo, 


(Id 


A Virgin, 


(iH 


A Sacrc(i Art;, 


(il» 


Wall Ornainc-ntH, 


. 70 


Oravc of a Dannira, 


HH 


TIk; ZamlicMiN, 


. (»a 


Utonsilsof tli(^ (JalfrcH, 


IM! 


l{idl(iingtlui IJrido'H Hut, 


!)!» 


A Nalivo Wariior, 


101 


Notalili^ ('Idcf aiMi Warrior, 


. 105 


Agriculture Under Dilllcullics, 


lOH 


AOroup of IJuHlinion, 


. KM) 


CavcM of lln^ I?uHlini(Mi, 


tio 


A (Mvlli/.ed HuhIimimii, 


. na 


ThcBlavoH' Hiding Place, 


Ml 


A I'iUropeanized (JafTre. 


. lie. 


A NiiinM(|ini, . . . . 


117 


Hccne in SoiitliwcHtern Afrl('a, 


. IIH 


Damara Warrior and Maiden, 


lao 


Wood(!n Ulcn.silH of llie OvanipoH, 


. laa 


A Natives Vlila;v-, 


lai 


A Native at IjivinnHtonci'H i''unerai, 


. 125 


Central African ManiifacturcrH, 


127 


Types of tlie (loiigoH, 


. litO 


A (Jongo King, 


Nil 


A I'reclcniH I'air, 


. VX\ 


Killing WllclicH In WcHl Africa, 


liir. 


A Kellcli Man on llio Coast, 


. i:)(i 



A ()rou|)of MuHlclMnM, 


till) 


Head DriwHcNof tlui C'ongoH, 


. Ma 


Congo lU^adH, . . . . 


m:i 


CoM/Vo ShieIdH, 


. 145 


A Colleclion of A i rows, . , 


140 


NatlveH of l^oiin/'o. 


. 147 


A Uoyiil I'liir, 


MH 


A lli>M(. of (lie Wnrlilu^ CongoH, 


. 150 


A Carvod TuhIi, 


151 


Di'eary HeencH In Soutliwenlirrn Africa, 


15a 


Mouidain WnrrlorH, 


15(1 


A Native Cup, 


. 1(10 


In the HtoclcH, 


KM 


A Village on tlie Grain Coast, 


. 1(17 


HeeiK^ In Houdan, 


IHO 


Madagascan Lady, 


. 20(1 


A Mead lluntiM', 


2ia 


A Villa/'.e MarlK^t House, 


. 2IH 


A Italia, . . . . 


220 


A .hivaneHe Plow, . 


. aaii 


A NmHv(^ if!;.-, 


aai 


A .liivaiiese 1 louse, 


, 2a5 


A .Iavan(!He Kork, 


aa(( 


A .lavaiU'se Ijooni, 


. aa7 


A Malayan i'l'au. 


2ill 


A Native of lar/.on. 


, a!ia 


Home ManiifaelureH. 


aiiii 


A li\^e.|(;e(!lilef. 


. aiitJ 


A Chief's 1 l(iUM(5, 


a:!7 


A Keej(!(! Cannibal, 


. a;iH 


Polynesian Hcauties, 


2i)l) 


A l''(W')eeaii Villiigt^ Hc(!ne, 


, 240 


A CIvlli/.ed Oiil. 


an 


Wotiien i>( Tonga, 


. 242 


TonceHc llrnided Woik, 


an 


Niilive l''asbion. 


. aid 


A Sainoaii (lirl, 


a 17 


Of the King's Party, 


. 21 H 


l\i-ni\ Protector, 


241) 


Native idols, 


. 251 


War Aniid(!(s, 


252 


'i^itlooed Maoris, 


. 25i> 


A PaiiMiin Warrior, 


258 


A Temples on Ihe (!oaHl, 


. 251) 


I)an(^lng I'Mends, 


2da 


A Uoat Shaped (.'ollln. 


. 2d:i 


In Full Dress, 


2(15 



xiri 



XIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



A Sea-coast House, 

Last of the Tasmanians, 

Two Views of the Queen, 

A New Ireland Boj% 

A New Irelander, 

An Australian Savage, 

Australian Boomerangs, 

On the Hunt, 

The Corroboree, 

Traveling Women, 

An Australian Grave, 

Hatchets of the Australians 

An Australian Camp, 

"Waiting for the River Fall, 

A West Australian Forest, 

A Native Victorian, 

A Tartar, 

Camel of Tartar Emigrant, 

Calmuck Tartars, . 

Calmuck Dwellings, 

A Samoyed Cossack, 

An Ostiak, 

An Ostiak Family, 

A Vogul Encampment, 

■Cape Washington, 

Laplanders, 

Lapland Sledges, 

Fishing in Lapland, 

A Lapland Church, 

Native Siberians, 

Implements of Siberia, 

A Yakut Woman, 

A Tungoose, 

Hunters of Siberia, 

Siberian Dog Sledge, 

Winter and Summer Huts, 

Tchuktchis Children, 

An Esquimau Group, 

Starting on a Journey, 

A Greenland Housewife, 

Labrador Esquimaux, 

Indian Curiosities, 

Totem Poles and Indian Hutsi, 

Indian Grave, 

Muir Glacier, Alaska — Iront view, 

A Sioux Warrior, 

View of Muir Glacier, 

A Mexican, 

A Mexican Girl, 

Scene in Patagonia, 

Patagonian Dancers, 

Entrance to Fortescue Bay, 

Amazonian Indians, 

War Trumpet, 

Colossal Head Carved in Stone, 

Peruvian Carvings, 

An Araucanian Family, 

A Turkish Soldier, 



269 
274 
275 
276 
277 
280 
285 
289 
290 
293 
296 
301 
302 
303 
307 
308 
317 
318 
319 
322 
324 
326 
327 
330 
334 
335 
336 
3i0 
342 
346 
348 
353 
356 
358 
361 
363 
364 
369 
374 
376 
380 
382 
384 
387 
389 
396 
404 
414 
421 
432 
436 
439 
442 
444 
455 
457 
460 
471 



A Syrian. 


. 486 


Village in Syria, 


487 


A Druse Lady, 


. 488 


An Old Turk, . 


490 


A Man of Jerusalem, 


. 490 


At Jerusalem's Wall, 


491 


An Armenian, . . . 


. 494 


An Armenian Bishop, 


. 495 


A Woman of Aden, 


501 


A Bedouin, 


. 505 


Bedouins, . . • 


507 


A Loaded Camel, . 


. 510 


Bronze Workers, 


516 


Field Hands, 


. 518 


Wealthy Merchants, 


524 


Smoking a Water Pipe, 


. 526 


The Bastinado, 


534 


An Afghan, 


. 535 


Burghers of Ceylon, 


542 


Water Carrier, 


. 543 


Indian Tree Huts, 


544 


A Brahman at Prayer, 


. 546 


Chief of a Village, 


547 


A Tiger Hunt, . . 


. 548 


Women of Ceylon, 


549 


House in Ceylon, . 


. 550 


Hindoo Gypsies, 


552 


A Baggage Animal, 


. 553 


A Banyan Forest, 


554 


Bas Relief, Indian Temple, 


. 556 


Scene in Ceylon, 


558 


Royal Palace at Agra, 


. 561 


Cloth Vender, 


564 


Scene at Benares, 


. 572 


River Scene in China, 


576 


A Scene in China, 


594 


The Emperor's Palace, 


. 616 


A Burmese Couple, 


617 


Arrangement of Ear-ring, 


. 619 


Priest Sounding Bell of Temple, 


626 


Siamese Men, 


630 


Laotian Houses, 


. 630 


Scene at Bangkok, 


632 


Girl from Anam, 


. 638 


A Japanese, 


644 


A Noble Lady, 


. 645 


Selling Marine Animals, 


645 


A Japanese Girl, 


. 647 


Nobleman and Servant, 


648 


Riding in a Palanquin, 


. 651 


Interior of a Tea House, 


652 


Temple Garden in Tokio, 


. 654 


A Japanese Bedroom, 


658 


Singers and Musicians, 


. 661 


Temple of Neptune, . 


668 


Embossed Shoulder Strap, 


. 686 


Venus of Mile, 


688 


A Greek Cross, 


. 693 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XV 



Bas Relief, Greeks of Fifth Century, 

Base of Statue of Ariadne, 

Modern Greek Peasants, 

Greek Brigands, 

Street Scene in Rome, 

The Fates — by Michael Angel 

Design for an Ornament, 

Plaque — by Cellini, 

Bronze Helmet Ornament, 

Wall Painting, Pompeii, 

Tombs of Pompeii, 

Garden at Pompeii, 

Marble Table found at Pompeii 

A Gypsy Chief, 

A Spanish Girl, 

Gate of the Alhambra, 

Peasant of Eastern Spain, 

Port of Alicante, 

Scene in Salamanca, 

Spanish Water Carrier, 

Bull Fighters, 

A Farmer of Brittany, 

A Beggar of Brittany, 

Renaissance Window, Rouen, 

A Modern French Painter, 

St. Vincent de Paul, 

Bust of Victor Hugo, 

Schiller, 

Heine, 

A Village Group, . 

Watching the Rhine, 

Scene on the Rhine, 

Goethe, 

Old German Gateway, 

Museum at Berlin, 

Frederickshaven, 

Swedish Landscape, 

In a Dutch Port, 



694 


Renibrandt Van Ryn, . 


860 


696 


A Neat Dutch Inn, 


. 863 


698 


Going to Baptism, 


865 


700 


Exterior of a Dutch House, 


. 866 


706 


Reading a Condemned Book, 


873 


717 


Swiss Scenes, 


. 876 


718 


A Cossack Family, 


893 


719 


A Voter, 


. 893 


720 


Cossack Watch Tower, 


894 


723 


Ready for Action, 


. 895 


724 


A Circassian Girl, 


896 


725 


On With the Dance ! 


. 898 


726 


A Siberian Exile, 


903 


739 


View of Omsk, 


. 904 


745 


Soldier of the Caucasus, 


905 


749 


Cossack of the Line, 


906 


751 


A Russian Village, 


913 


752 


A Lady of Fashion, 


. 922 


757 


Scene in Russia, 


930 


760 


Noted Picture of Lot's Wife, 


. 948 


763 


Piece of Statuary, 


949 


768 


Waterloo Bridge, 


. 951 


769 


St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, 


952 


784 


Fish Sale in Cornwall, 


. 966 


792 


Old English Doorway, 


972 


794 


An Old English Lady, 


. 974 


795 


A Derbyshire Inn, 


977 


809 


Old English Gateway, 


. 980 


810 


English Pottery, 


984 


816 


In the Emerald Isle, 


. 1002 


819 


Evangeline, . . . . 


1008 


821 


An American Palace, 


. lOlO 


823 


Carved Oak Settee, 


1013 


825 


Sculptor's Home, . ' 


. 1018 


884 


Falls in National Park, 


1022 


843 


A Specimen Room, 


. 1028 


846 


Carmel Mission, 


1029 


855 


Cathedral Rock, 


. 1031 








North America, - 

Africa, - - 

A Central African Feast, 

Australia and Oceakjca, 

South America, 

An Arab Warriot!, 

Asia, - - - 

Europe, - - - - 

The Pigeons of St. Mark — Venice, 

A Spanish Cobbler's Shop, 

A German Harvest Scene, 

On The Coast of Holland, 

A Mountain Maid — Switzerland, 

A Russian Wedding, 

An English Country Crossing, 

An American Home Scene, 



Froatispiece ^ 

- IT/; 

136/ 

- 193 / y 

43t'!7 ''^ 

- 503 1/^ 
- 515 \). 

- 667 -/. 
738 i/ 

- 759 1^ 
815 

- 868' 
879 '' 

- 901" 
930' 

- 1033 ^ 



.»/ 



OOL-OROD PL^T^TES. 



Africa, - - - 

Types of Malayans and Negroes, - 
Types op Australians and ^Malayan;?, - 
Australia, - - - - 

New Zealand, . - - . 

New Guinea, . - - - 

Types of Brazilians and Patagonianf, 
Brazil, . - - - - 

South America, 
East India Islands, 
China and Japan, - - - - 

Types of Mongolians and Malayans, 



39 

103 ' 
199 ' 
203 •' 
350 '' 
361' 
440'' 
451^' 
463 " 



541 
586 
656 



/ 



A LAND OF DECAY. 




BIRTH-PLACE OF RACES. 



[curing through a narrow mountain gorge into the broad 
plains of Mesopotamia, the River Euphrates was once the 
patron of a most ancient, energetic and splendid civilization. 
With the Tigris, it is now the boundary of a prolific land of 
decay. From those plains once poured forth vast floods of 
people, and yet those left behind were the founders of glo- 
rious empires, the builders of Nineveh and Babylon. These 
mighty capitals are now little more than unsightly mounds 
of clay and sun-dried brick, among which dirty Arabs are 
delving for the building material of modern houses. From 
near the ruins of Babylon looms up a gigantic mound, standing 
alone in the midst of a vast plain — the tower of Babel ! you recog- 
nize it at once. Other mounds of lesser note, now scattered, now 
grouped, now in the form of triangles; shafts of columns; Assyrian 
forts; rocks crowned with ancient castles; old towns filled with Roman 
and Saracenic architecture ; groves of palm trees ; clouds of scorch- 
ing sand borne by the south winds; decaying walls of gigantic canals,, 
vainly appealing to Turkish "enterprise;" a tribe of restless Arabs 
with their camels, horses, sheep and women, their crude furniture 
and all their effects, seeking fresh pasture ; answering sheets of 
flame rising from the fertile river tracts and springing from the hatred 
of the harvesters who have gathered their grain and are burning all 
green forage to keep it from those same thievish Arabs; a wandering 
dervish, only interrupting his prayers to light his pipe, asks for gifts from 
the faithful, or to search for vermin; the sound of an Arab water-wheel 
in the distance; a Turkish fortress perched upon a storm-beaten mound 
inclosingf the ruins of centuries; narrow roads hanorino- to the mountain 
sides and dropping to the plain below; gorgeous mountain tints painted 
by a bold eastern sun and flung upon the background of a soft eastern 
sky; a valley in which nestles a village where Noah is said to have planted 
his vineyard; a dyke built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter; a griflin's 

17 2 



l8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

cave, at the mouth of which the Tigris roars and foams — such is the 
country in which rose and fell the oldest known civilization of the 
world. 

Leaving- the Euphrates river we enter the Syrian desert, and mid- 
way between the great river and the Mediterranean sea, in a small oasis, 
find the famed ruins of Palmyra; the " Tadmor in the Desert." Across 
to Baalbek — grand ruins again! The omnipresent Arab is there also, 
as at Palmyra, sheltered by his crazy hut and raising his corn and olives 
.among the ruins. Striking south, we are still oppressed by ruins — some 
thirty of them — before we skirt the coast of the Dead Sea, and cross a 
desert tract of country and the Suez canal into the land of pyramids. 
What more natural than that we should journey from the land of ancient 
Assyria to the land of Egypt; for we are following in the footsteps of 
the races and families of men, and the ancient Egyptians are supposed 
to have preceded us in that little trip, overland, by some thousands of 
years. 

EGYPT. 

Straight toward the Mediterranean sea a black line shoots across 
the desert waste, binding together a chain of lakes and lagoons, and 
marking the threshold to the land of shadows and sunshine. Another 
line winds toward Cairo, and still another seems to shoot more directly 
and with more momentum toward that great emporium to which our 
journey lies. In the ship canal constructed for the commerce of the 
world, and in the fresh-water canal built for the convenience of the 
isthmus inhabitants, are repeated the performances of the ancient 
Egyptians and Persians, accomplished before the wild Scythians ever 
dreamed of crossing the Bosphorus and laying the foundation of the 
most advanced of European civilization. Traces of that first canal are 
found deep in the desert sand of the isthmus country, where Egypt's 
frontier was threatened by those same savage tribes who now appear as 
Frenchmen, as Englishmen, as Germans, as representatives of nations 
which have sprung from the decay of the old. Here were her fortresses 
and from the banks of the Nile came fresh water, provisions and reen- 
"forcements, if necessary, to the defenders of the civilization of those 
days ; and Persia had her ship canal from sea to sea ; but It was left to 
these days to shoot the railroad across the desert Into the very haunts 
of antiquity, into the very shadows of the Pyramids. But we 
pass them by, and the splendid mosques of Cairo, and the tombs 
of its rulers, and the beautiful villas in the suburbs, and ancient 




AN EGYPTIAN 1 liMl'LE. 



20 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



glory, and present attempts at magnificence, and go into the 
" by-ways and hedges " to get acquainted with the people. We will 
have nothing to do with the Turk, for he is not a native ; although he 
has imposed many of his customs among the Egyptians. We shall 
avoid the Italians, French, English, Armenians and other nationalities, 
who live in the "Frank" quarter of Cairo and Alexandria, and who 




A COPT. 



are traveling up and down the Nile country, viewing curiosities, trafiic- 
ing in precious stones, or awaiting the return of the pilgrims from Mecca 
laden with the wealth of the far East ; who are the agents of commer- 
cial houses in their native lands, or the principals themselves in this 
central station of the overland route to India. For the present we 



EGYPT. 2 1 



"have no interest in these people, except in so far 'as they have relations 
to a very intelligent, courteous, industrious and humble class of the 
Egyptians, the Copts. They number about one-fifteenth of the entire 
population of the country, and are the sole remnant of the ancient 
Egyptians. In Lower Egypt they are of a yellowish tinge, which shades 
into a dark brown further south. The Copts inhabit small sections of 
the larger cities, while in Upper Egypt they have settled whole towns 
and villages. What is their business ? They are clerks and account- 
ants in government and mercantile offices ; they are the Christian priests 
of Egypt, cheerful, humane and hospitable, with their convents and 
monasteries scattered along the Nile. They are the scribes, priests and 
scholars of Egypt, and an ink-horn at the girdle (for they wear the 
turban and flowing robe) is a masculine badge, as is the cross, tattooed 
upon the hand of the Copt woman, her mark of honor. The Coptic 
priesthood have considerably lapsed from the rigor of their religious 
observances as primitive Christians, although in the regular monasteries 
their discipline is still severe. The dress is a simple skirt of coarse 
woolen fabric. Only on feast days are small quantities of animal food 
allowed, the ordinary food being black bread and lentils. The convents, 
when not situated on some inaccessible rock, are surrounded by a high 
and strong wall which has only a single iron door, and in some cases is 
wholly Avithout opening, the means of entrance being a pulley from the 
top. 

The religious rites of the Copt are many and severe, the services 
lasting many hours at a time. Seven times daily he repeats his Pater 
JSfoster, and begs for Divine mercy forty-one. The churches are deco- 
rated with ornaments of ostrich eggs and divided into four compart- 
ments. Furthest from the doorway is the chancel, or sanctuary, where 
the eucharist is celebrated, and which is hidden behind a high screen. 
Next is the room where the priests interpret in Arabic the Coptic 
service to the singers, the leading men of the congregation and to 
strangers. In the third compartment are the mass of the congregation, 
moving round in their bare feet to pray before the pictures of the saints, 
or leaning upon long crutches for support. The veiled women occupy 
the fourth room, which is dimly lighted, and usually situated in the 
extreme rear of the church. 

The domestic life of the Copts is very similar to that of the Arabs 
who have settled along the Nile. They have adopted also many of the 
Moslem customs, such as the veiling of the faces of many of their 
women. Some Coptic women are allowed to go out from time to tim.e 
and even to visit and shop pretty freely. Others, again, are as closely 



22 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



secluded as if they were actual denizens of a harem. Nearly all keep 
black female slaves instead of hirine servants. 

There are some peculiarities in the Coptic marriage ceremony. 



^'^",. 




EGYPTIAN ORNAMENTS. 



however. The bride, unlike the Moslem, has no canopy to cover her 
in the procession to the bridegroom's house. At the preliminary feast. 



THE NILE AND EGYPT, 23 

pigeons are released from pies and fly around the room shaking bells 
attached to their feet. After the marriage ceremony, the priests set on 
the foreheads of the new couple a thin gilt diadem. In entering her 
husband's house, the bride must step over the blood of a newly killed 
lamb. The whole pageant, after lasting eight days, ends with a grand 
feast at the bridegroom's house. This is the custom, of course, among 
the well-to-do classes, but certainly would not prevail In the hut of a 
poor chicken hatcher or fellah (farmer). But we shall soon be among 
these poor swarthy sons of the Nile and it will become evident that they 
could not be the originators of pageants and feasts of superlative 
grandeur. 

THE NILE AND EGYPT. 

It is impossible for the humblest Egyptian to omit the Nile as an 
element in his life ; for in her bosom lie life and death. Food, drink 
and clothing spring from her brooding over the soil. " May Allah bless 
thee as he blessed the course of the Nile ! " exclaims the poor woman 
on its banks to the traveler. " Mohammed would not have o-one to 
Paradise had he drunk of the Nile," says an Arabian proverb. She 
seems a living, moving thing — either a benefactor or a monster ; her 
benefactions, generally, make her the power for good In Egypt and an 
all-pervading influence of blessedness. A fcAv days In the spring and 
fall she rests from her labors. Then the tributaries from the mountains 
and table-lands of Abyssinia and from the recesses of Central Africa 
commence to trickle into her mighty channel and the great event, older 
than the pyramids and yet ever momentous, is soon recorded in Cairo. 
Across a branch of the river, near the metropolis, is a small island, in 
which Is sunk a square wall or chamber. In the center of this chamber 
Is a graduated pillar divided Into cubits of about twenty-two Inches each. 
Sometime in June the water commences to rise In the pillar, or nilo- 
meter, and Egyptian life again hangs upon the pleasure of old mother 
Nile. Every morning four official criers proclaim throughout Cairo the 
helofht to which the water has risen. When the sixteenth cubit is 
reached, It Is quite certain that there will be a harvest and the Sultan's 
land tax is levied— what portion of it Is collected from the shrewd natives 
is another thing. While the water line Is creeping between the six- 
teenth and the eighteenth cubits, Cairo and Egypt are breathless with 
interest and anxiety. A straggling street runs from the city down to 
Fostat, its suburb and port. From Fostat a canal of irrigation runs 
through Cairo and is continued some miles beyond. It is believed to 



24 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



form part of an ancient canal, traces of which we found in the desert 
sands toward Suez. As the water hne in the nilometer rises toward the 
eighteenth cubit, this becomes a locahty of supreme interest. The talk 
even among the counting houses and government offices ; among the 
Europeans with their Coptic clerks ; in the public gardens haunted by 
French and German strollers ; in the bazaars filled with the goods and 
nationalities of the East ; around the mosques in the city, and the cof- 
fee booths and fairs in the suburbs ; among the serpent charmers and 
story tellers — the talk of Cairo itself is plentifully interspersed with refer- 



// 







A JEW OF CAIRO. 



ences to the probable outcome of the rise. Famine has already been 
averted, and the Sultan has his tax — on paper. It now remains to be 
seen whether the Nile will come up to the standard of abundance which 
is marked on the fascinating nilometer by the eighteenth cubit, and 
which determines whether the pacha shall cut the banks which confine 
the waters and lead it into this grand canal, and thence into six thousand 
other artificial channels and reservoirs scattered throughout the region. 
Millions of anxious fellaheen and Copts, and wandering bands of Bedou- 



THE NILE AND EGYPT. 25 

ans and gypsies, are at the same time casting anxious eyes upon the 
Tbroad, swelling bosom of the Nile, or, remembering her as generally 
ikind, already see her muddy waters depositing their magic loam upon 
the parched land, and the fruits and grains of the world springing into 
green life. Bounty or famine depends upon what has been going on in 
the far-away regions of Central Africa and the mountains of Abyssinia. 

ISTature has been good, and the rains have fallen which bring the 
waters of the Nile up to the eighteenth cubit of the nilometer. The 
command is given by the authorities of Cairo. The pacha, attended by 
liis grandees, cuts the confining mounds, and another harvest and season 
-of plenty is assured. All classes now flock to the river side and, it may 
"be, the whole night is spent in festivity. Like scenes of jubilee occur 
for hundreds of miles alono- the banks of the grod-like river. Between 
September 20 and 30 the river is at its greatest height, remains stationary 
for about fifteen days and then usually commences to fall. Should the 
waters rise above twenty-four feet then the river ceases to be a "good 
Nile," and woe be to the little villages which lie in the level strip along 
iher banks should she go far above that point. The whole valley of the 
Nile is now a vast lake, and as the inundated country at length appears 
it is seen to be covered with a layer of rich loam, averaging not more 
than one-twentieth of an inch. The strip fertilized is only two or three 
miles in breadth, but the soil, thus annually replenished, has filled the 
granaries of eastern and western kingdoms, and as long as the Nile does 
ber duty, cannot be impoverished. When the waters recede, vegetation 
springs up, crisp and green. The beautiful date palms, which are so 
sympathetic, look brighter and more martial as they rise from the river 
side or protectingly group themselves around little hamlets or villages. 
The sturdy peasant, or fellah, comes from his mud hut and casts his 
wheat-and barley upon the loam. . Later, he drives his sheep, goats and 
oxen upon the "sown" grain to trample it in. In some places plough- 
ing is thought necessary, but is usually dispensed with. Beans, peas, 
Jentils, clover, flax, lettuce, hemp, tobacco and water-melons go through 
with much the same process, and yet the fellah confidently expects, from 
past experience, to harvest good crops within three or four months. In 
summer, chiefly by artificial irrigation, maize, onions, sugar cane, cotton, 
coffee, indigo and madder are brought from the bountiful soil, and tem- 
perate and tropical fruits vie with one another in lusciousness. 

April, the great harvest month, sees the fields of Egypt white with 
barley and golden with wheat. Later appear the tiny green oranges, 
which do not mature for six months. Then the corn, which crackles 
with dryness as it is heaped upon the camels, is carried off to be 



26 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

threshed. Seated in his wooden chair the peasant drives his rude cart 
round and round over the grain. Some of tlie wealthy land owners have 
introduced modern threshing machines, but this primitive object is still 
as familiar a sight as the poor fellah Avho has abandoned his desert for 
the garden spots of Egypt. His wants are few, however, — " a draught 
of Nile water, a handful of lentils, or a piece of bread made like a pan- 
cake and tough as wash-leather " — and, since fuel costs nothing, he gets 
along very well. He has also various crude devices for irrigating his 
land. A large wheel may be run out into the river and, with its hollow 
paddles, turned by the current. The water is thus caught up and 
emptied into a trench or tank on the bank. Or our Egyptian farmer 
may call the creaking "sakieh" into service — a series of cogwheels 
brought to bear upon an endless string of leathern vessels which empty 
their contents into a pool. Over the wheels is a thatched roof, and 
under the roof camels or buffaloes are plodding around a beaten path. 

Thus is revealed the motive power. From the pool the water is car- 
ried off on its refreshing errand by a wooden shaft. Ruder, but more 
common than these quite-mechanical contrivances is an elevating 
machine consisting of a long pole working on a pivot, a lump of clay or a 
stone at one end and a bucket at the other, the whole arrangement being 
fastened to a simple framework of logs. Thousands of these "re-formed" 
Arabs — naked or half-naked men, women and children — virtually spend 
their lives before their "shadoof" in dipping water from the Nile to irri- 
gate the fields. The water which is thus poured into trenches on the 
bank runs into small channels or ridges of earth which divide the land 
into squares. The cultivator uses his feet to regulate the flow of water 
to each part. By a dexterous movement of his toes, he forms a tiny 
embankment in one of the trenches, or removes the obstruction, or makes 
an aperture in one of the ridges, or closes it up again, as the condition of 
the crop requires. After all their labor when the grain is about ready to 
be harvested the vast flocks of geese, wild duck, hawks, pigeons, and 
cranes which darken the sky, may threaten a complete destruction of 
their crop. At these times, instead of scarecrows, the fellaheen place 
small stands or platforms in the fields, from which young boys armed 
with slinofs do wonderful execution. 



'b' 



THE FELLAHEEN. 

Next to the birds, the greatest enemies of the fellaheen are the tax 
collectors, who do not hesitate to vigorously apply the stick when they 
find an unusually stubborn subject; and after the application of such 



THE FELLAHEEN. 2'J 

forcible arguments, if he stil! refuses to disgorge the coin which is clearl)^ 
due the Sultan, as proven by the nilometer's record, his wife and his 
neighbors exalt him as a hero and a patriot. Their many tricks to evade 
the clues, which trickery they consider one of the paramount duties of 
life, are illustrative of their many-sided characters. Some years ago the 
tax upon country produce brought into cities was so increased as to be 
really a burden upon our rural friends. At the station where two coun- 
try roads meet, a poor fellah would be seen dancing about "hopping 
mad," because he had been forced to pay more than he expected, or had 
been caught at some of his evasive tricks. But after swearing and lament- 
ing in his native tongue, he would re-load his ass, throw off all his 
burdens of spirit and proceed with as unruffled a countenance as though 
every tax fiend in Egypt had started for Constantinople. Occasionally, 
however, they do escape the sharp-eyed officials, though this is not the 
case in the following instance. A funeral procession enters the city by 
the chief country road, the chanting mollahs (religious doctors) walking 
behind, accompanied by men carrying the coffin with a red shawl over it, 
as is the usual custom. But the official scents somethinsf in the wind 
which is not a badly preserved corpse, and orders a halt and an investiga- 
tion. The coffin, which in the East is only covered with a pall, is found 
to be filled with cheese ! If the cheese had been a corpse it would have 
entered the city free of duty. Neither are the fellaheen always honest in 
their dealings with private parties. A traveler tells the story that he 
once observed a large heap of little clay balls on the banks of the Nile 
w^hich, evidently, were not formed by nature. He asked a fellah who 
stood near what they were for, as there were two or three such heaps. 
"Oh," he coolly replied, "they are for mixing wuth corn. Many boats 
laden with corn stop here." A boatman added that the village was 
famous for a peculiar kind of clay, of a corn color, but weighing heavier 
than the grain. 

As a rule, however, the fellaheen, who comprise four-fifths of the 
Egyptian population, are honest, lazy, patient, merry and domestic. 
They are the brawn of Egypt and cling jealously to her most ancient 
customs, strenuously opposing the introduction of im.plements of modern 
invention even when the attempt is made by their Turkish masters. 
The men average five feet eight inches in height, and have broad chests, 
muscular limbs and generally black, piercing eyes, straight thick noses, 
large but well-formed mouths, full lips, beautiful teeth and fine, oval faces. 
Their dress rarely consists of more than a shirt, leaving bare the arms, 
legs and breast. The distinctive garb of the fellaha, or peasant'swife, is 
the dark-blue cotton and black muslin veil. In the towns many wear 



28 _ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

prints oi various colors for trousers, and for the short waistcoat without 
sleeves, which is worn in winter as an additional garment. The favorite 
hues are orange, pink and yellow, or magenta crimson. The older 
women, even among quite poor people, frequently dye their grey locks 
a tawny orange color. When we speak of the "older women " we mean 
those far this side of thirty. From twelve — the usual age of marriage — 
to eighteen or nineteen nearly all the women are splendidly formed 
.and many of them are real beauties, but after that they rapidly wither. 

THEIR WIVES. 

Having introduced the fellah and spoken of his occupation and dis- 
position, it is no more than just that we should do the same for his wife. 
While he is abroad tending his cattle or sheep, looking after his crops, 
selling fodder, fruit, milk or vegetables, or looking after the irrigation of 
his land, we shall enter his home, meet his wife and family, and see how 
and where they live. 

The houses of the fellaheen are all of the same general type, the 
wealthier of them, of course, living in a large mud "mansion" instead 
of occupying one about four feet in height. The well-to-do may have 
carpets and mattresses, little coffee cups and some brass cooking vessels 
instead of a sleeping mat, a water jug and a few rude kitchen utensils ; 
and their daily bill of fare may include more items than coarse bread and 
onions, cheese, dates, beans and rice. In some of the houses of the 
more pretentious peasants there is a separate apartment, called " hareem," 
for the women ; but it is usually dirty and disorderly and a pitiful par- 
ody upon the magnificence of its Moslem prototype. The wife of the 
rich fellah displays gold ornaments, a brocaded silk vest, a black muslin 
veil and, on special occasions, trousers ; the poor fellaha has her silver 
bracelets and her dark cotton garments, often thin and ragged. 

As soon as it is light the poor woman gets up from her mat, spread 
in the low one-room hut, and shakes herself ; or, if the weather is hot, 
she has been sleeping outside, with her family. Having thus completed 
her toilet, she and her husband and children gather round a small earthen 
dish containing boiled beans and oil, pickles or chopped herbs, green 
onions or carrots. Possibly the family do not go to all this trouble, but 
each takes what pleases him, when he likes, the substantial part of the 
food being a coarse kind of bread in which is mixed some most bitter 
seeds which seem to immensely tickle the palate of the average Egyp- 
tian. The father now, in all probability, goes to his work, and the 
mother, if she has none to do, wanders away to gossip with the neigh- 




EGYPTIAN SINGER. 



30 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



■ ■■ ■ . "-^ J^J - 



bors, leaving the children to roll in the dust or otherwise shift for them- 
selves. If she has no neighbors and lives in the country, she may go off 
with her husband and the children to assist him in drawinsf water to irri- 
gate their land. If it is baking day, or she has some other simple 
■ household duty to perform, she deposits her infant (in appearance a heap 
of dirty rags) upon the first spot which strikes herj 
eyes, when the idea comes to her. It may be on 
a heap of rubbish, with the sun beating down 
upon it or the flies swarming over it. If she is a 
country fellaha working with her husband, the 
infant may go down in the mud. Should she be 
eating an onion, or a pickle, or a raw carrot, and 
the baby cries — and has teeth — she will, as likely 
as not, fill its little mouth with- whatever she is 
enjoying. But bread-making day has really arrived, 
and approaching the windowless mud-hut, with 
its wooden door and huge wooden key, we find 
that the woman has brought the strength of the 
whole family to bear upon her task. Perhaps the 
smaller children and an old grandmother are pick- 
ing and cleaning the corn, the older boys or the 
father carrying it off to be ground and bringing 
back the flour. A grown daughter or a sister is 
siftino- the flour and with the fellaha's assistance 
mixing the leaven, working up the dough and shap- 
ing it into round cakes. These are then baked in 
the mud oven of the hut, or, if the fellaha lives in 
a village, the batch may be taken to the public 
oven. 

When evening comes a pretense is usually 
made to unite the family. They sit in a circle, often 
on the ground — mother, father, children, sister 
and grandmother — and dip their cakes of bread 
into a vegetable mess before them, contained in a 
coarse earthen pan. They eat in comparative 
silence, often, and when each is satisfied he gets Egyptian vase 

up and goes away. Sometimes the man eats alone, or with his sons ; and. 
the women finish the bowl. But this practice obtains only among those 
upon whom the Moslem customs have a strong hold. If the fellah fam- 
ily, in whose house we visit, is above the average in respectability, after 
supper is finished, wife, daughter or slave brings in a basin and pours water 




EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS. 



35 



over the hands. Whether the family sleep indoors or out, depends, 
principally, upon the season of the year. But let them sleep, for the 
present, wherever they are and whoever they are — whether the Mos- 
lem who has gone through with his evening devotions on a carpet 
spread on the ground, or the Coptic Christian who has said his prayers 
and counted his beads forty and one times during the day. 

EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS. 



In many of the villages along the Nile, Moslem and Copt dwell in 
comparative peace, the men working together in the fields and their 
children attending the same school, when one has been established in a 
rural district by some European missionary. The boys, however, far 

outnumber the girls, from the fact that 
maidens are more useful at home than their 
brothers ; that they are called away from 
school before they have made much prog- 
ress, to become wives, and that Moslem 
Egyptians are generally imbued with the 
Turkish indifference to female educa- 
tion and advancement. The little girls 
attend in loose frocks called " crellebeehs," 
'with muslin or gauze veils, slippers in 
winter, and in summer wooden clogs 
which are kicked off when they seat them- 
selves. In the native schools little is 
taught besides the Koran and the merest 
elements of arithmetic. Though the 
school-master may be blind, if he can 
repeat the Moslem bible without stum- 
bling, the permanency of his position is 
AN EGYPTIAN CHAIR. assured. The school is generally attached 

to the village mosque, which is built of mud with a white-washed spire. 
Its locality can be ascertained beyond a doubt by the tremendous hub- 
bub which always proceeds from a Moslem school ; for all those who are 
learning to read are sitting upon the ground with the school-master, vig- 
orously rocking their bodies back and forth, and reciting their lessons 
from their wooden tablets and at the top of their voices. Before the 
older pupils, on little desks made of palm sticks, are copies of the Koran 
or some of its thirty sections. They also are going through with the 
same form of gymnastics, which is thought to be an aid to the memory. 




32 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

In the small towns and villages the masters of the schools are nearly 
as ignorant as the pupils, but manage by their native shrewdness to hide: 
their lack of learning. Naturally the " salary " is a mere nothing. But. 
in Cairo, where the course of instruction is somewhat broader, the 
remuneration to the school-master is correspondingly greater ; from the; 
parent of each pupil there is sent to him, every Thursday, what would 
be equivalent to three cents. The master of a school attached to a. 
mosque or public building, in Cairo, also receives yearly apiece of white. 
muslin for a turban, a piece of linen and a pair of shoes. Each 
boy receives, at the same time, a linen skull cap, eight or nine yards 
of cotton cloth, half a piece of linen, a pair of shoes, and in some 
cases from three to six cents. These presents are supplied by funds 
bequeathed to the school. Although several Sultans of enlightened, 
views have attempted to reform the cause of education in Egypt, they 
have found it a graceless task, the prejudice and ignorance of the bulk 
of the population being as- firmly set against any innovation here as they 
are in the field of agriculture. So the boy continues to shout his les- 
sons, and the poor little maiden is often not allowed to know much of 
her Koran, for, when a mere child, she is hurried away from home to 
wed somebody whom, perchance, she has never seen. In a few short 
years, when she begins to fade, she fails to understand the cause of the 
great rejoicing which then took place ; or of the bright-hued procession 
which followed her red silk canopy, under which she herself walked cov- 
ered from head to foot with a large red shawl ; or why discordant bands 
of music and sweetly tinkling singers should do their best to celebrate 
the event, as if her world did not know that marriage was the stepping- 
stone to dismal, neglected old age. 

GLIDING UP THE NILE. 

In this general view of the customs, dispositions and daily life of the: 
Copts and fellaheen, who really are the two components of the modern 
Egyptians, we have failed to even touch upon salient points, which 
to omit, would leave the picture of the Land of the Nile and 
its people incomplete and colorless. We have got acquainted with 
some of the people, so that they do not seem like strangers to us, and 
now must just skim the surface of their mysterious country — another 
land of decay — stopping at a point or two which is typical of their 
modern institutions. As you pass through the delta of the Nile, the 
flocks of pelican, wild duck and other fowl make the waters hum and 
you might imagine, if it were not for that narrow strip of desert, thatyou_ 



GLIDING UP THE NILE. 33 

had by mistake wandered into the State of Louisiana. The tremendous 
fields of grain which, in season, would be stretching down to the river's 
edge for three miles on either hand, would also soon dispel the illusion 
caused by the presence of these myriads of water fowl. Alexandria, 
a strange combination of decay and life, being left behind, the fertile 
strip of country grows quite narrow as Cairo comes into view — Cairo, 
with its dark and gloomy streets, its great mosques and its seven miles 
of area which is the focal point of three distinct civilizations. The 
slaves of Africa, the spices and fabrics of the East and the gold of 
Europe are all cast into Cairo, and a tremendous jumble of English- 
men and Germans, French and Americans, Arabs, Copts, Armenians, 
camels, asses, dogs, funeral and marriage processions, bazaars, veiled 
women, Turks, caravans and noise is the result. Opposite to Cairo, and 
extending along a slope to the river, are the sixty pyramids ; the ravages 
of time, and the depredations of Arab builders for ages, having given 
some of them a somewhat irregular outline as they stand up against the 
clear sky in their gloomy grandeur. 

The mountains now approach nearer to the river than they did in. 
Lower Egypt, and over the desert a picturesque group of Bedouins are 
wandering. They have been brought into subjection by rigorous 
governmental treatment, but still proudly cling to their nomadic ways 
notwithstanding their race has been abandoned by so many tribes who 
have settled down into the drudgery of partial civilization. They are 
therefore harmless to travelers. They are dressed in clothes of camel's 
hair, with girdles of leather, and their wives wear the dark cotton robe of 
the fellaha, with an additional veil of crimson or white crape. Enterino- 
the river's fertile strip the Arab band is seen to approach a cluster of 
mud huts, under a grove of palms, and connected with a farm. 
They talk with the bailiff in charge of the land and the fellaheen, 
and quickly pitch their tents beside the hut. They have returned 
to watch his crops and cattle, for they have been found trust- 
worthy before, although it is impossible to foretell when their 
thieving propensities will seize upon them. Wandering, like the 
Arab, through the pyramid section, we find that an opportunity is 
given them to rob us in genteel civilized fashion. The sheik of a tribe 
has founded his village at the foot of one of the pyramids and compla- 
cently levies his tribute upon curiosity seekers, who, under the hallucina- 
tion that they will be "conducted" are rushed up its sides at railroad 
speed, over steps of three or four feet in height, by his impetuous and 
"lungless" Arabs. Still skirting along the Nile, or through Egypt, 
with its mid-days of white heat, its purple mountain shadows, its cold 

3 



n 
2 

w 
o 

H 

W 

r 










n,,i,uV'%,kl"ii 



' Hi 






JaU LJ_ 



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V m;,,jj 



jwol 



GLIDING UP THE NILE. 55 

twilights and mellow "after-glows," its deserts and gardens, its hills 
pierced with pictured tombs, its bee boats stopping wherever the tiowers 
ijloom, its boatmen's chants heard with choruses and clappings of hands, 
its boats built as they were in the days of the Pharaohs with their trian- 
gular sails, its limestone pyramids and sandstone temples — while 
wonderful nature and human life cast themselves and their moods over 
this country of Egyptian, Grecian and Roman ruins — "our special artist" 
finds — what ? Another specimen village, and the Bedouins have actually 
so far ventured into the confines of civilization as to settle in it. The 
village, which is a short distance from the beach, is thickly sprinkled 
with palms. A plot near by is also covered with gum trees. The 
houses are of the vulgar mud, but the large herd of cattle in the vicinity 
and the rich ornaments worn by the women, who are grouped near the 
river bank, are sufiicient evidences that the Bedouins have gained by 
changing their ways of living. If you had been inclined to visit the 
sheik of the village he would, perhaps, have spread a Persian carpet for 
you under the shade of one of these gum trees, and, in the presence 
of his chief men, would politely have inquired as to your goings and 
comings. His house is also open to you. But, it may be, you had 
better rest content with seeing the outside of the village, especially it 
you have any valuables which you wish to retain. 

Let us now pass Siout, from which the Nubian caravans are departing, 
and to which some of our fellah acquaintances have journeyed to lay mat- 
ters before the governor of Central Egypt which are too momentous to 
be settled by any village authority. Let us pass the Christian town of 
Ekhmin, with its Coptic convent and its great ruins, and even the broad 
plain covered with the remains of fallen Thebes, her dark mountain 
tombs in the back-ground. All these wonders, of which you may read 
in hundreds of books and see them stand forth from thousands of bold 
engravings, are lightly skimmed over, only to enter a modest village 
beyond and see what is going on there. In Siout the governoi may 
dispense justice as he pleases for all the interest we takt in his grand 
ways — but here is a village court-house ! It would correspond to our 
•county court, several villages and towns bringing their legal affairs to it, 
and is crowded with handsome, sturdy peasants. At the door stand the 
keepers — two half-naked lads with long sticks. The room is small and 
approached by a narrow, dirty staircase. Many of the windows are 
broken, the panes being stuffed with rags or a ragged curtain to keep 
out the sun. At a number of inky, crazy-looking wooden desks in front, 
sit several scribes writing ; while on a ragged divan, with soiled cushions, 
sit a dozen more, each with paper or inkhorn of brass in his girdle or his 



36 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

hand. Each head scribe chants out the contents of his paper, in a 
sonorous, but not very loud tone of voice, to his assistant, who copies it. 
The dinner hour having arrived, does the court adjourn? That would 
hardly accord with the dignity of the Turkish judge. A lad brings into 
the court-room a tray, upon which are vegetables, bread, cheese and a, 
watermelon ; whereupon the Court, with two of his assistants, calmly 
proceed to dip their bits of bread in the vegetable dishes and go through 
the whole course. Then, leisurely wiping their hands, they resume 
work. 

In the village, outside of the sleepy court-room, a lively scene is. 
found in the shape of the weekly market. We see no booths, but each 
seller spreads his wares before him on little mats ; cloth, wool, tobacco, 
butter, salt, curds, handkerchiefs, sugar, coffee, thread, etc., are displayed 
for sale. Veiled women, decorated according to their condition with 
colored glass or white shells, silver bracelets, golden coins or antique 
jewels, chat, examine and sometimes buy. Gentle Egyptian cattle wander- 
about unmolested. The fellaha even appears as a "sales-lady" beside 
her pile of egg-plants or gourds, and shrilly proclaims their virtues. A. 
Bedouin chief even appears upon his strong horse, his saddle furnished 
with cases of pistols. Elderly peasants, in turbans of white or crimson, 
sit in sunny spots, smoking and chatting over their bargains. All this 
animation and enjoyment and indolence are fondled by a bright Egyp- 
tian sun. These fairs are certainly a great institution of Egyptian 
peasant and village life. 

But adieu to the fair and to the village with its mud huts, some 
standing alone and some clustering around a common court-yard, some 
filled with vermin and others with chickens in all stages of artificial 
development ; to clerical, priestly Copt, to brawny, mercurial fellah, and 
to picturesque, thievish Bedouin. We are traveling into Upper Egypt, 
where the valley of the Nile so contracts that the sandstone rocks over- 
hang the water. From these rugged cliffs were quarried the huge stones 
which went into the building of the ruined monuments and temples of 
Upper Egypt and Nubia. Here is the home of the Copt and his villages 
are scattered all along the rocky banks, his convents often crowning a 
precipitous height or the ruins of some imposing structure. He and his 
priest chose these dreary dwelling places when their ways of living were 
more ascetic than they now are ; when the early Christians hid themselves, 
in caves both from choice and from necessity ; but having once planted 
their feet in this rocky gorge the ties of kindred and the bonds of poverty 
have kept them there. With the roar of the cataracts in our ears we 
say good-bye to Egypt, but not to the Nile. 



ETHIOPIA ALONG THE NILE. 37 

ETHIOPIA ALONG THE NILE. 

The name " Ethiopia " calls up all the savage tribes, the mystery and 
•darkness of Central Africa. To our childhood mind an Ethiopian could 
be nothing but the blackest of the black ; a great, uncouth, thick-lipped 
beast, roaming over a vast territory which stared at us with fearful 
blankness from the center of Africa. Ethiopia included all the unknown, 
and the Ethiopian everything in man which was calculated to produce a 
nightmare. But the truth of the matter is that ancient Ethiopia was 
renowned even in Greece and Rome as a land of high civilization ; the 
Ethiopians were called " the blameless race " and the favored friends of the 
gods. In her mightiest days, Ethiopia was the rival of Egypt in all that 
was grand and glorious, as is attested by the ruins of her vast temples 
in Nubia, some of which were hewn from mountains of solid rock. Her 
tribes are now scattered from the northern confines of the Sahara desert, 
through Nubia, Abyssinia, along the banks of the Upper Nile and 
around the shores of its lakes, and into the most hidden recesses of the 
continent, where they merge with the true negroes of Soudan and Cen- 
tral Africa. They have scattered, and been driven, and settled in a ter- 
ritory stretching from Northern to Southern Africa, and from the Red 
Sea to the Atlantic, the best physical specimens of the ancient Ethio- 
pians being found in the Tuaricks of the central Sahara desert. Nubia 
was evidently the center of Ethiopian civilization, her present popula- 
tion consisting of the descendants of her ancient people, and of various 
tribes of Arabs, most of whom invaded the country in Mohammed's 
time. 

The first ray of intelligence which pierces the darkness enshrouding 
Ethiopian history and which bears upon the origin of the Nubians, as 
■we find them to-day, is that in the early part of the Christian era a pow- 
erful tribe of Lybians appeared south of Egypt who were called Nobatae, 
or Nuba. The Nuba now occupy a small tract of country below the ter- 
ritory of the Dongolese in Southern Nubia. They are supposed to be 
Berbers. 

THE DONGOLESE. 

The two most distinct tribes of Nubians, however, who have least 
-of the Arab blood, and are the truest types of natives in the country, are 
the Dongolese and the Shangallas. The Dongolese are also supposed 
to be the remains of the Lybian tribe of Nuba to whom the Romans 
;granted land south of the first cataract in return for which they protected 



38 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Egypt's frontier from the fierce attacks of Southern Ethiopian tribes. 
At first they were a Christian people and formed quite a powerful nation, 
whose capital was at Dongola and whose territory covered most of Lower 
Nubia, now inhabited by their Moslem conquerors, the Arabs. The 
vicinity of old Dongola, in the center of Nubia, seems to have been the 
nucleus of the ancient as well as the more modern Christian civilization. 
Here a Christian queen reigned over the Dongolese, and at the foot of 
a cliff which rises four hundred feet and formed the site of her capital 
are found five or six rock-hewn temples of vast magnitude. Their walls 
are covered with hieroglyphics, in high relief, representing figures and 
deeds of kings and gods. The houses of old Dongola are now mostly 
in ruins, but on the highest part of the rocky cliff a simple Coptic church 
rises into view. The walls are ornamented with crude paintings, and 
the attendant priest in his black robes, with his long and ragged hair, is 
wiping their unsightly and cracked surfaces with an old rag. Services 
have not been held in the church for many years, but the priest keeps 
guard within it and reads his Amharic bible all day long, and far into the 
night, by the light of the stars. So he does not mind the fact that nearly 
all its people have crossed the river and built themselves houses, and 
have gone to raising grain and fruits and cotton. This latter product 
requiring an abundant supply of water, a rude canal has been constructed 
communicating with the Nile. When the canal is dry water is conveyed 
across country in numerous small aqueducts, built on upright tim- 
bers, to the cotton fields beyond. None of this cotton finds its way to 
Lower Egypt ; but the people along the river for many miles and thous- 
ands of wandering Arabs wear clothes made in Old Dongola, or opposite 
its former site. There are many primitive looms in the vicinity, the 
light-colored Dongolese women working at them and turning out strips 
of cloth about ten feet in length and fifteen inches wide. A strip of thi^ 
cloth, simply rolled around the loins and shoulders of the Arab, with a 
pair of drawers, completes the dress of our nomadic customer. It is said 
to last him five or six years. Many of the children are sent out to mind 
the oxen which propel the " sakieh " wheels. You have seen them in the 
land of Egypt but did not know that under a palm, or rock near by, a 
half-naked girl or boy was lying apparently asleep. But let the monot- 
onous creaking stop for a moment and a shrill cry would start the patient 
beasts on their everlasting rounds, and the water would continue to flow 
over the fields. If not thus employed they are seen along the river 
banks fishing with hook or trap for the muddy-tasting shall, bultee or 
kharmoot ; they are waging an exciting warfare with the white ants which 
sometimes threaten the scant household furnishings of their homes ; or 




AFRICA. 



THE SHANGALLAS. 39 

they are out picking cotton or sewing seed. We find the Dongolese 
living in the same wretched huts as the Egyptians, consisting often of 
one room, with a court-yard for the goats and fowl. Though the fertile 
strip of the Nile averages ten or twelve miles through the one hundred 
miles covered by the territory of the Dongolese, and bears two annual 
crops of corn and dates, cotton, tobacco, coffee, opium, indigo, sugar- 
cane, beans and saffron, they are indolent by nature and prefer to collect 
slaves in the further regions of the Nile and sell them in Egypt. They 
raise fine cattle, also, which require less attention than the crops, and 
pride themselves on the superior breed of their horses, which are, indeed, 
larger than the Arabian. As has been intimated, the Dongolese are 
whiter than the Nubians in general. They seem originally to have been 
a tribe living north of the Ethiopians, and have had a slight mixture of 
Arabian and Mameluke, or Circassian blood. Driven from Egypt, 
where they were once the ruling power, the Mamelukes founded New 
Dongola, but finally, as a people, became extinct. The Mamelukes were 
driven out by the Turks who still garrison the town with negroes from 
the White Nile. 

THE SHANGALLAS. 

A relic of the most degraded of the Ethiopian tribes are the Shan- 
gallas found in the country to the west of Abyssinia and in Southeastern 
Nubia, although the boundary line between the two countries is very 
indefinite. Though savage and bloodthirsty in an extreme degree in 
their attacks upon rival tribes and travelers entering Abyssinia, some 
rays of humanity still gleam from their natures ; for they always spare 
women and children. They are powerfully built, from the waist upward, 
and so swift of foot that they scarcely ever employ beasts for riding. 
They use the spear and the two-edged sword common in all this por- 
tion of Africa, and though they are at constant war with the partially 
Europeanized people of Abyssinia who are armed with comparatively 
modern weapons, they are so fearless and hardy that their numbers do 
not seem to diminish. In their mode of warfare, they also evince a 
singular love of "fairness." They never mutilate the persons of the 
fallen and, except in a regular attack, two will never attack one. Let 
twenty Shangallas meet an enemy, and instead of a cowardly and over- 
powering onslaught, lots would be cast, and he upon whom the choice 
fell, would go forth fiercely to meet his adversary, the others looking on 
at the combat, with perfect indifference, even if it should end in their 
comrade's death. Their chief food is meat and wild honey, with which 



40 ■ ' PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

their country abounds, and in the rainy season they Hve often in caves, 
where large fires are kept hghted night and day. Many of these caves 
are capable of containing a whole village, and in them they often take 
refuge from the attacks of the Abyssinians who seldom venture into 
their country except in large force. The Shangallas live to a great 
extent on roots, and on the carcasses of elephants, slain by Abys- 
sinian hunters who have ventured over the border. These they frequently 
dispute with the lions. They eat also snakes of all kinds. When alone 
in the jungle the Shangalla fills his large gourd with water and wild 
honey, catches his snake and cuts ofT its head with his sword, lights two 
immense fires, roasts his snake on the embers, then he gorges himself, 
and stretches out his naked body between the fires. If he is not seized 
by a man-eating lion, or trampled upon by an elephant, he awakes, 
drains the contents of the gourd well fermented by the heat, and starts 
off in search of man or beast. His courage is fortified by the same 
liquor ("pale mead") which the ancient Britons drank. 

Strange to say, the Shangallas have a deep-rooted prejudice against 
making any attacks at night and they never start on an expedition with- 
out consulting the birds, whose chirpings they say they understand. If 
a bad omen encounters them on the road, they quit the prey even if in 
sight of it and return for the day. The hunters from Abyssinia who 
come into the Shangalla's country for elephants have many like notions ; 
they, for instance, will only descend from the hills into the jungle below 
for seven days at a time. Although the border people of the Shangallas 
have an exciting time of it with Abyssinian hunters and soldiers, ele- 
phants, rhinoceros, buffaloes and lions, and live as they can, those in the 
interior have fat flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. From these few 
particulars it will be seen how widely separated they are from the indo- 
lent and fair-skinned Dongolese with their crude cotton looms, their 
cultivated lands, their boats coming from the Blue and the White Nile 
laden with gum, senna, ivory and slaves, their bazaars and dancing girls, 
their negro soldiers and their Turkish officials. Here are the two 
extremes. 

Remnants also of the northern race or tribes who assisted Egypt in 
her continual war with Ethiopia are supposed to exist in the Bisharien, 
who inhabit the desert east of the river and live entirely upon flesh and 
milk, and the Takas who live in the mountains. A number of negro or 
Ethiopian tribes are scattered along the Blue and White Nile, some of 
them being the remnants of a crude state called the Kingdom of Sennar 
which gave the Egyptians an immense amount of trouble before they were 
brought into any kind of subjection. There are also several collections 



THE SHANGALLAS. 



41 



■of oases In South Nubia inhabited by black warhke tribes, some of whom 
are clad in iron armor and are fine horsemen. 

Generally speaking, the Arabs proper occupy the northern third of 
Nubia, the majority of those who make even a pretense of having an 
occupation acting as guides to caravans and as camel drivers, and letting 
out camels for hire. The only tax which the government imposes on the 
Arabian population is to fix a price at w^hich their camels must be sup- 
plied. This is somewhat less than they can obtain from traveling 
merchants, and although they are allowed to roam the country at their 
own "sweet will" they are great grumblers when called upon by the 
government to fulfill their part of the agreement. The Wady-el-Kab is 
a large oasis with many wells, 
extending more than a hun- 
dred miles, parallel to the Nile 
and about fifty miles to the 
west of it. Here, in the dry 
■season, many thousands of 
camels are gathered. It is 
therefore the general meeting 
place of government officials 
and travelers who wish to hire 
camels. Another class of 
Arabs have partially settled 
•down on the banks of the 
river, intermarried with the 
iixed population and devoted 
themselves the greater part of 
the year to agriculture. They 
are also liable to this species 
of mild demand on the part of 
the government and bear a 
tax in proportion to the num- 
ber of water wheels they run, 
in common with the rest of 
the agricultural population. 

The typical Nubian, as he has been formed by a blending of Arab- 
ian, Berber, Circassian, Ethiopian and negro tribes, is a handsome, dark- 
brown mulatto — bold, frank, cheerful and lazy. In Upper Nubia his 
villages show some evidences of enterprise, some of the houses being two 
stories high, and built in quite a pleasing fashion of a kind of concrete. 
Others are constructed in the following manner, and in Eg)-pt the fellah 




A NUBIAN. 



42 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

or poor Copt, would consider them quite in the nature of palaces : A 
circle of strong posts, each a yard apart and about twenty feet in 
diameter, are interlaced with pliable branches of trees which are covered 
with stalks tied together with long river grass. The skeleton of the roof^ 
which is formed on the ground, is made of beams corresponding to the 
posts of the wall, and when raised in position is covered with a thatch of 
straw and grass upon a bed of plaited twigs. The roofs of these houses 
are in many instances occupied by storks who form their nests around 
the apex. 

NUBIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 

The last heard of Egypt, was the roaring of the Nile's First Cataract 
which ushers us into Nubia — the land of granite and sandstone ; of flowery 
islands and grim Ethiopian temples; of myth and music; of desert waste 
and wandering tribes ; of gold and slaves and the conglomeration of many- 
families of men. Assouan, the frontier town, is the gate to Ethiopia. 
Here the Nile encounters rocky islands and unyielding cliffs and protests; 
at the change in much foaming and rushing of waters. It has been scv 
peaceable heretofore, that we must call this pouring of its floods through 
this narrow channel, over rocks and islets, a "cataract." From Assouan 
we had best ascend the rapids in our "dahabieh," or native boat. We 
are dashed hither and thither as if our destination were nowhere and 
seem to be having a much more exciting time than the little brown Nubians 
who are coolly launching themselves into the boiling stream on logs 
of wood, their clothing, if they have any, being carried in a bundle over 
their heads. They are simply descending the cataract in their passage 
across the river, while we are ascending it. Having been rowed inta 
still water one may soon reach the island of Philse, which is implicitly 
believed by many of the natives to be the dwelling place of the god who. 
blesses the Nile and causes it to rise and bless the soil. As proof you 
may see his very temple there. The fertile strip is, as a rule, more nar- 
row in Nubia than in Egypt, three-fourths of the country being waste ; so 
that were it not for the fact that water wheels are as plentiful as 
Ethiopian ruins we should be tempted to be skeptical on the score of the 
power of Isis, this god of the Nile. But Isis, with the help of the water- 
wheels, does very well, considering the material he has to work with. 
The soil, however, can support but a scanty population and many of its 
inhabitants emigrate to the large cities of Lower Egypt to find employ- 
ment. Much of the work in the fields is therefore done by women and 
children, and it is possible that this is one explanation of the general 
prevalence of polygamy. In many parts of Nubia the wife is purchased 



44 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

■of the parents with money. The standard price of a wife among the 
Arabs is six camels, three going to the bridegroom. 

As you pass along the river or the roadside near it, you have ample 
time to observe many clear-cut faces, especially among the girls who are 
in the fields or gathered about a well to draw water. The one disagree- 
able thing about them all is the castor oil which not only exudes from 
the bare skin of their body but seems about to drip from their cork-screw 
curls. The costume of the young Nubian girl, aside from a light veil 
thrown over her head, is a short petticoat of tiny strips of leather, orna- 
mented with shells and beads. The women wear a tunic of camel-hair, 
looped upon each shoulder and leaving the arms bare. The men wear 
turbans usually, and linen, cotton and woolen garments, their weapons a 
.lance and a shield, the latter being made of the hide of a hippopotamus. 
The Nubians and many of the tribes further south, along the Upper Nile, 
are much given to dancing and music, their chief instrument being a guitar 
of five strings with a sounding board of gazelle hide. In common with 
all semi-civilized nations, their commercial facilities are of the crudest 
kind. They have no national currency but receive the coins of Egypt 
and Europe, also measuring the value of their exchanges with glass beads, 
coral, cloth, skirts and cows. Maize is measured by the handful ; cloth 
from the elbow to the fingers. All these things you learn by gliding up 
the Nile and keeping your ears and eyes open. Ascending the White 
river higher and higrher, the iron-clad tribes and the warlike horsemen of 
Southern Nubia are left behind. The banks of the river and the shores 
of the lakes which lead up to its source are swarming with savage life and 
peculiarities. Our next excursion will be into that very country v/hich 
was the nightmare of our youthful days, although even there we may 
find traits which might cause civilization itself a momentary confusion, as 
we did among the savage, but fair-minded warriors of the Shangallas. 

UNORGANIZED ETHIOPIA. 

Various tribes of Arabs of pastoral-nomadic habits live along both 
sides of the river until the outposts of Nubia are reached. Afterwards 
Ethiopia comes more prominently into view in the persons of the Chilluks 
and the Dinkas, tribes whose worship is almost confined to the cow. 
The specimens which they present of their divinity are poor and 
forlorn and give but little milk. But they never kill them for food : 
firstly, because of their superstition and secondly, because the sheik of 
every tribe detains as slaves those who do not possess at least one cow. 
Whatever their condition might have been at one time, and the Chilluks 




CENTRAL AFRICA WAR WEAPONS. 



46 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



are said to have formerly been the founders of a kingdom in Sennar, 
they are now a miserable people. They inhabit a country of jungles ard 
bogs, the haunts of swarms of huge mosquitoes, of lions, leopards, hippo- 
potami, buffaloes and crocodiles. They seem not to have the ambition or 
courage to emigrate to a more favored district and rest satisfied with keep- 




A TATTOOED WARRIOR. 

ing their enemies at a distance by setting fire to the heaps of refuse which 
surround their villages. Almost too timid to hunt, they live upon the 
detestable fish which the Nile affords, and under the curtain of the 
dense clouds of smoke which hang over their huts, they wander round 
in idleness. The only industry which they really engage in is that of 



UNORGANIZED ETHIOPIA. 47 

faithfully smearing their bodies with muck and ashes. Their jaws are 
usually very protuberant and they think to add to the "beauty" of their 
appearance by knocking out some of their front teeth, usually two above 
and two below. Also by thrusting pieces of wood through their lips, 
which remain there as permanent ornaments, their conversation is 
accompanied by a lively clatter as if upon the castanets. About the 
-only thing in the way of an accomplishment which these tribes show is 
monopolized by the women or the girls, who make some pretensions in 
the terpsichorean art ; but even their proficiency is left far behind by the 
girl of the Njam-Njam nation whose country is several hundred miles 
to the south. 

The Njam-Njams seem to be a tribe of rovers. Their women are 
noted for their grace and beauty and are taken as slaves by the chiefs 
of all the tribes who so desire. It is said that their own people sell 
them and that the women themselves do not consider their condition 
slavery. They are copper colored, short in stature, with small 
hands and feet. Like the men, their ankles, arms and necks are 
encased in a perfect c lat of mail, either of steel or copper rings. The 
head is kept painfully elevated by the choking necklace, while the ears, 
nose and mouth are either brass or iron-clad. Naturally, when any of 
the great sheiks hold a congo, or dance, they are in great' demand and 
come, voluntarily, from many miles distant. The leading musical instru- 
ment upon such occasions is a wooden horse beaten on its sides 
with drumsticks, or a sort of a frame-work made of banana trees. They 
also have horns made of elephant tusks. 

Beyond a vast stretch of dreary country are found the Baris, a tall 
tribe of warriors and agriculturists. They have numerous villages and 
great herds of cattle, but are treacherous and cowardly. This tribe go 
naked, and shave the head and face, smearinor the skin with an oxide of 
iron mixed with grease, or a powder which they obtain from a certain 
tree. Every chief has for the sole use of his people one or more of 
these trees which he jealously guards. They are armed with bow and 
arrow and lance, speak a not unmusical language and always call each 
other "giglie," or friend. Their camps or villages are encircled with 
straw palisades to keep off lions, leopards and wild cats. The Baris are 
the last of the native tribes, along the Nile, who are under the jurisdic- 
tion of Egypt. 

The Njam-Njams live to the west of the Baris. The women are 
pleasing and the men are warlike. The tribe seems to be allied to the 
Caffres both in its mode of warfare and physical characteristics. In fact 
.traces of this people are found in tribes which inhabit the lake regions 



48 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of Central Africa, the coasts of Zanzibar and Mozambique, and along; 
the banks of the Zambesi river. The Njam-Njams, in common with 
their neighbors, manufacture a kind of cloth from the bark of the wild 
fig tree, which they make into waist clothes, but they are very fond of 
the European fabric, and are frequently hired to make war against less 
skillful tribes by presents of cotton cloth. They are remarkably mus- 
cular and agile, and engage the enemy hand-to-hand, slashing and stab- 
bing with a huge knife. Their assailants may be the Baris, who use 
poisoned arrows, but the Njam-Njams, protecting their bodies with won- 
derful quickness from the shower of deadly missiles, bound into their 
ranks and cut or stab many to death. Not content with this they pur- 
sue survivors into the villages, which they raze to the ground, taking cat- 
tle, provisions, women and everything which they consider of value. 
With all their bravery in the fight, they are undoubtedly cannibals and 
often feast, after their battles, upon the flesh of their enemies. To the 
inquiries of the curious who have ventured among them they usually 
give the outside world to understand that they eat human flesh only 
when other meat is scarce, and when nature craves a stronger diet than 
their usual one of bananas. 

Contrary to the general supposition, the boldest native seldom 
attacks the elephant with his lance. The country of the Baris and the 
Njam-Njams is a great "stamping-ground" for the mastodon. Con- 
cealed in the branches of some huge tree sits the hunter, having in his 
hand a huge loaded spear which he lets drop upon the back of the great 
beast as he passes underneath. The wound may not be at once fatal, 
but if the hunter is at all skillful it usually proves so, eventually. 
Another plan is to dig deep trenches that are covered with leaves and 
sticks, though this mode of capture has become so "old a story" that 
the wary elephant seldom falls into the trap. A large area of the tall 
jungle grass is selected by the sheik of the village and a wide space 
cleaned completely around it. When a large herd of elephants enter 
the jungle to feed, the grass is fired The beasts rush in all directions, 
and those which are not trampled to death or suffocated, meet their fate 
at the hands of the natives, who form a living wall beyond the fire. The 
blackened, though uninjured, tusks go to the chiefs ; the people have 
the flesh. 

The marriage custom of these people consists in the suitor present- 
ing the father of his intended with as many huge knives as his generos- 
ity, or anxiety, or affection, may prompt. The handle is curiously 
wrought, and wound with copper wire. When the warrior receives his 



)]3^iP||P|llf|Pfil' 



'^.. 




< 

•A 

< 

1— < 

O 



OS' 

C/2' 

(-► 
Z 

O 



"^O 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



bride, she comes to him quite unornamented, and he must go to work 
and make the countless rings which embelhsh her. 

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA. 

The shores of Lake Victoria Nyanza and the regions roundabout 
simply swarm with strange savage life. One tribe who are said to be mor- 




PRINCESS AND WARRIOR OF UGUNDA. 



ally far superior to most of the natives of Africa pronounce their words 
like yelping dogs, which may be partially accounted for by the fact 
that they perforate the lip and introduce therein either a piece of copper, 
or a well shaped bead held in its place by a head like a nail. These peo- 
ple bring to bear all the powers of their mind, so far as dress goes, upon 
the construction of fantastic and wonderful head-dresses. The natives 



ON THE SHORES OF LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA. 



51 



in this region who make a specialty of clothes, manufacture them from 
the bark of a wild fig tree. This they cut into strips, beat with a 
peculiar wooden instrument and sew together in large sheets. The 
"togas" thus formed are tied over the left shoulder. Their milk jars 
and pots are fashioned into many curious devices and are a fine kind of 
ware. They arm themselves with the spear or lance and when they 
sally forth upon a campaign, their wives accompany them. This arrange- 
ment does not seem either to be entirely for " company's sake." The 
women form the commissary department of the army. They carry the 
provisions and grind the grain between two stones to sustain the soldiers 
on the march. Upon being attacked, or charging the enemy, the women 
are usually sent to the rear with the baggage. The chief is arrayed in 







AUDIENCE HALL OF THE KING. 



a dark robe, ornamented with graceful lines and rows of black dots, and 
wears sandals upon his feet. 

At length on the shores of Lake \^ictoria Nyanza we come upon a 
nation which has made the wearing of clothing obligatory. The land of 
the Ugundi, with its " M'Tse," has become celebrated as the scene of 
the most astounding contradictions in savage life. The roads approach- 
ing his dominions are broad and kept in good order. The country has 
a national standard, consisting of a red and white flag, from which hang 
three strips of long-haired monkey skin. When the column is upon the 
march, horns and drums keep up a deafening din ; its volume is swelled, 
if possible, by a vocal imitation of the crow, given by the whole army^ 
the whole performance forcibly reminding one of a political procession 
in our own country. A solid body of lancers forty or fifty front, and a 



52 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



collection of skirmishers on each side of them armed with firelocks and 
decked with fez of flannel and black feathers, march along the broad 
road toward the palace of the king. A succession of hills covered with 
banana groves roll away toward the lake and every point of elevation 
is covered with a clothed native, as the king's body-guard, escorting 
some honored guest, go marching on to meet the king himself who 
stands at the outer gate of the palace. This is situated on a hill and in 
the center of an amphitheater formed by seven high palisades. The 
palace is a large pyramidal hut, supported by interior columns. It is 
approached by seven gates, the intervals between the palisade walls 
being occupied by the houses of the king's ministers. The king 
welcomes his guest and is followed by his commander-in-chief, body- 




UGUNDA HUTS. 



guard and procession. As they pass through each gate a huge cow-bell 
wildly proclaims the progress of the royal march. The king is of a 
light copper tint, dressed in a long cloak of blue cloth, trimmed with 
gold. Around his head is wound a white turban. His waist is 
encircled by a golden belt, from which is suspended a scimetar, and his 
feet are encased in sandals. Seated upon a chair over which is thrown a 
cloth of gold, the king receives the reports of his various ministers who 
throw themselves upon their faces before him. Afterwards the distin- 
guished guest is entertained by witnessing the most horrible scenes of 
decapitation, practiced by his official headsmen upon those who have 
come under the royal displeasure. The beating of drums and the toot- 
ing of horns accompany these bloody deeds. And this in a country 
where clothes are required to be worn by legislative enactment ; in 
which a regular currency is in circulation consisting of European goods, 
copper and shells ; where there are tanners and iron makers of modern 



ON THE SHORES OF VICTORIA NYANZA. 53 

proficiency ; In which the territory is not only divided into districts but 
the government has regular departments of state, 

Uo-unda is the land of bananas. From the fruit is extracted an 
unfermented and delicious liquor of which the females are extrava- 
gantly fond, most of them carrying gourds around their necks filled with 
it and from which they drink from time to time. The water in the 
stock of the tree is drunk when the pure article is not easily obtained. 
The men extract the banana liquor and ferment it. The cattle raised 
in this country are of the choicest breeds. The soil is cultivated by the 
women, the sterner sex giving their time to war or elephant hunting. 
Sugar-cane is considered a great luxury, and very often one sees the 
Ugunda passing by, chewing the end of a long stalk that trails behind 
him. The walls of the huts are also made of sugar-cane, roofed with 
jungle grass, the interior being divided into compartments and kept very 
clean. Whatever may be said of the abominable practices of many of 
these tribes, as we approach the Equator (where the Ugunda nation is) 
it is remarkable how much neater their habitations are as a rule, than 
those of nations farther north. Even the poorer classes of Egyptians 
and Nubians suffer in comparison. The regulation which has been no 
ticed in regard to clothing may also have a sanitary bearing, the nature 
of which would not be suspected by those who have not experienced an 
equatorial climate. Except during April the atmosphere is " chronic- 
ally" damp and the nights are invariably cold. In the day time when 
the sun breaks through the clouds the heat is such as has made Central 
Africa a fearful charnel house for the average European. 

On the contrary, the lower grades of animal and all vegetable life 
appear at their best. The lion and elephant, the hippopotomus, the 
rhinoceros, the crocodile and the ourang-outang are as much products of 
the tpics as the gigantic baobab, or cotton tree. The ostrich, the 
largest of birds, grows under the encouragement of African climate as do 
the giant quadrupeds. The python and the asp glide among towering 
trees and flaming flowers, while the giraffe reaches a height which 
almost makes one suspect that he should after all be classed as a vegetable. 

Near the sources of the Nile, around the shores of Victoria 
Nyanza and Albert Nyanza — which both lie under the equator — there are 
not only several kingdoms of natives, but animal life reaches the height 
of its development. Hippopotami and crocodiles frequent their banks 
and large herds of elephants come down to their shores to drink. 

The Ugunda country lies on the northern and northwestern borders 
of Victoria Nyanza being wooded and gently sloping toward the shores, 
or low, grassy and fertile, and drained by channels lined with rushes. 



54 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



From this region the Victoria Nile flows in a northwesterly direction 
toward Albert Nyanza, the country being quite hilly and rough in char- 
acter. About twenty miles from the second lake, the river suddenly 
contracts to about one-fourth its former size and shoots through a gorge 
and over a precipice, breaking into a torrent of foam and presenting a 
picture of great beauty and majesty. Having spent its force in this 
grand outburst of enthusiasm the Nile continues the balance of its jour- 
ney mildly and even sluggishly. 

Albert Nyanza, named in honor of Prince Albert, as the other body 
of water honors the Queen, abounds in mammoth fish and animals, and 
and the contrast between its white waters and the lofty, blue mountains 
which rise from its western shores is most delicate and picturesque. 
Much of the eastern shore is fringed with steep cliffs, but toward the 
north where the white Nile makes its exit it becomes level and marshy. 
The Albert Nyanza is also surround by negro states, but none of them 
have become as civilized as the Ugundi. The kingdom of Malagga is 
found established among the western mountains. 

The Nyanzas were discovered by the African travelers, Speke, 
Grant and Baker. With the natives Nyanza means a large body of 
water, but it is generally considered as a proper name applied to the 
equatorial lakes. 






R^J4Hk)^Kjli^^!^{fS 


^^^^^^P^^^^^^ 








i^E^^^^S^ 


^^S^^fe^^^^^^^^^^ 




^^[J^^S^ 


'^!^^^^S^§?''i&^^--«=i ^'-^^^^i^^^^^^^i^'^/^^^^^^^S^ 






^^^"^'^'^^^^W.x!^^'^^ /'-r^l^lJjjc;^'^-^^ 










^^gj^i;<^3^"^^r^s^j^*Kgjy^^w^ ^^^^p^^ ral 




•^^tg'g^a£?y' 


^^&?f^^?3^SSS:^l-fe^?»=rST^S^-:^-^Pf^|?=!^^»i 



ABYSSINIA. 




BYSSINIA is an immense table-land, broken up into plat- 
eaux, and forming a water-shed for the waters of its rivers 
and lakes which flow toward the Red Sea and the Nile. 
Toward the Red Sea the descent from the highlands is very 
abrupt ; toward the Nile it is very gradual. From the rich 
agricultural plains of Abyssinia, lying a mile or two above 
the level of the sea, the tributaries of the Nile receive the 
waters of a vast region, which, during the rainy season, 
wash into their channels from thousands of valleys and 
gorges. From one series of plateaux to another they pour, 
the Atbara River especially ("The Terrible," its name implies) 
dashing tumultuously down rocky precipices toward the sands of Nubia. 
From a country of beautiful lakes and springs, and flowing through 
a fertile grain region, comes the Blue Nile itself, carrying in its 
depths the precious freight for deposit in Nubia and Egypt. The 
climate of such a grand region of rich plateaux and valleys, pure 
lakes and springs, is naturally temperate and healthful. Only on the 
eastern coast and in the sandy regions bordering on Nubia could any 
excuse be offered for describing the Abyssinian country as "a seething 
caldron." Its purifying thunder-storms pass over waving fields of 
barley and oats, on the heights, and, on the lower plateaux, its 
lightnings reveal the plantations of wheat, rice, cotton and coffee. 
From its dark mountains, covered with gloomy forests of pine, deep 
ravines which are carpeted with long grass and moss, lead down to 
undulating plains on which are tethered noble horses, with here and 
there cottages peeping from groups of trees, fields of grain or a wild 
tangle of grape vine. The golden-crested crane, the scarlet-beaked 
heron or the lordly eagle deck out the natural features of a noble 
country. In the midst of this charming variety — Switzerland, Italy and 
England, all concentrated here — one discordant element makes of 
Abyssinia "^ seething caldron." 

Abyssinia is a kingdom in name and boasts a royal line from the 



56 



PANORAMA OF NATIOISTS. 



Queen of Sheba herself, who is said to have ruled over the northern part 
of the country when she visited King Solomon. Its history, however, 
both past and present, is little more than a succession of revolts of the 
independent tribes to the north, and the fierce southern people who are 
under the sway of the savage Gallas, the " Tartars of Africa." The ter- 
ritory of Abyssinia to the Galla country has seldom been under the con- 
trol of an acknowledged king or military governor. The tribes or the 
people of the tribes who have joined the Coptic Church and draw their 

religion and their superstitions 
from it, are called by the 
natives " Abyssinias ; " and all 
other Ethiopians. In other 
words, the country inhabited 
by those who have to some 
extent forgotten their tribal 
differences, is called Abyssinia. 
The people of Abyssinia have 
been divided into three distinct 
races. The aboriginal Abys- 
sinians inhabit most of the 
central portion of the country, 
called Amhara, and are also 
found in the northern sections. 
They are of middle size, with 
oval faces, lips not thicker than 
H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l^^^^^^-^ those of Europeans, pointed 
^^^^^^^^^^p^^^^i :h|^^^?~ noses and straight or slightly 

curled hair. A second race, 
abounding most in Tigre, the 
northernmost district of Abys- 
sinia, have thick lips, noses 
blunt and somewhat curved, 
thick hair verging on woolliness, and their speech betrays many marks 
of the ancient Ethiopian tongue. The third are the Gallas, " The Tar- 
tars of Africa," who have crowded into Abyssinia from the South and 
spread the terror of their might over the coast regions of the continent 
to a point beyond the equator. They are a large-bodied race, round- 
faced, short-nosed, with a depression between the nose and the brow, 
with deep-set lively eyes and thick lips. With this general introduction 
we must proceed to interview the tribes in the north and discuss some 
features of their restless life ; then come further south and learn of a 





AN ABYSSINIAN WARRIOR. 



ABYSSINIA. 



57 



crude and yet somewhat Europeanized power, and then pass to the South 
into the land of the Gallas, who, with many of the characteristics of the 
African still remind us of the savage warriors of Europe, upon whose 
ferocity the hardy virtues of civilization were built. 

First come the Bedouin tribes from near the Nubian plains, and 
the coast of the Red Sea. Their districts abound with gazelles and 
ostriches, with lions, hyenas and jackals. They carry on a small trade 
in hides with Egypt, and also export quantities of gum-arabic. Their 
villages are sometimes stationary, but usually these restless ones may be 
seen moving about in search of the best pasturage, their camels loaded 
with all their house- 
hold goods, including 
their huts. These 
are made of long 
canes tied together 
at the top. When 
they encamp for the 
niorht thev bend them 
in the shape of bee- 
hives and cover them 
with mats. Arrang- 
ingf their huts in a 
circular form, they 
dispose their flocks 
and herds in the cen- 
ter and then proceed 
to their simple diet 
of milk and maize 
bread. This their wives have already prepared and they are soon 
grouped around in various lazy attitudes, their enormous frizzled heads 
of hair, stuck through with long pieces of wood, bobbing in a ridiculous 
fashion as they drink, eat and chatter. Their head-dress stamps them as 
quasi-Abyssinians. The neighbors of these Bedouins are tribes who 
live with their cattle among the hill ranges bordering the Red Sea, and 
are literally ground between two millstones. Mostly converts to Coptic 
Christianity the Moslem governor frequently requires some token of 
their submission to Turkey, and as they are often obliged to descend into 
the Abyssinian valleys with their herds and flocks they are forced to pay 
the chief of Tigre something for the accommodation. Many of the 
tribes in this country were formerly under the rule of Abyssinia and are 
the purest representatives of the Ethiopian race to be found for a long 




AN AP.YSSINIAN KING. 



58 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

distance. Covering the surface of one of their plains, for many square 
miles, is found one of the most curious evidences of primitive life in the 
world, in the form of a bewildering jumble of granite rocks. Some of 
them are fashioned into the shape of caves ; others are smooth and pol- 
ished on all sides, as if worked with a chisel, and make quite respectable 
houses. In some of the broad surfaces are niches large enough for seats ; 
others are sufficiently capacious to lie in. Ancient inscriptions are 
found on these rocks which have not been deciphered, although the rocky 
huts are thought to indicate the existence of a village settled by some 
primitive people ; perhaps the Troglodytes, a rude shepherd tribe from 
Arabia and the supposed descendants of Cush, the son of Ham, the son 
of Noah. Here, it may be, lived a people who saw the advance guard 
of the great tide of emigration which passed from Asia into Africa and 
became the progenitors of the Ethiopian race and the Ethiopian civiliza- 
tion. At other localities there are the marks of an immense fixed popu- 
lation, such as no doubt existed even when the Queen of Sheba ruled on 
both sides of the Straits of Babel-mandeb. 

Among other queer superstitions which have taken hold of these 
border tribes is that each small village or settlement must have its sacred 
cow, on which depends the life of the whole herd and therefore the very 
existence of the villagers. The cow must be of one breed and her milk 
drawn into vessels of earthenware, instead of into the wickerwork vases 
of the common cows. The milk must be drunk from these same vessels, 
as it would be sacrilege to pour it into any others. Should any of these 
regulations be omitted, the cows of the whole herd will become dry or 
die,°and as the people really live on milk it will be seen how calamitous 
would be such a misfortune. Living as they do, these tribes who are 
called Hababs, are well formed and graceful, an unusual quality with the 
women of Abyssinia. Their mourners are always women, and when a 
person of prominence has died they gather daily in a circle out of doors, 
and from a low moan work themselves up into such a frantic exhibition 
of grief as to leap into the air and throw themselves into all sorts of con- 
tortions. These " mourning bees " they continue every morning for at 
least a year and a month. If war or famine or disease should carry off 
many people of prominence it will readily be seen how busy the women 
would be kept. 

Tribes further to the west of the Hababs are more bold and war- 
like, making excursions often into the country of the Shangallas and 
taking even those hardy savages for slaves. This custom explains, in 
part, the extreme ferocity which the Shangallas show toward ajiything 
which has the least odor of Abyssinia, and the persistency with which 



ABYSSINIA. 59 

they haunt the roads leading into that country and keep travelers in a 
constant state of trepidation. 

The Shihos, unHke the Shangallas, seem to be robbers from cool 
choice, and no man would venture into their country, which commands 
the only good road into Abyssinia, were it not that much time is 
saved in taking that thoroughfare and that within their territory 
are immense plains of salt. Abyssinian workmen, protected by a large 
armed force, are constantly digging out salt, with stakes, in small 
oblong pieces. These are carried away by men, girls or donkeys and 
form the currency of the country, except in Tigre where it is too plen- 
tiful. By the time the piece of salt money, which is in size about 
8x2X1 1-2 inches, has reached the Galla country its value has greatly 
enhanced from loss, breakage, abrasion and the tollage imposed. Each 
lump is there subdivided into sixteen layers, so that the owner may 
make small purchases. This article is there so highly prized that the 
children of the prosperous tie little lumps to their girdles which they suck 
from time to time as choice tid-bits. The last tribe deserving mention 
among those who now occupy territory which has been wrested from 
Abyssinia by the Turks, are the Dankalis. Their country is a level 
plain over which roam ostriches, wild asses, gazelles and their own fat 
cattle and sheep. They are favored with any number of fine wells, but 
sometimes are not able to approach them because of the herds of 
elephants which kneel around them to quench their thirst. A well will 
often be thus encompassed for two or three days. Such are the tribes 
inhabiting the border country of Abyssinia, who are in reality a portioa 
of its inhabitants. 

Striking across a faintly-defined boundary line into the country 
which acknowledges no Turk as master, we enter the political and tribal 
district of Tigre. Within this district is the Mecca of Abyssinia, the 
royal city of the Queen of Sheba — Axum, by name. Hither come all 
the kings of the country, who have of late years been few indeed, to 
be crowned by the High Priest of the Abyssinian Church, as the suc- 
cessor of Menelek, the son of Solomon. The " Regfister of Kinofs" is 
also kept here by the priesthood and scribes. It records the expeditions 
against rival tribes, the uprisings of tribe against tribe and chief 
against king, and the extent and changes of empire, which once included 
the coast of Africa from Zanzibar to Nubia, and the country from the 
shores of the Red Sea to Kordofan. Axum also boasts of possessing 
the principal church of Abyssinia, built of stone and in the form of an 
oblong. This is said to conceal the true ark which was stolen from the 
Jews. The modern town is built about the church and a number of pon- 



■6o PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

derous obelisks. The latter rest upon large square blocks of stone, 
having runnels cut into them, and some antiquarians maintain that they 
were originally used as altars on which the atoning victim was offered. 
The church enclosures are a safe refuge for all criminal and political 
offenders. A country permeated with such legends and associations 
would naturally become the dwelling place of many of the Hebrew race, 
aside from those who have been natives of Abyssinia since " the memory 
of man runneth back." The Jews have, in fact, been always classified as 
among the aborigines of the country. In modern times they have upheld 
the highest civilization of Abyssinia, which has centered around Gondar, 
its capital, being noted especially as skilled artisans and mechanics. All 
the manufacturers of cotton cloth are Moslems ; all the builders and 
artisans are Jews. 

A NATION OF WARRIORS. 

But primarily the Abyssinians are a nation of warriors, or a collec- 
tion of fighters, overshadowed by priests and superstitions. Their kings 
must show a descent from Solomon, but the people who are Coptic con- 
verts flaunt the blue neck thread (the distinguishing badge of the Christ- 
ian) in the face of the Jew, and are even more arrogant to the indus- 
trious Moslem. During the many interregnums when there was no 
acknowledged king over Abyssinia, the " Ras," a grand military chief, 
and the "Aboona"or High Priest of the church, were supreme. The 
power of the Ras is even sometimes greater than that of the living king, 
whom he has often made and unmade. The drum is his great insignia 
of office. When the Ras is on the march with his army of gunners 
, spearmen and horsemen, forty-four mules loaded each with two drums 
and a drummer, precede the great chieftain. These eighty-eight drums 
comprise the "negarete," and when the drummers are taken by the 
enemy and the head drummer killed, the battle is counted as irredeem- 
ably lost. The different grades of office are also determined by the 
number of drums which the Ras is pleased to bestow. Should a chief- 
tain be privileged to beat forty-eight drums, he is held to be next in rank 
to the Ras himself. All proclamations are made by beating the drum. 
When a number of people in the chief's province are thus collected, the 
drummer repeats the proclamation and it then passes from mouth to 
mouth. This is done with faithful accuracy, for the leading chiefs pos- 
sess the power of life and death in their districts. Having received their 
territories from the Ras, they follow him to war with all the soldiers they 
can afford to maintain. 



A NATION OF WARRIORS. 



61 



Let us now march out the Ras and his army in Hne of battle. First 
comes his procession of mules, loaded with the eighty-eight drums ; then 
the Ras in trousers, belted war-shirt, open sleeves of handsome silk, and 
an outer skin of some kind bordered with red morocco and ornamented 
with silver. Inclosing his right fore-arm is a silver-gilt ornament, and on 
his head a silver coronet. On his left arm he bears a silver-gilt shield. 
His spears are highly polished, and his sword is a European blade^ with 
a handle of rhinoceros horn. Mounted on a spirited horse, this brave: 
figure is followed by his gun- 
ners, a body of some two 
thousand men, chiefly from 
the Tigre district. They use 
flint-locks and many of them 
carry bamboo rests by which 
to insure great accuracy of 
aim. Their dress consists 
of a pair of trousers, either 
ending" at the knee or a short 
distance below it, fitting 
close; a belt varying in length 
from 30 to even 180 feet, 
wound round and round the 
body; and a cloth or a kind 
of sheet. The hair is dressed 
in a variety of fashions, 
which are regulated by the 
deeds of valor which have 
been performed. His picked 
spearmen are stalwart war- 
riors. They carry round 
shields of buffalo hide, one 
or two spears seven feet in 
length, and small sheepskins 

over their shoulders. Following^ are men of distino^uished rank and brav* 
ery, well mounted, and the chiefs with their retainers. Some small 
pieces of artillery may bring up the rear. And so the army marches on, 
with its soldiers and camp followers, their bushy heads and all their 
weapons generously anointed with the freshest of butter. 

Although several of the kings and Ras have made attempts to 
introduce European modes of warfare, they have been unsuccessful. The- 
signal being given by beat of drum they rush pell-mell upon the enemy,. 




ABYSSINIAN CROWN. 



62 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

hurling the spear and re-hurling the spent darts of the foe. The sword 
is seldom brought into requisition, except to carve raw flesh at table, and, 
usually is left to rust in the scabbard or get entangled in the dress or 
trappings of the horse. The horsemen with their lances charge fiercely 
into the ranks of the enemy, turn sharply and retreat with their shields 
behind them. The gunners with their weapons upon their bamboo rests 
or upon the knee seem the most demure of any of the combatants, but 
are said to create no little consternation, even handicapped with their 
unimproved weapons and methods. The supernumeraries of an Abys- 
sinian army far exceed the fighting force. Few of the soldiers enter 
on a campaign without their wives, and all who have beasts of any kind 
have one or two lads to cut grass and look after them. Besides these 
there is a large establishment for each chief. 

Killing is the life of the Abyssinian citizen and soldier, there being 
regular gradations of valor. Each elephant slain counts for forty men. 
A lion is reckoned as four and a buffalo as five, though in Tigre, the 
elephant is despised and the lion counts for ten. Men all count alike ; 
but if a Galla is killed the act is formally celebrated in song, for he is 
both a national and formidable enemy. Strange to say, although in 
some districts, the slaying of an elephant or a buffalo earns the warrior a 
ballad, the killing of a lion never does. With the Gallas, who are remark- 
able horsemen and lovers of the noble animal, the death of a horse is 
equivalent to that of a man. The number of prisoners taken or lances 
received upon the shield also counts in fixing the status of bravery. If 
the warrior can reckon up a sufficient number of these latter good marks, 
whenever he enters the house of a chief on feast day he can claim as his 
property the tender hump of the bullock. The death of ten men, or 
their equivalent in beasts, entitles a soldier to plait his hair to its full 
dimensions. The piece of a lion's mane or the lion's tail was formerly a 
sign of valor. Such are the rewards bestowed, for taking human and 
brute life, although in the case of wild beasts the custom does not seem 
so savage. But the death of a Galla sometimes is followed by a kind of 
a jubilee and festival, taken part in by all the women and men of the 
neighborhood wherein the hero resides. The women take the lead and 
celebrate the event in song and merrymaking. One of their number 
keeps up the song, the others, drawn up in a circle around her, taking up 
the chorus which is accompanied with the clapping of hands and the dis- 
cordant notes of the tom-tom. The bodies of the singers are in constant 
motion, with the exception of the head. The slayer of the Galla and the 
chief men of the neighborhood or tribe look on, being expected semi- 
periodically to present the fair singers with a bullock, or money, or 



THEIR LAWS. 



63 



Other valuable consideration. And woe be to him who does not show a 
becoming spirit of generosity on this festive occasion ; for he is unmerci- 
fully castigated with the sharp tongue of some soloist whose bitter sar- 
casm is taken up in an extemporaneous chorus by her companions. 
That man is henceforth branded as an unworthy member of the tribe. 

THEIR LAWS. 



Although the Abyssinians have laws, they must necessarily be 
crude, from the nature of the people who value human life so lightly. 
Torture, however, is not allowed. As they have no regular prisons the 
"chain" is brought into constant use, sometimes, as in the case of 
European mission 



aries who have been 
arrested for attempt- 
ed innovations, it 
being of silver. Both 
parties to a lawsuit 
must find securities 
or be chained to- 
gether. M e n ac- 
cused of murder are 
chained to a soldier 
of the king's guard, f -■ 
but unless there is 
some bold distinc- 
tion of dress, such is 
the careless disposi- 
tion of the average 
Abyssinian that it 
would be impossible to tell which was the accused or the crimina 
and which the keeper. They may both be drinking and laughing 
together as if they were the best friends in the world, whereas one 
may have committed a grave crime against the other, and be on the road 
to flogging, mutilation, or death. As they drink thus merrily together, 
or walk, chatting, through a village lane, each passer-by will say "God 
loosen you." The Abyssinians will kill a man for a drink of "arracky" 
(dates and honey fermented in water), but when they see a culprit about 
to be punished by their laws, they are all pity and tears. It may be they 
realize their injustice, though they have not the courage to protest 
against them since their code is a child of the Abyssinian Church. 




ABYSSINIAN HOUSEHOLD. 



64 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Flogging is the punishment for very sHght offenses and is inflicted 
with a short-handled ox whip. It is no great disgrace to be flogged pub- 
licly, although each blow may strip off a huge piece of flesh. Even 
chiefs of high degree thus suffer for some act displeasing to the Ras. 
Each man of a household is privileged to flog his servant to death, if 
need be, to enforce discipline. Owing to the seething condition of the 
country the servant is usually armed, and therefore a dangerous person 
to get out of bounds. The kind of mutilation practiced is generally 
determined by the chiefs of districts, who have received at least twelve 
drums from the Ras. The ofl"ender, who is usually a thief or a rebel, is 
denied all medical assistance, though he may have his leg or his arm cut 
off, his eyes or tongue taken out, or his ears or nose sliced off. The 
head drummer of each chief is the executive, and receives the clothes of 
the offender. Homicide is punishable with death, no distinction being 
made between "malice aforethought" and hot-blooded murder. If a 
man has been heard to threaten another and he is found killed after- 
wards, it is not thought necessary to prove who actually committed the 
murder, but the threatener is delivered bound to the relatives of the 
slaughtered man for execution. They may accept the legal blood-money 
(about $120) or they may lead him out to an open space near their 
camp or town, tie him to the stump of a tree (naked from the waist 
up), beat him to death with stones or clubs, or hack him to pieces with 
their lances or swords, — but the code does not "legally" allow torture ! 
Accidental shootings are even punished in the same manner. In this 
way family feuds are perpetuated from generation to generation, and 
although the savage practice originated from the fact that the great 
chiefs of the ountry found that they could not remain in power if they 
did not wasii their hands of all responsibility in such serious matters, 
until this mode of punishment is entirely abolished the country can never 
be anything else than a great quarrelsome family — man fighting man, 
tribe opposed 'to tribe, and all killing each other and the wild beast. 
There are said to be other punishments inflicted by the chiefs, not even 
recognized bylaw, such as flaying alive, splitting down with an axe, bury- 
ing to the neck alive in the earth, binding the victim naked to an ant 
hill after anointing him with honey or butter, or sewing him up in a 
fresh cowhide and hurling him over a precipice. The story is told that 
once there was a certain wise man attached to the fortunes of a great 
chief, and as his master was besieged in a mountain fort he offered with 
a lens which he carried, to set fire to the enemy's camp, which was pitched 
upon a plain some distance away. Although he heartily prayed for the 
success of his enterprise, he did not take into account the ridiculous 



ABYSSINIAN FARMERS. O5 

weakness of his burning-glass — and over the mountain side he went, 
sewed up in the hide of a cow. 

Small differences between the natives are usually brought before the 
elders of the tribe for settlement. They form a kind of jury with 
the nagadaras of the village, or chief of the tribe, or large land owner 
as judge. Seating himself on the ground, attended by his grey 
beards, the plaintiff, defendant and witnesses are brought into court, 
always with shoulders bared. The oath administered and often repeated 
during the trial is in this form : " May the King (or the Ras, as the 
ruling power may be) die if I speak not the truth." (On the contrary the 
Arabs always swear by the life of a person.) The plaintiff first presents 
his case, all parties to the controversy maintaining a decorous silence. 
When he has finished, he puts a period to his remarks by seizing the 
judge's cotton robe and making a large knot in the corner. When the 
defendant has concluded, he ties a like knot in the opposite corner. Dur- 
ing the progress of the case this tying and untying goes on, it seeming to 
be a part of the court procedure to mark the progress of the suit. The 
cause of the trouble may be a blow or a petty theft, and the award to the 
injured party consists of money, honey, butter, or other food. These 
minor judges are subject to call, night and day. 

ABYSSINIAN FARMERS. 

It requires, in fact, no great amount of perception to see that the 
Ras, his chiefs and sub-chiefs, the drummers of every grade and the 
judges are the hardest worked individuals in Abyssinia. 

In Abyssinia, as in many other countries, the basis of the state is 
the land, and its farmers stand the brunt of taxation levied for the sup- 
port of its military system. They furnish a tax in crops or money to the 
Ras, and oxen to plow his lands or those of the king. They deliver a 
portion of their grain to the governor or chief of their district, and hold 
themselves in readiness to quarter a certain number of soldiers in their 
houses. The governor has a right to take anything for his personal 
subsistence. His daily bill of fare must, truly, have a broad and delight- 
ful range — from the tea, coffee and dates of the East to the substantial 
grains and luscious fruits of the West — and he has a hundred pretexts 
for requiring a hundred " extras " from his agricultural subjects. Rich 
and influential landed proprietors are found in all portions of the country, 
but often they choose deep and rugged valleys in order to escape the 
abuses of the soldiery and also, that from the heights covering the 
approaches to their land, their armed and brave peasants may drive away 

5 



66 



P.'iNORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the insolvent warriors who come to seize their crops and herds. The 
consequence is that they are held in wholesome esteem by the military 




ABYSSINIAN SLAVE. 



department, and receive the shirt of silk from the Ras himself, as an 
acknowledgment that he cannot get along without them. They therefore 



ABYSSINIAN FARMERS. . 6/ 

form the connecting link between royalty and the people. In seasons 
■of war, because of their wide-spread influence and family connections, 
they can forward goods and messengers to a great distance when a soldier 
dare not quit his camp. Besides being chosen by the people as arbitra- 
tors and judges the government entrusts them with the collection of its 
revenue. With the enterprising merchants who brave the Galla and the 
Shangalla to bring the products and customs of higher civilizations into 
Abyssinia, these landed lords form a kind of redeeming leaven which, 
with the spread of better principles, may raise the country into a more 
perfect state of union. It is hard to say which class of Abyssinians, 
agriculturists or merchants, lie upon the most uncomfortable bed of 
thorns ; for in six of the towns of the country, judiciously scattered along 
the chief routes of travel, the government has stationed an official whose 
■duty it is to get all he can out of the commercial gentlemen. This officer, 
<;alled " the chief of merchants," has minor posts, and if he and his 
■assistants are not sufficiently conciliated by money and presents, they 
•easily trump up some charge of smuggling or trespassing upon the 
pasturage of a resident, and follow it up with a wholesale confiscation of 
goods. They keep in their pay large bodies of armed men to enforce 
their demands, and as the governor or chiefs generally receive a fixed 
compensation as " hush money," their injustice and cruelty are seldom 
punished. The soldier also despises the merchant for his generally 
peaceable disposition and feels fully justified in quartering himself in 
his house whenever he pleases, and acting in the most riotous and insult- 
ing manner. With his dangers of travel and his harassed home-life, the 
merchant's existence cannot be devoid of variety and spice. 

While the husband is away on a campaign, a mercantile journey or 
ploughing, or at home doing nothing, the wife is busy from morning to 
night, spinning the cotton for her dresses and those of her family; sifting 
the corn, grinding it by hand and making it into bread ; bringing 
water from the brook on her back, instead of head ; preparing onions and 
peppers ; making beer ; or trudging to market for what she lacks at home. 
She is dressed in a piece of cotton cloth thrown loosely over the shoul- 
ders, underneath which is also a cotton garment bound at the waist with 
a simple strip. The upper classes wear trousers when riding, and over 
their undergarments a silk mantle is thrown, sometimes richly orna- 
mented with silver-gilt bosses and drops. When abroad nothing but 
the eyes are seen. They wear silver chains round the neck, rings on the 
fingers, and oblong silver drops round the ankles that rustle when they 
move. The hair is plaited in various forms by all classes, though on the 
death of a relative the head is shaved and fresh butter is spread over the 



68 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



scalp mixed with the oil of various spices. The fingers and toes, also, 
of the Abyssinian beauty are dyed a rosy tinge. She has servants 
at her command, who, although armed and ready to be called to the 
service of her husband, are content to perform household duties when 
they are not required abroad. One makes the mead, and if he is a gun- 
ner, keeps the house supplied with game. Another guards the corn 
against the thievish forays of the maid-servants and distributes it to all 
the domestics; others are grass cutters or wood cutters. Her maid-serv- 
ants grind the corn, clean the stable and cook, and perform all the 
other household labors of a large establishment. The relation existing 
between master and servant, or mistress and servant, is quite familiar 
and pleasant. In return for many little attentions and kindnesses, the 
servant is willing to abide by the law which places his person entirely in 
the hands of his master. Tigre is the only part of the country where 
the Abyssinian pays wages to his servant, though he may be sent on 
journeys of four or five hundred miles. On long journeys two are gen- 
erally sent together, so that if one falls on the way before wild beasts, 
wild men, sickness or accident, the message will be more likely to reach 
its destination. 

COPTIC CURIOSITIES. 



The Abyssinian Church is a most astounding combination of 
Jewish and Christian ceremonials and native superstitions. Its priests 

are less intelligent than the 
Copts of Egypt and far more 
powerful, standing in author- 
ity next to the military chiefs. 
When the Ras parcels out 
his territory, after he has 
selected his own, they obtain 
the choice bits throughout 
Abyssinia. The Abuna, or 
head of the church, who is 
appointed by the Patriarch 
of Alexandria, holds the 
finest landed property in 
Northern and Southern 
Abyssinia, along the tribu- 
taries of the Nile, and also near Gondar where is his principal residence. 
His person is so sacred that he is generally hidden from the public, and 




THE VIRGIN. 



COPTIC CURIOSITIES. 



69. 



he is supposed to eat nothing but a nauseating physic called "coso," or 
at most, parched peas or grain. During reception days, when he blesses 
the prostrate multitude, he is veiled. From the most distant parts of 
Ethiopia the people come to him, and are content to wait for weeks in 
his outer court if at length he will grant them a mysterious audience. 
Next to him in rank is the Superior of the Convent in Shoa, within the 
walls of whose residence there is a holy well, the waters of which (for a 
consideration) will cure blindness, leprosy and all diseases. There are 
several "cities of refuge" in Abyssinia, Axum, the most noted, having 
already been described. These cities are governed by officials appouited 
by the Ras. They are not priests, but must know how to read 
and write and understand the laws. After 
them come the regular priests, whose du- 
ties consist of reading the prayers, chant- 
ing, administering the sacraments and danc- 
ing during religious processions. Their 
dancing consists of a peculiar swaying of 
the body, rather than a free use of the 
limbs. All church services are conducted 
in the Ethiopian tongue, which candidates 
for the priesthood must be able to read. 
They must also be able to sing and grow 
a beard. They pay two pieces of sajt ^^^^ / 
money for the privilege of being breathed 
upon by the Abuna, and having the sign of 
the cross made over them. The churches 
in the interior of the country are generally 
built on the summit of hills in the midst 
of cypress groves, each of which has a 
sacred ark of the covenant standing behind 

a curtain in the ''holy of holies." The buildings are usually after the 
Jewish models; round, with conical roofs. Sometimes the tolling of a 
bell, but in most cases the beating of kettle drums, summons the faithful 
to prayers, which are read in a language that few of them can under- 
stand. Most of the worshipers, indeed, merely kiss the floor or walls 
of the edifice, so that in Abyssinia they .describe a good Christian thus : 
"He kisses the church." Some utter extemporaneous prayers, as in 
the case of one overheard by a traveler, which fell devoutly from the 
lips of an old woman: "Oh, Lord, give me plenty to eat and drink, 
good clothes and a comfortable home, or else kill me !" Since wine is 
scarce in the countr)-, the sacramental cup is filled with raisin water. 




A SACRED ARK . 



70 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The calendar is full of saints' and fast days — two-thirds of the year are 
thus devoted — and at such times the faithful Copt will neither work nor 
suffer others to. In addition to the heroes of the Bible and Apocryphal 
books he has many local saints, who go before them all. One called 
"Tecla Haimanot" holds the seat of honor in the Abyssinian mind. 
He is said to have converted Satan and induced him to become a monk 
for forty days. Then the fortitude of the evil one gave way and he be- 
came the devil again. The same remark- 
able saint, wishing to ascend the perpendic- 
ular sides of a mountain, was accommodated 
by a boa-constrictor which took him up on its 
back. Within the priestly pale of the church 
may also be mentioned the "aspirants," who 
during the period of their preparation wear 
the skins of sheep for clothing and beg their 
daily bread. Of the monks of Abyssinia 
some reside in monasteries or act as con- 
fessors to warrior chiefs ; others make pil- 
grimages to Jerusalem, or dwell in the wil- 
derness feeding on roots. 

Coptic churches, many of them deserted 
entirely, or in charge of a priest or deacon^ 
are found scattered throughout the country. 
Some of them are but moss-grown ruins in 
the midst of a dense jungle or hidden in 
groves of cedar and olive trees, the wor- 
shipers having been driven away by some 
rival tribe, or deserted the spot on some 
warlike adventure. Even here they remain 
unmolested. The rude Galla, riding along 
on his stanch war-horse, lowers his harsh 
voice in talking with his companion ; for he^ 
also, though a Mohammedan, is pervaded 
with the superstition of the country, which 
fears the vengeance of some guardian spirit should axe or fire invade 
their sacred precincts. 

The Abyssinians cling both to the Saturday of the Jew and the 
Sunday of the Christian as holy days, and from Friday evening to Mon- 
day morning neither water can be drawn nor wood hewn. These weekly 
holy days, with the continual fast days which they observe, make their 
existence little over-burdened with work. Referring to his Hebrew 








WALL ORNAMENTS. 



COPTIC CURIOSITIES 7 1 

customs, the contradictions in the nature of the Abyssinian are many 
and inexpHcable. His king, when he has one, must be a descendant of 
Solomon; in structure his churches are Jewish Synagogues; the hare, 
the o-oose and the wild boar are considered by him unclean ; he has his 
ark of the covenant in every church ; the Jew has erected his govern- 
ment buildines at Gondar and at Shoa ; has built his monasteries and 
convents, his churches and his houses, if they are more than mean huts; 
the Jew has made his ploughs, has forged his spears and has cast his 
cannon ; yet the Abyssinian will tell you that this useful member of 
society, to whose superior genius and industry he is a continual witness, 
is his embodiment of a most hideous conception of all that is evil and 
uncanny. The Jews, and particularly those who work in iron, are his 
"Bouddas"; those fiends in human shape, who by the power of their 
sinister eyes enter the bodies of men, women and children, to devour 
them under the guise of various diseases. As hyenas they travel far 
from their own country, and then, assuming human forms, they com- 
mence their deadly work. Their king resides on a mountain, and to 
him they daily bring the corpses of those who have neglected to defend 
themselves with charms and amulets. When a hyena is killed, the lance, 
sword or weapons which are stained with his blood are taken to the 
nearest priest to be blessed and sprinkled with holy water, in case he 
should have been a sorcerer. It has been asserted by trustworthy 
natives that they have killed hyenas with earrings in their ears, they 
being females who have forgotten to take them out when they assumed 
the brute form. Among the charms used against the wiles A the 
terrible "Boudda" are the tooth and skin of the hyena; writings from 
the Bible arranged by learned scribes in mystic circles and crosses; 
roots and plants and the leg bones of hawks. The exposure of the 
naked body when many eyes are directed against it, or of the open 
mouth when eating, is considered particularly dangerous ; for it is 
impossible to tell what malignant orbs may not be present and doing 
their heinous work. The person into whom the " Boudda" has entered 
is taken with a species of fit. followed by a hideous hyena laugh and a 
running about on all fours. A " Boudda" doctor having been called, he 
is seized and questioned as to the person who has possessed him. 
Sometimes he gives the name and location of the "Boudda" and dis- 
closes the charm that will expel the evil one ; occasionally in his frenzy- 
he dies. These Jewish sorcerers are also said to change the sha[)e of 
the objects of their incantations, and the natives of Adowa, to this day 
tell of a family whose mother once upon a time turned up missing. 
In vain they searched after her. An old Jew upon an ass often rode 



72 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

past their house and his animal would as often stretch his long head and 
eais toward it and bray with all the strength of his good lungs. A 
light flashed in upon a son's mind. The Jew was seized, confessed and 
commenced to change the woman into her former self. The transform- 
ation had been completed with the exception of a portion of one leg 
and the hoof, when the son, unable longer to contain his anger, killed 
the Jew with his spear, and so to her grave did the poor woman carry 
with her this degrading mark of the " Boudda." 

With such superstitions and excrescences as these are the Abyssinian 
mind and the Abyssinian religion dragged into the mud. In many 
instances the priests cater to such beliefs in order to realize a financial 
harvest from the ignorance and fears of the people. 





THE TARTARS OF AFRICA. 

^|OW and then the huge, bold Galla has dashed across our 
mental vision, riding his little, wiry, nimble-footed steed. 
His tall and broad figure, frizzed hair and small eyes, will 
become more familiar to us as we follow him to war against 
the Abyssinian. His color ranges from a light to a dark 
brown. He is an Ethiopian, said to have been descended from 
an Abyssinian princess who married her slave. For three 
centuries or more he has been making dashes into Abyssinia 
and has at length tethered his noble horses in some of its 
southern provinces. His chief has become Negus of his 
enemy's country, and certainly one woman of his tribe has married a 
native Abyssinian king, thereby causing a great civil disturbance. The 
Galla's faults are many, but he does not hide them. He believes in war 
and pursues his calling with such a vengeance that he is dreaded, as the 
Tartar of Africa, from the Red Sea to Zanzibar and far into the interior 
of the continent. As a Mohammedan he may journey toward Mecca, 
or he may make a pagan pilgrimage to the sacred trees on the banks of, 
the H awash, in Shoa — but whatever he does he is always a warrior, and 
his home is on the horse's back. His people are said to number ten 
million, and with all their blood-thirsty ways have the making of a nation 
in them, only awaiting the proper influences to bring order out of chaos. 
On the coast they are mostly nomads, whose caravans meet those of 
the Abyssinians far in the heart of Africa. Those who have possessed 
themselves of portions of Abyssinia and settled in the adjacent provinces, 
are warrior agriculturists. 

ON THE WAR-PATH. 



Said a scarred chief of the Gallas : " Fiorhtine is breakfast and 
supper to us. What was a horse made for but to fight on, and a man, 
but to die when his time comes?" — and you would not have thought 
his talk bombastic if you could have seen him and his followers plunging 
down a steep hill full of holes and stones, their unshod steeds often 

73 



74 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

obliged to throw themselves on their hams and "slide," and then over 
the honey-combed and tufted hillocks, brandishing their lances and 
shouting their war-cries at the bedizened Ras with his huge drums, 
his picked spearmen and his chosen gunners. Innumerable rills have 
worn the hill-side into a series of channels as smooth as ice, and the 
ground beyond is covered with tufts of grass one or two feet high. But 
down the hill the Walla horsemen plunge, their steeds leaping from 
mound to mound as lightly and surely as cats. Besides the simple 
lances each warrior has a number of short pointed stakes, which when 
he gets within range of the Abyssinian horsemen he throws with great 
precision. His object is to wound or kill the horse, which he considers 
a more important element in the fight than the rider. The Galla horsemen 
urge their steeds into the very ranks of the Abyssinians, discharge their 
lances, spin around like tops and are off like the wind, hanging over 
their horses with their shields behind them. If not pressed too closely 
some of them will be seen now and then, dashing away to a little distance 
and stripping their hide-bound saddles from their war-horses, allowing 
the steaming animals to roll in the grass or drink at a convenient spring. 
When refreshed the Galla mounts his horse and shouting his war-cry, 
which is often the name of his steed, dashes into the fight. The Gallas, 
especially those who have had generations of warfare in the border 
countries, are unwearied in the saddle. Their horses though fiery, are 
extremely docile, and will generally follow their master, if he dismounts, 
or remain quiet till he returns to them. They would thus describe their 
most valued animal : " He is a bay v/ith four white legs, white forehead 
knd nose, nine spans high, of a fiery spirit, in speed swift as a vulture ; 
he will turn in his own length with a thread ; his tail is thin, his mane a 
cubit long ; in turning he does not change the position of his neck and 
tail ; raising his legs in his gallop, he does not seem to touch the ground ; 
he never tires, his marks are lucky and his feet are iron." The lucky 
marks referred to are patches of curling hair on the forehead or on each 
side of the neck. Although in a level country the nine spans would 
not be considered a point of recommendation, in a hilly country such as 
the Gallas inhabit and in which they fight, their small, sure-footed 
animals are preferable to larger ones. 

GALLA HORSES. 

There probably is no better judge of a horse in the world than a 
Galla. So much of an expert is he, in fact, that although he supplies 
the greater portion of Abyssinia it is seldom that he lets a horse go out 



GALLA HORSES. 75 

of his country which has not some defect. He will sell what he calls a 
good horse for nine or twelve dollars and an inferior one for three or 
seven, his markets being located in several towns of Southern Abyssinia. 
Leaving the field of battle, and the unequal but savage contest between 
even the crudest of fire-arms and the Galla spear, you cannot realize 
his disposition when you first come into his fertile country. It is one 
of undulating plains and green meadows, thousands of horses content- 
edly munching the crisp grass, or with intelligent eyes and arched 
necks looking over wide fields of barley as if to inquire the cause of 
your intrusion. Here and there Galla men are splitting logs for fire- 
wood, while beside them, perhaps, is a manly looking fellow, peacefully 
conversing while leaning on his spear. From thousands of clumps of 
trees the bee-shaped huts stand forth, in marked contrast to the squalor 
of Egypt, Nubia and Abyssinia. Each has its neat grass plot before 
the door and if the owner has a cultivated field it is well kept and dis- 
tinctly marked. The huts are covered with straw and have a second 
wall within. Once "at home " an opportunity will be afforded to dis- 
cover what it is like. You are now supposed to be inside the house of 
one of our host's wives, — for every man marries as many as he can 
afford to support, giving to each a certain number of strings of beads, 
cows, and a separate house. Each wife in turn, in her own house, 
prepares her husband's breakfast, supper, mead and butter. She brings 
water for washing his feet, and if the cry of war arises she saddles his 
horse for him while he arms himself with spear and shield or puts on 
his belt and knife. Entering one of these houses the wife is seen 
attired in a hand-woven cotton skirt, ornamented with pieces of blue 
cloth, and by way of petticoat a hide, dressed and softened with butter 
and ornamented with beads. Her daughter, if unmarried, wears only 
the skin. The wife's husband is well-to-do, which is inferred with cer- 
tainty from the fact that she wears many rows of beads around her 
waist, which is a sure index of his worldly condition. She also wears 
massive ivory rings on her arms and ankles. The hair is arranged in 
ringlets wound round little straws and falling equally from the center, 
except over the eyes where they reach the brows. An ivory comb, 
inlaid with black wood, is thrust in among the ringlets. The husband's 
dress consists of a kilt made of the cotton cloth, which comes to his 
knees. A long belt of the same material is wound round his waist, 
which supports his double-edged knife. Over his shoulders is thrown 
a large, strong mantle. When the war-cry sounds he throws this aside 
and mounts his horse, either bare from the waist upwards or with the 
skin of a panther or leopard thrown over his shoulders. If the man is 



76 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

a noted chief we may find that his hut has been fortified — that is, a 
high stone wall, from which project stout, sharpened beams of wood 
rsurrounds it. This would be built as a defense against the assaults of 
a rival chief and his horsemen. But such outward exhibitions of the 
warlike character of the people are rare. The husband himself, how- 
ever, by his prowess in battle may have earned the privilege of wearing 
upon his forearm great rings of brass, or if he has slain an elephant 
-two or three huge rings of ivory upon his upper arm. If a man of 
-wealth he has usually round his neck the fat of a goat, sheep or ox. 
As will be inferred from the foregoing description of his wife's dress, 
this is the nature of the ornament worn by the Galla whom we have 
found at home. He is rich in cattle and horses, but in his late fight 
with the Abyssinians he has proven that he is a warrior equal to the 
T^ravest ; his hair which is frizzled in various lengths is streaming with 
Gutter, for he has slain one of the Ras' chosen gunners or spearmen. 
A portion of the wood which his servants have cut outside is burning 
with a warm glow on his rude hearth, but the fact dees not add any to 
his personal beauty, surrounded and permeated, as it is, with the fat of 
■beasts. But he has laid aside his long and broad-bladed lance, his 
convex shield of buffalo hide and his cruel knife, and he and his wife 
and daughter sit around a table upon which is a wooden dish contain- 
ing bread, curds and peppers. A kind of thick beer which is diluted 
according to the taste of the imbiber, usually accompanies this dish. 
Bread, onions, peppers, butter, milk, beer, mead and mutton seem to 
"be the chief components of the Galla's food, whether he be rich or poor. 
Following the custom of the Abyssinians, if the family be one of any 
-prominence and is likely to have enemies, previous to serving each 
dish, the servant is required to partake of it, as a proof that he had no 
intention of poisoning any member. 

OMENS. 

The omens of the Gallas are almost entirely confined to the exam- 
ination of the stomach of slaughtered oxen and sheep. They stretch 
out the layer of fat or membrane, and examine carefully the numerous 
lines that intersect it, as the Trojans and the Greeks did before them. 
They see before them, as if on a map, the result of the fight : They will 
slay ten men or twenty; or if the unlucky membrane, or "mora," is 
found they will not venture forth at all. On the day of battle before 
-mounting their horses they frequently slay several oxen and offer them 
as a sacrifice ; or they drink the warm blood of sheep and goats to give 



OMENS. ']']' 

greater strength to their iron arms. One of the noted chiefs is said to- 
have been in the habit of placing a small kid before him in the saddle, 
and to sacrifice it while urging his steed on the enemy, never drawing 
bridle till the same lance was steeping in the blood of a foe. Urged 
on by the belief that they are the favored of the gods, or by the disre- 
gard for life which is part of the Moslem's faith, combined with the 
conscious power of their huge frames and their wonderful skill as horse- 
men, it is not strange that they deliberately reject the firearms of the 
less hardy Abyssinian and often drive his armies back in confusion. A 
favorite food of the Galla, when he goes upon a warlike expedition of 
any 'length, is made by taking the lean portions of a cow and poundings 
them in a large mortar with an equal quantity of honey and of roasted 
barley flour. This is all made into a paste, and softened with a little 
water, makes a simple and nutritious meal. As a rule, the Abyssinian 
Galla prefers to make short expeditions into an enemy's country,, 
returning to his home after each fight. Often he bears back with him 
the most hideous trophies, such as the entrails of his foe tied around 
his waist or entwined in his greasy hair. 

Brought up from their childhood to be familiar with blood and 
broken limbs, the Gallas have developed much surgical talent, 
although their operations are often accompanied with seeming cruelty.. 
A soldier fell from his horse and broke his forearm and a Galla surgeon 
was called. He bound the arm tightly from the elbow to the shoulder 
with a narrow strap. Then taking a heavy piece of iron he proceeded 
cooly to pound the fractured part as a cook does the beefsteak. After 
all the bones in the forearm had been thoroughly broken he wound 
around it the leaves of a medical plant and held all in place by a frame- 
work made of split bamboo. Then he placed his patient, who, up tO' 
this point, had been unconscious, on a slender diet. After a time he- 
feasted him on the good of the land, and the bones knitted together 
with entire success. For many years it is stated that the Gallas have- 
been in the habit of opening the stomachs of those who are too fat and 
removing the superfluous layers. In trepanning, pieces of gourd are 
used in place of silver, and some of their warriors' heads resemble noth- 
ing so much as these plants. 

Most of the tribes in the Galla country are governed by chiefs,, 
some of them hereditary and some chosen on account of their bravery. 
There are several singular republics, or democracies, however, and the 
theory has been advanced that, at one time, they were all of this nature. 
Among these communities no such word as "command" is recognized, 
and every man is absolute lord not only of his own land, but of the 



78 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

public road which passes before his hut. This pecuHarity is not always 
agreeable to the traveler, as when passing through their territories he is 
liable at any moment to see a wild Galla horseman dashing toward him 
and demanding tribute in money or goods for the privilege of contin- 
uing his journey over the republican's land or along its borders. But 
if he is acquainted with the ways of the country the traveler may put 
himself under the protection of some influential Galla who answers for 
him in every difficulty which may arise. In these communities even the 
well-to-do farmer, who has everything he may desire, ploughs his own 
ground, reaps his own corn, guards his own cattle at pasture and splits 
his own firewood. His servant, if he has one, sits with him and his wife 
at table, drinks his share of beer and mead, and is in all ways treated 
as an equal. Slaves are so only in name, having usually a house and 
land of their own which descends to their children. Matters of public 
interest, such as difficulties with other tribes, are discussed by the elders 
in the open air. They stand in a circle, leaning upon their spears, but 
no young man is allowed to be heard in these public meetings. The 
laws fix the price of a wound inflicted with the point of the lance at 
forty head of cattle ; that inflicted with the double-edged knife is 
deemed of no account unless it produces death. In all cases not pro- 
vided by law the decision rests with the gathering of elders. They are 
both judges and executors and when all agree as to the punishment they 
combine to inflict it, even to the burning of the house and destroying 
the whole property of the offender. The lawsuits on account of land 
are few, and generally such disputes are settled before they reach the 
elders. The great institutions are their markets, one of which is held 
daily in each district of the republic. The women frbm other tribes 
attend these markets, passing unmolested from one to the other though 
they might be at war with one another. 

One of the most noted of these popular forms of government is 
Goodroo, the first Galla province reached after crossing the Nile from 
Abyssinia. It is estimated to average over 100,000 people, and its posi- 
tion as a frontier province makes the territory bordering on Abyssinia a 
great battle field. Its sheep and cattle are justly celebrated and it 
possesses springs flowing from a mineral earth strongly impregnated with 
salt to which they are periodically driven to drink. The owners, also, 
are in the habit of driving their cattle to pasture on the frontier lands 
which are necessarily uncultivated. Here is the scene of many fierce 
encounters between them and neighboring tribes. This republic, being 
hemmed in by foes on all sides who look with jealous eyes on its pros- 
perity, has need to be a nation of brave warriors. Imagine a hundred 



NORTHERN GALLAS. 79 

or more of the horsemen of Goodroo thus leading their cattle to pas- 
ture. They have scores of unsettled feuds on their hands and several 
tribes have combined to take them and their herds unawares. Suddenly 
the quiet of a beautiful day is broken by a distant rumble which may be 
thunder, but a moment later over a rising slope of land two or three 
thousand wild warriors come rushing like a hurricane. They come on, 
in apparent confusion, with the bridles on their horses' necks, their long 
tresses and panther skins streaming behind them, lance points and arm- 
lets glittering in the sun, rending the air with wild shouts and screams. 
Though at first appalled by the inequality of numbers the Goodroo 
chiefs and men of wealth rush forward to meet their assailants, while 
the footmen clanging their spears against their shields frighten the 
cattle to the rear. It is such dangers as these that the warriors of 
Goodroo have to meet and overcome. 

NORTHERN GALLAS. 

The most northern tribe of the Gallas, separated from the Red 
Sea by a narrow strip of country, also live under some such crude 
republican form of government as the Goodroos. In this country cattle 
are bred with such immense horns that, made into drinking vessels, 
they will contain four or five gallons of liquid. The men are brave 
and numerous, but have the blood-thirsty traits which disfigure 
the Gallas as a people. Their province is low and hot, and though they 
breed no horses they import them in sufficient numbers to keep up the 
reputation of the Gallas as a great nation of horsemen. 

The Somaulies occupy the eastern peninsula of Africa which 
extends into the Indian Ocean, and extend their commercial operations 
over Arabia and far into Africa. They are a pastoral and trading 
people and hold the proud honor of being the only one which can live in 
peace with the Gallas. They are remarkable for beauty of feature and 
ease of address, though they have a hideous habit of frizzing the hair 
to resemble the fleece of a sheep and staining it yellow with ocher. 
Great fairs are held in their province, caravans bringing to them gum- 
arabic, myrrh and incense, and African princes sending them gold, 
ivory, melted butter, slaves, camels, horses, mules and asses. What of 
these valuables they cannot dispose of at their fairs they carry abroad in 
their own vessels. The Somauli land includes the once famous king- 
dom of Adel, the unrelenting and destructive Moslem foe of Christian 
Abyssinia. They also divide much of the coast region with the Gal- 
las. 



8o PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

The Somaulies include a number of tribes, being a mixture of the 
Gallas and Arabs. The western tribes, or those near the Galla country, 
are more like their warlike neighbors than those inhabiting the districts 
lying along the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, Their principal 
port and mart, where a fair is held for several months of the year, is 
Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden. Not only do their merchants send the 
products of Eastern Africa across to Aden, Mocha and other points on 
the Arabian coast in their own vessels, jealously excluding foreign craft, 
but they have established houses in Arabia, and aim, if possible, to keep 
the carrying trade and the importing entirely under their own control. 
In fact, their jealousy of the Arabs amounts almost to hatred. 

Although more polished, as a rule, than the Gallas, the Somaulies 
are intensely superstitious, and live generally in mat-houses. Slavery 
exists among them, the mountainous regions of the interior being 
inhabited by one tribe which is nearly white, the women being highly 
prized by the Somaulies. The men are seldom taken, preferring to fall 
in the fight. 

The most important division of the Somauli country is Ajan, 
which extends from Cape Guardafui to Zanzibar. It was known to the 
ancients, Rhaptum, the capital, being the southern limit of the Greek 
explorations. The southern coast and interior are sandy and barren, 
there being a mountainous tract, and an elevated table-land in the north. 



-"-r^ 



^ 



THE EAST AFRICANS. 





ANZIBAR, or Zanguebar, is at most but an arbitrary distinc- 
tion wliich has been made by the Portuguese to distinguish 
tlie tribes Hving along the coast from the river Zuba to Cape 
^^^^^ Delgado, where their own acknowledged possessions com- 
mence under the name of Mozambique. At one time these 
tribes, called by the natives " Sawhylee " (coast people) were 
under the nominal control of Oman, a province in South- 
eastern Arabia, being governed more directly by the seyid or 
sultan whose seat of government is on the island of Zanzibar. 
The sultan is now quite independent of Oman, and the 
"coast people" are so independent of him that his authority is 
scarcely recognized beyond the towns on the island garrisoned by his 
troops. In the palmy days of the slave trade these coast tribes were 
of creat assistance to the Portusfuese in the " runnino- off" of slaves, but 
later since the decided attempts made by England and other countries- 
to suppress the abomination, the negroes of the interior boldly 
assault them and drive many of them from their towns. The Gallas,, 
also, have been a scourge to them, their ferocity increasing as their 
tribes stretch south. Those who have remained are more civilized, 
necessarily, than most of the tribes of the interior of Eastern Africa 
who have not had the benefit of their slicrht contact with Asiatic and 
European civilization. Some of these interior tribes do not bury their 
dead. Others still have hideous games in which men are sacrificed. 
Most of these savage tribes, however, as well as those more advanced 
are still suspicious of strangers, for notwithstanding agreements and 
treaties, slave hunters, under a variety of disguises, are not uncommon. 
No communication with a stranger or with an adjoining tribe is allowed 
without express permission from a"baraza, "or assembly of chiefs. 
The punishment of braving such a regulation is often death. Tracts 
of land are purposely laid waste and desolated upon the frontiers of 
man)' tribal territories, where armed scouts, generally old elephant 
hunters, are able to report the approach of strangers at the earliest 
possible moment. And much cause have the most savage of them for 

8i 6 



82 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

such fears, since a slave-dealer's raid is the synonym for desolation and 
death, and burned and ruined settlements mark its track. 

Many of the coast people and those who live quite a distance west 
have not only adopted some of the characteristics of the Arabian dress, 
but the habits of that people. They are quite intelligent and brave, 
and make good guides. Their huts are quadrangular, thatched with 
cocoanut leaves and generally surrounded by small vegetable gardens. 
The women wear brass ornaments, armlets and anklets, and a blue 
calico strip wound round the body under the armpits and flowing to 
the knees. Their arms are spears, a heavy pruning knife and flint 
muskets. They manufacture earthen cooking pots and cook in them 
over a fire built within three large stones. Millet and Indian corn are 
the staple food, and fish abound in every stream and pool One of 
their fishing customs is to make a huo;e roll of straw, mud and sticks, 
with which they force the fish into shallow water and barricade them 
there ; then everybody proceeds to the sport of catching his game 
more securely by spearing them and beating them with sticks. 

Along the river banks of Zanzibar and Mozambique for many miles 
inland are to be found thickly populated villages. Unless molested the 
people are industrious and peaceful, cultivating large fields of tobacco, 
the produce being exported to the coast districts. Getting as far west 
as Lake Nyassa, for instance, the tribes are more savage. They tattoo 
their faces, wear skin aprons, but seem to have been taught the value 
of flint guns. Their larger towns are laid out rudely in streets and 
each hut is surrounded by a fenced-in garden. This region seems to be 
a favorite gathering place of the great crocodiles, hippopotami and 
elephants of Africa, and between them and the keeping of a sharp 
lookout for strangers and warlike tribes, the people around the lake are 
generally in a state of commotion. Here is the scene of many of the 
labors of the lamented Livinsfstone. 

Even among some of the tribes who go entirely naked are found 
evidences of skill in various ways. The members of one of these " go- 
nakeds" paint the body and face with a white clay or chalk; but 
although they indulge in this childish fashion they have the sense to 
fashion from a bluish clay certain oval lumps about the size of ostrich 
eggs which they bake in tiie sun, and fit neatly into a framework of 
wood or bamboo, thus forminof a wall for their huts. These are either 
round or square, with peaked roofs and built and thatched with great 
skill. Their spears, which have long, sharp barbs, are made of very 
white native iron and the shafts are often inlaid with a delicate tracery 
of brass and copper wire. Their chief wears an enormous feather 
head-dress. 



ZANZIBAR. - 83 

As a rule large villages are uncommon, but hamlets appear on all 
sides, surrounded by farms. The chiefs appear to have really little 
control of the people who live in the Lake Nyassa region, and who are 
among the most advanced of Eastern Africans away from the coast. 
Many of their farms lie in the valleys or among the mountains, and their 
possessors appear to breathe the air of independence, dirty, naked and 
lazy though most of them are. But notwithstanding all their faults 
they are certainly advanced, speaking from an African standpoint. 
They, however, hold to the universal idea that it is best to throw every 
obstacle in the way of travelers, and perhaps the most important 
function of the chieftainship is to call the warriors together for the 
purpose of doing a good deal of grunting, and finally, after a sufficiently 
vexatious delay, passing the traveler along to the next chief. Still a 
Avarrior will occasionally "make" himself felt, and actually consolidate 
a number of tribes governed only nominally by weaker chiefs. Villages 
are then burned by the invader or the besieged, and upon the conclu- 
sion of the war one of the conqueror's favorite wi^^es may be sent to 
him as the most aofreeable courier to tell him of the greneral reioicinff. 
She is escorted b)" leading men of the tribe and drummed into camp 
v.'ith great ceremony. The band have drums shaped like a claret-glass, 
with a foot to rest upon the ground. They are held with one hand and 
played in a most vigorous manner vnth a thin hard stick, terminating in 
a knob. This drumming continues all day, and really the time is good 
and a variety of tunes can be recognized. The great chief himself 
sometimes condescends to lead the band. After a sufficient season of 
rejoicing has passed, the army marches for his capital. This may be a 
large collection of huts, and surrounded by a stockade which has scores 
of gates through which thousands of cattle are driven every morning to 
pasture. West of Nyassa Lake are the Cazembe, a nation of jet-black, 
robust negroes with a good beard and red eyes. 

ZANZIBAR. 

Since the decline of Portugal as a commercial nation the trade of 
East Africa has been concentrating in Arabian hands, with the island 
of Zanzibar as the base of operations. Here formerly was the open 
market and distributing point for slaves. In a sandy square surrounded 
by ruined houses and high back walls, long parallel rows of haggard 
men, women and children, with the vacant African stare, or groups of 
dark eyed beauties from the mountains, decked in bright-colored 
garments, were exposed for sale like sheep or horses. Their mouths 



84 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

were opened and teeth examined for signs of disease, their limbs 
handled, their hands and nails looked over. These sales were once of 
daily occurrence, and yet there was no diminution of the slave supply ; 
for the forests and plains, the villages and hamlets and farm huts were 
under the sharp eyes of Arabs, Gallas and Portuguese, looking for par- 
ticularly valuable specimens with which to meet the demands of greed 
and lust. 

THE ABORIGINES. 

Across the island from the town, with everything that is foreign 
and miscellaneous, live the remnant of the original inhabitants. They 
speak a dialect of their own and live by farming and fishing. On an 
elevated ridge, below which runs a river, stands their ancient palace, a 
square and massive building. Passing through a ruined gateway of the 
once fortified wall surrounding the mansion, one is obliged to climb 
over masses of rubbish before he can reach the foot of the staircase 
leading to a large covered verandah opening upon the inner court. 
From the verandah he may look across a chasm, caused by the falling 
in of the floor of the great reception room, at a row of enormous 
mirrors against the far wall. If the kindly-mannered old gentleman is 
still living, the last male survivor of the native royal family, he will 
receive his visitor and take him to the only habitable room of the 
palace, with its silken mattresses and pillows. 

Evidences are seen of the visits of the Portuguese, who made vain 
attempts to dislodge the luling family; these evidences remain in the 
shape of an immense number of wild pigs, descendants of the old 
imported stock, which overrun the low jungle country and do much 
damage to the crops. The village of the aborigines is approached 
through a large grave yard. It faces a large and well-protected bay, 
whence an estuary extends for a considerable distance inland and almost 
divides Zanzibar into two islands. Independence here is general. 
There are no slaves among this people, but they all seem to live upon a 
friendly equality, under the guidance of an exceedingly old sheik, whose 
insignia of office is a long peeled willow wand. Both he and the last of 
the royal family declare that the Arabs shall yet be dispossessed of the 
land, but their little community and their large grave yard do not 
warrant the supposition that theirs shall be the expelling hand. 

The sultan's residence, even, is not a very imposing structure. It 
stands at the inland extremity of the harbor. From it a line of stone 
houses should form an imposing crescent, but only two of the houses 
are habitable and the others have stopped short at the first story, A 



THE ABORIGINES. 85 

low thatched barn does duty for the custom house, and the boldly 
designed streets are choked up with rank grasses and brushwood. The 
houses, for the most part, are not well preserved, though the bazaars 
are well filled with merchandise. 

In numbers the Rufiji are the most numerous of the natives of 
Zanzibar. They are intensely black. The men wear iron armlets, the 
women aprons of dressed hide. The latter also ornament themselves 
with fetich necklaces, to which are attached pieces of horn, bone and 
shells. The gruns used are often adorned with brass-headed nails driven 
into the stocks, while the spears and bows and arrows are neatly finished 
off with brass wire. Near every village bark beehives are fixed on 
cross-branches about six feet from the o^round. The villages themselves 
are built with one long central street, and the wattled huts are construct- 
ed with a circular verandah-porch over the door-ways. 

But enough of Zanzibar. It is a country where there is little which 
is unique in the native population, whose condition may be described as 
an incessant contest of greed, cruelty and cunning, with laziness, brutal- 
ity and ignorance. Slaves are not now hunted through the woods by 
bold Englishmen, with their native allies and slave boats blowing up all 
alonsf the coast, but the business has almost been legislated and driven 
from the island, being surreptitiously conducted on the continent. We 
have thus coasted along the territory of Eastern Africa, which was known 
to the ancients under the names of Azania, Zingis, and the " Spice-Bear- 
ing Region." " The Portuguese, after discovering the passage round 
the Cape of Good Hope, occupied all the most advantageous maritime 
stations upon this coast, from which they studiously excluded every other 
people. Their first conquest was Mozambique ; the next, Mombaza ; 
but after this they gradually relaxed in their efforts to subjugate the 
country, although at the close of the sixteenth century, they were in 
possession of numerous settlements along the shore. Becoming 
involved, however, in hostilities with the Arabs they lost their posses- 
sions, one after another, till after the close of the century they were 
stripped of nearly all their territories in Eastern Africa. The Arabs 
had long before planted the Mohammedan religion along the coast ; 
they now aimed at securing its trade, and in fact obtained a footing heie 
and there. But it is at Zanzibar Island and its neighborhood alone that 
they have succeeded in forming a permanent establishment." 

Much of the trade is also being obtained by Hindus, who some- 
times invest their own capital, and sometimes act for English and 
American houses. Their headquarters are usually in the coast towns, and 
through the tireless Arab travelers they are enabled to collect ivory 



86 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

from the coasts of Western Africa, and in exchange distribute weapons, 
trinkets and clothing to the natives. The Hindu traders usually act as 
custom house officials, buying certain districts of the Island of Zanzibar 
and collecting the revenue due the Sultan. 

As has been stated, enough has been said regarding the natives of 
Zanzibar ; but after recording a few facts about the country itself, we 
propose to follow a great river into the interior of Africa and discover 
some of the most singular tribes of the continent. Southern Zanzibar is- 
watered by several rivers, and is included among those mysterious 
regions to which the early Hebrew kings sent their ships and brought to 
Israel the riches, fragrance and lusciousness of Eastern lands. Both 
gold and silver mines, covered with the tropical growths of centuries 
have been discovered in Zanzibar, and the river districts not only grow 
the fruits of the South, but the grains and spices, the great forests fur- 
nishing timber, India rubber and copal in inexhaustible quantities. 
Every animal common to the continent finds a home in this region, and 
even sheep, goats and fowls add to the bewildering variety. The 
country has been little explored beyond the sources of the rivers, but 
what is known of it excuses the reports brought back to Portugal by the 
early navigators, which were long considered fiction. It is somewhat 
singular, however, that in these stories told about the tribes of Africa 
little stress was laid upon anything but the savage phase of life and the 
riches of the land. 





MOZAMBIQUE. 



JN early times the Portuguese occupied the most favorable mari- 
time stations along the coast, but the Arabs have supplanted 
them by force of arms and commercial craft. Mohammedan- 
ism is therefore rapidly spreading among the East African 
tribes, notwithstanding the efforts of Christian missionaries. 
The average African, however, is more prone to believe in evil 
'i spirits and the Medicine man or Rain-maker than in anythino- 
else, and the native tribes of Mozambique are no exception to 
the rule. The country formerly supplied most of the East, 
Egypt and the West Indies with slaves. Later it had a strong 
rival in Zanzibar, and now since the slave trade is being gradually extin- 
guished even in the country of the Portuguese, Mozambique is declining 
in prosperity, and its commerce is almost confined to supplying the Arabs 
with ivory in return for fabrics and produce from India. For the want of 
an energetic government, this rich country, which was one of the Eldo- 
rados of the middle ages, the supposed Ophir of the Scriptures, and all 
that is naturally splendid — this rich child of nature is given over to the 
same class of obscure tribes, which inhabit the regions to the north. 
The tale goes that centuries ago, before even the Portuguese had set foot 
upon these shores, the country was governed by the great tribe of Mono- 
motapans. The people were warlike and enterprising, their black cattle, 
ivory and gold being celebrated the world over. Hundreds of minor 
tribes were subject to their sway, the kingdom being divided into seven 
provinces. When the Portuguese beat around Cape Horn and com- 
menced to plant their standards and their colonies along the African 
coast they still found 

A POWERFUL AND RICH EMPIRE, 

but not strong enough to resist their ambitious aims. They overran 

the land and the native empire fell into fragments, which now exists in 

these insignificant tribes ; and the seven grand provinces of Mono- 

motapa are still retained, in shadow by the districts or captaincies into 

which Mozambique is divided by its Portuguese officials. 

87 



88 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The native chiefs are the rulers of such tribes as remain. Zumbo, 
on the Zambesi river, was their ancient capital and at the beginning of 
the present century was still the seat of the most powerful of these 
tribes. Along the banks of the river, especially at its headwaters and 
far to the west, are found towns and peoples showing a far higher grade 
of civilization than in most portions of the continent so distant from the 
coast ; it seems probable that this line of travel would take us into the 
best that remains of the kingdom of the Monomotapa. Their affairs 
are transacted by an assembly of chiefs, presided over by a king or the 
most powerful of their number. Somie of them live in large towns, of 
regularly built Avooden houses plastered with mud — which, by the way, 
are often erected by the women, who likewise till the ground. The men 
tend the cattle, manufacture pottery, prepare skins, smelt iron and cop- 
per, and go to war. But although 
some of these tribes evince an under- 
^ standing of the fundamental princi- 
( pies of government, and some ideas 
^ of justice and the conveniences of life, 
p they are flooded with superstition 
and cling to the most terrible of cus- 
toms. If their country is parched 
by continued drought, the elders of 
the tribe or the council of the tribes 
assemble and call for the rain maker, 
who may be hundreds of miles away, 
trying to relieve some other stricken 
community. If he fails he has a 
plausible reason for his failure. If 
he succeeds, he is held more than ever in fearful awe. A story is told 
of one who arrived upon the scene of action just as the storm-cloud 
rolled up from the distance. Performing a few magic ceremonies and 
mumbling to himself, he threw himself on his back and had scarcely 
time to point his toes at the clouds before they emptied themselves of 
their welcome charge. 

Though the superstitions and religious beliefs and customs vary, 
even of those tribes who speak the same dialect, a majority of the tribes 
along the Zambesi and its tributaries bury their dead in a sitting posture. 
This is especially the case with the Bechuanas, whose language is spoken 
almost from the Atlantic Ocean to Mozambique, ?nd whose peculiarities 
are at present mostly under observation. When they perceive that the 
moment of dissolution is near at hand, they throw a skin or net over the 




*f- 



GRAVE OF A DAMARA. 



A POWERFUL AND RICH EMPIRE. 89 

sick man's body, which being drawn up into the proper posture, is held 
there until "rigor mortis" sets in. The inside of the burial pit is care- 
fully rubbed with a certain root which is supposed to have an embalming 
effect, a small bush is placed directly over the cranium for a tomb-stone, 
and provisions are placed near the grave. The Darmas, who have 
villages to the north of the river, are particular devotees of this custom, 
as are also the Damaras, a branch tribe, who live far to the southwest. 
One reason for this sinofular burial custom is said to be that althouo-h 
they believe in a future state, they have no respect for the body, and wish 
to bury it in the least possible space. They therefore bore a hole with 
a large auger about ten feet deep, and into this pit the body is placed. 
These people, although they treat the body so harshly, offer up prayers 
to their deceased parents, and have a deity whom they call Umerura. 
Besides, each tribe or family has its guardian angel, which is the prin- 
cipal object of worship. They believe that man is of vegetable origin, 
and that the races of men spring from various kinds of trees. In many 
of their villages, therefore, they have trees into whose trunks are fast- 
ened various representations of human heads, and to which they pay a 
kind of worship. The Darmas live principally upon milk and vege- 
tables. They naturally have a superstitious feeling about eating the flesh 
■of animals, since they believe that the ghosts of the departed always 
bear the likeness of some animal. There are many peculiarities of their 
superstitious beliefs, which seem to stamp them as offshoots from the 
systems of the East ; the theory of transmigration of the soul in par- 
ticular. Although the Darmas are a fine race of men, many of them 
over six feet in height, they are remarkably short lived. Their climate 
is unhealthful, since their country is thickly sprinkled with extensive 
lagoons, and a malignant type of bilious fever creates great havoc 
among them. The people of both sexes go scantily clothed, and the 
men wear no ornaments whatever, thinking them only fit for the women. 
The Darmas have no intoxicating drinks ; but taking the hollow horn of 
an antelope, in the smaller end of which is inserted a clay cup for their 
hemp-seed or tobacco, they light its contents and inhaling vast quantities 
of the smoke, they swallow the fumes ; this produces a stupefaction which 
answers all the purposes of intoxication. In common with most of the 
Bechuana tribes the Darmas have a great regard for the cow, which 
feeling they perhaps inherit from their distinguished ancestors of the 
coast, and they have a superstitious notion that to rinse the earthen pans 
in which they keep their milk will prevent that lowly quadruped from 
furnishing her usual supply. 



90 . PANORAMA OK NATIONS. 

MANLY SPORT. 

About the only kind of so-called "manly sport" in which the Darmas 
engage is hunting the hippopotamus which commits such ravages upon 
their gardens and plantations ; and this is the way they pursue their 
national enemy. First they construct a raft of reeds upon which five or 
six of the hunters fioat down the stream with their iron harpoohs; cords 
and other implements. The iron head of the harpoon is fastened 
securely to one end of a pole about ten feet in length, and a cord made 
of leather thongs, to the other. To the cord is also afifixed a buoy. 
The raft having reached the settlement of the hippopotamus, the hunters 
anchor and look the ground over. As soon as the snout of their victim 
appears above the water the harpooner lets fly his weapon to the point 
which he knows will reach the bulky side of the river-horse. When the 
harpoon has struck home the party seize the line and paddle for the 
shore, in case the commotion caused by the throes of the hippopotamus 
does not threaten to capsize the craft. Should there be that danger the 
buoy attached to the harpoon line keeps the whereabouts of the brute 
within knowledge. If the hunters keep out of the way of his yawning 
jaws they eventually see one more of their enemies go the way of all 
flesh ; but should the hippopotamus anticipate their intentions of slipping 
the line around a tree and hauling him to shore, and "get there" 
first, the harpoon still sticking in his tough side and driving him more 
and more frantic, his cavernous jaws with their cruel teeth and tusks 
may snap a Darma in two or hideously maim him. If he comes upon 
the hunters in the water their danger is still more imminent. 

The nation to the east of the Darmas is patriarchal in its form of 
government like most of the native tribes. The hut of each head of a 
family is the center of a circle composed of the houses of his sons, 
daughters and sons-in-law. Each circle of huts is called a "cootla," and 
over all the king rules. There are "little lords" or counsellors to the 
king, before whom minor disputes are brought, with the privilege of 
appealing to the prime ruler. When the case comes before the king 
each of the lords expresses his opinion. The king then sums up the 
case and generally goes with the majority. This "nation's" king, or 
head chief, is called "Emperor" by the Portuguese, who pay him 
tribute in consideration of the protection which he gives to their com- 
merce. He has a body-guard of five Portuguese soldiers, who pace 
around his hut or before its entrance with majestic steps. The king is 
attired in an apron which falls to his knees, and his subjects are gay 
dressers and great lovers of fire-arms. They do not seem particularly 



A CIVILIZED TRIBE. QT 

warlike, but love the guns for their own sakes and will sometimes pay 
$150 to $200 in gold-dust for an ordinary rifle not worth a tenth of 
that sum. Iron and copper mines are plentiful in their territory and 
gold is also produced. They keep the location of the latter deposit, 
however, a profound secret, though they may exchange it, ounce for 
ounce, for coffee or sugar. The Beloondas are polygamists, but every 
wife has a hut to herself of which she is such complete mistress that her 
husband, though he be the king himself, cannot enter when she is absent. 

A CIVILIZED TRIBE. 

To the west of the Darmas live a singular people, whose intelligent 
love of cattle and the high estimate they place upon them, as well as the 
wisdom of many of their institutions, cannot but recall to mind that the 
ancient Monomotapans valued their cattle more than they did their 
gold, and that they were also wise. The cattle are of an enormous 
breed, and they take pains that it shall remain pure. The complexion 
of the Kaloios is a shade lighter than even that of the Hottentots, and 
their hair is long, black and straight. They are tall and their forms are 
symmetrical and commanding, their features being of an almost Euro- 
pean cast. Their land is fertile and produces all kinds of grain, tobacco, 
watermelons and vegetables. Being a pastoral people, and yet living 
in a land of wild beasts, they are not gathered into towns and villages, 
but homesteads, surrounded by high palisades, dot the entire surface of 
the country. Their principal article of diet is a sort of " hasty pudding," 
made by boiling meal in water. This they eat with milk. Articles of 
crockery ware, iron and copper are manufactured by them in quite a 
skillful manner, and they have likewise a variety of home-made musical 
instruments. Polygamy is generally practiced, the king having some- 
times more than a hundred wives, but the nation seems to be directed 
by a kind hand and many of its regulations (not to give them the name 
of laws) are worthy of imitation. The glories of war they hold in great 
contempt, and they have never been known to make any encroachments 
upon the territory of their neighbors. No precautions are taken to 
prevent thefts and robberies. The secure condition of the country seems 
to launch one, at a bound, from the Africa of to-day into the golden age 
of old Sparta when Lycurgus made her laws. When a Kaloio wishes 
to dispose of an article, large or small, he attaches it to a sprig of palm 
tree and leaves it in a space enclosed by palisades. When one goes to 
this market-house or bazaar to make a purchase he selects the article he 
wants and puts in its place what he considers a fair equivalent. Their 



92 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



money is a pebble, ground to an octagonal shape, about one-eighth of 
an inch in thickness. It varies in size according to its value. The 
money is "coined" under the king's authority, and he never allows more 
of it to circulate than is absolutely necessary to make exchanges. Coun- 
terfeitinor is an unknown crime. 

Between the countries of the Kaloios and the Darmas is the Ba- 
rotze nation, or Makololo. Unlike the Darmas, who have no commu- 
nications with the coast settlements, they are a trading people of some 
pretension, and, as if to shame their simple neighbors, both men and 
women seem determined to load their bodies with all the gaudy orna* 
ments they can carry. In appearance they stand between the Moor 




THE ZAMBESIS. 



and the negro, and probably belong to the diversified Ethiopian stock. 
The men dress in Turkish trousers and roundabout jackets, made of a 
calico which is ornamented with the prints of large, brilliant-hued flow- 
ers. The women wear petticoats made of the same material, and both 
are loaded down with ornaments of beads and copper, arranged on 
necks, arms and ankles. The canoes of the Barotze nation swarm the 
Zambesi river, and their gaudy merchants are bold and enterprising. 
These people present the strange spectacle of a nation of savages giving 
woman a little more than equal rights with man. A majority of the 
chiefs are of the female sex, and the nation has been often governed by 
a queen. Men and women, being reared in the same manner from 
infancy, engage in the same occupations and are exposed to the same 
hardships. 



A CIVILIZED TRIBE. 95 

Their immediate neighbors, before the Darmas country is reached^ 
are a tribe or nation Avith a very long name who also trade up and down 
the river, and are given to finery and bright-colored calicoes, bombazines 
and alpacas. They are far less intelligent, however, than the Makololos, 
or the Barotze nation. They worship lions, elephants and serpents, and 
consider it impious to resist them ; so that a lion or an elephant or a 
huge boa may bear away one of their number or kill him before their 
eyes, and they will witness the sight with a joyful clapping of hands, 
believing that their friend has been thus selected for some sort of a para- 
dise. The national dances of this people are always celebrated by the 
light of the full moon, and a lion has been known to stalk in among the 
warriors and head men of the tribe and bear away his victim in his jaws. 
Should they molest the monster in any way they fear that they will bring 
down a curse upon the nation from the mighty spirit which dwells within 
the body of the majestic beast. 

Was there ever so bewilderino- a combination of io^norance and 
wisdom, virtue and vice, religion and superstition as we find among the 
tribes and nations of Africa, and especially those who have even a slight 
communication with the outer world of recognized civilization ! Such 
tribes and nations as these alono- the Zambesi River live in the 
debatable land of those philosophers whose lives are spent in efforts 
to ascertain whether savage life is really infancy or approach- 
ing senility; whether, upon the whole, looking the world over,, 
there are not as many solemn examples of retrogression, as inspiring 
instances of progression. The world decides that the world does move, 
but there is no more enticing field in the universe to the ethnologist 
than Southern Africa, where the brightest fragments of savagery lie- 
away from contact with European nationalities ; and yet the world does 
move, although the tribes of Southern Africa, beyond the Zambesis,. 
who have had the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English as masters, 
and teachers, show a lamentable aptness in gathering to themselves the 
worst vices of the immigrants. The statement regarding the progress of 
the world will have to be repeated, even when the spectacle is presented 
of civilized nations teaching their worst vices to these children — the 
redeeming features of the picture will be painted as the panorama moves 
on to Australia. 

Southern Mozambique is between the Zambesi River and the 
Transvaal, or Dutch Republic — established by the Dutch farmers to 
escape the clutches of the English. This country, known as Sofala, is 
a region as large as New Jersey, forming one of the divisions of Mozam- 
bique. The town by that name was formerly the capital of a. native: 



94 



PANORAMA (>]'• NATIONS. 



kinij^doin, and wlicn llu; PorUiLjiicsc cstablislic*! llicii- carllcsl, sculc- 
nicnts on the coast in the sixtccntli century, it was a place of considera- 
ble trade. At one lime lar^c r|tiantities of gold dust were sent from 
Sofala, which was the jtarlicui.ir section of the world decided by some 
scholars to be the Ophir from which .Solomon's fleets returned laden with 
the precious metal. 'Idle town has now a fort, a church, a few mud and 
straw huts, and a beautiful .sandbar at the mouth of the river, the (.-xpfjrts 
from the country being mainly ivory, amber and beeswax. A fewslav(,-s 
are also included in the exports. The coast regions (;/ .S(;fala are 
swampy and unhealthful, but the country stretches back toward the 
west until it merges into the Motapa Mountains. As in Nortlieiu 
Mozand)i(|iie, thenatives are governed by lh<ir own chiefs, and acknowl- 
edge the authority of the Portuguese only as it is to their commercial 
advantage so to do. I!ui in Souihri-u Africa there are more ]-)0sitive 
elem(;nts to be considered, and \v<- lind whole I'aces subject to l'".iU'o- 
peans, and entire tribes in captivity to stronger tribes. We find also 
native warriors who have been taught to fight with modern weapons, 
and whf) have never been subdued, but merely confined to a smalh-r ter- 
ritory, the immigrants having seized and held choice and sharply-delined 
districts themselves. 









:^,r 






Mo 



i'- 



THE LAND OF THE CAFFRES. 




THE ZULU CAFFRES. 

r IS not within our pro\incc to speak of quarrels between 
the l)ritish and Dutch for the; country beh)w the Orange 
river, or of the fierce conllicts which thev ha\-e Ijoth wai-cd 
witli the Caffres and Bushmen and smaller native tribes; or 
of the sawage warriors of Zululand, who are Caffres them- 
selves, but upon the l)loody path a most implacable and dan- 
onerous breed. It is sufficient to remember that the Caff re is, 
virtuall}', a man withcnit a countr)'. When we consider that 
not many years ago Caffraria, or Caffreland, extended from 
Mozambique six hundred miles along the eastern coast 
and two or tliree hundred miles inland, and now that it is less 
than one-tenth of that area, although its tribes ar(; found a tliousand 
miles awa}' — then it will bc> acknowledged, that he is indeed "a man 
without a country." Variously modified by climate, habits and mixture 
with native tribes, the Caffre appears in Central Africa, from the Orange 
river to the Nile, still warlike, a lover and often a worshiper of the cow, 
a tiller of the soil ; a born commander among the lower type of negroes. 
The Caffre seems of the same order as the Ab\'ssinian or the Galla ; 
the governing race which founded a kingdom in tlie modern land of 
Mozambique; the basis of the Bechuanas, whose habits ha\e been 
described as they exist in the Zaml)csi Ri\cr c;ountr\' — in short, an 
Ethiopian whom circumstances have dri\'en into the southern extremity 
of his native land. The complexion of the Southern Caffres is brown 
or copper colored, but as they approach the equator it becomes dark 
and at times a deep black. Their noses and foreheads are almost Euro- 
jiean in type. The Caffre of Southern Africa is ])owerfully and sjm- 
metrically built, the men standing from fue feet ten to six feet three 
inches. Their speed is surprising, a blooded horse only being a match 
for them. In both male and female the hair is sliort and crisped, Imt 
not as woolly as that of the negro. Married men wear an api'on com- 

95 



96 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



posed of the tails of native animals, while if they have any standing in 
the community their heads must be shaved and tightly bound with rings 
of hard clay. If they are ministers of the chief, or chiefs, they wear 
three or four. When the boy has bloomed into manhood the official 
barber takes his head between his knees and scrapes off the hair with a 
piece of glass. It is not a pleasant operation, but must be undergone 
previous to being "ringed" into distinction. Another mark, not only 
of honor but of superlative refinement, is to carry a snuff-box in the ear. 




UTENSILS OF THE CAFFRES. 



A hole is made large enough to admit the box, and it is a very social 
sight to see a company of Caffres squat upon the ground, take out their 
boxes and horns, and energetically push the snuff into their noses with 
fancy wooden spoons. Their bodies are only partially covered with 
clothing, but they often present a beautiful appearance since they are 
rubbed with the grease of the castor oil plant, -^.nd, with their well- 
rounded and muscular limbs, seem transformed into artistic "studies in 
bronze." This is particularly true of the Zulu warriors, or the Zulu 
youth in dancing costume; for when not in action they apparently real- 



DANCING AND COURTING. 97 

ize their physical beauties and pose in attitudes which would ravish a 
painter's eye. 

DANCING AND COURTING. 

But once in the dance, neither youth nor warrior is long Inactive. 
The participants come from the kraals of this cattle-raising people for 
miles around, especially if the dance is. to be given by some great chief. 
The heads of the men and boys are decorated with ostrich feathers, and 
if they desire to appear particularly gay small birds are attached to their 
necks by cords or chains. Many of them also carry their assagais, or 
long spears, which they wave about or clang together to the evident 
terror of the chained songsters, but to the admiration of the plump and 
curd-fed girls, who clap their hands in admiration and encouragement. 
Their dances sometimes continue for ten or twelve hours, being inaugu- 
rated by the slaughter of a bullock which is cut up and eaten while the 
flesh still quivers with life. It is not uncommon for as many as two 
thousand Caffres to indulge in such festivities. The bird ornaments 
are retained by the boys of marriageable age, even when they are not 
on dress parade; they walk around as proud as peacocks, pulling the 
strings to which the birds are attached to make them flutter and attract 
the attention of susceptible maidens. Girls, however, whose personal 
charms are worth to their parents as many as ten or twenty cows, are 
kept closely watched and usually go abroad in pairs, with their arms 
around each other in true school-girl fashion. - When the young man 
has fallen in love himself, as often comes to pass with those who start 
out to ensnare others, he goes to his barber for personal improvement. 
The operator holds the head of the youth between his knees, as was 
clone some time ago when that same head was shaved and encircled 
with a ring of clay; the youth's hair is long enough to be worked into 
a complicated mat with a porcupine quill. When the effect has been 
made sufficiently fierce the young man goes off to woo. If hardy and 
pleasing and rich in cattle he is almost sure to succeed^^ although an 
enumeration of the virtues of a Caffre makes no bad showino^. 

But the courting days are over and the young man has somewhat 
modified his head-dress; the girl has been taken from her light house- 
hold duties, and her curds and whey, and is being brought toward the 
kraal of the future bridegroom. Accompanied by parents and friends 
she is seen to approach, and the young man sends to meet them a herd 
of twenty cows, driven by his servants; for he is rich and desirable. 
This is the gift to the father of the bride, who, stationed in the rear of 
his company, sedately receives the gift, his daughter squatting upon the 



98 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ground as the herd approach, and earnestly considering their propor- 
tions and numbers ; as upon these things really depends the estimation 
in which she is held by her future husband. She is apparently satisfied, 
for she advances with some dignity to the entrance of the kraal, where 
:she falls upon her knees to receive from the young man a necklace of 
beads which he places around her neck with his ow^n gentle hands. A 
band of white beads, emblems of innocence, is also clasped around her 
waist. She is then led into his hut, where she remains alone until sun- 
down, to finally decide whether she will take him " for better or for 
worse." If she is still favorably inclined her lover leads her from the 
hut, in front of a body of his relatives and friends, who strike up some 
song of congratulation or welcome to the bride. Then follows the 
dance, which is substantially the same whether prompted by the fierce- 
ness of war or the sociability of domestic life. 

MARRIED LIFE. 

If the bride, whom we have been marrying, had been preceded by 
several sisters in matrimony, one of them would have welcomed her to 
the home of their future lord, and after the dance was concluded she 
would occupy the newly built hut (erected by her brothers) which was 
one of the circle surroundintr the house of the husband. Should she be 
of a quarrelsome disposition she will be tied to a stake and receive a 
dozen lashes at the hands of his next brother. This humiliation she will 
undergo alone, for the husband has ordered his wives from the kraal 
and left himself. He unbinds her on his return, when she invariably 
falls upon her knees and promises to do better thereafter. If she persists 
in her fault she maybe returned to her parents. .Should she choose the 
better way she retires to her bee-hive hut, which has neither window nor 
chimney, and reflects. She closes the door, or hurdle, to keep out any 
poisonous snakes which may be about, and lies down upon a mat of grass 
with a log of wood for a pillow. When a man has many wives he elects 
one as his "great wife " — she is apt to be his youngest and latest — and 
her eldest son is the heir. Then he selects his " right-hand wife," whose 
son inherits some of the property of the mother. If the husband be rich, 
he may provide for the other children, but it is not obligatory. If he 
dies without making a choice either of great wife or right-hand wife, his 
brother does it for him. Occasions may arise when the husband feels 
called upon to beat his wife himself. If he knocks out an eye or a tooth, 
or kills her. he is fined by his chief. The same regulation holds good 
between parents and children who live at home. It is somewhat surpris- 



MARRIED LIFE. 



99 



ing that murder is regarded in the same Hght by the Caffre as by the 
Abyssinian and by nearly all partially civilized people. They seem 
unable to comprehend the difference between meditated and unpre- 
meditated murder, but fix the punishment upon a consideration purely 
of the injury accomplished, the latter being decided by the rank of the 
family whose member is killed. Theft is punished in the same way. So 
that if a chief is robbed, general confiscation follows, although should he 
Jay hands upon the finest cow in his dominion he cannot be prosecuted. 
His children are privileged to steal, also, and if any one is bold enough 




BUILDING THE BRIDE'S HUT. 



to whip a royal youngster for not keeping within bounds, he is liable to 
lose every cow in his kraal. Some years ago there was a tribe governed 
by a chief with so many thievish children that not a garden or a goat in 
the settlement was safe. A general appeal was made to the high 
chief, who decided that the privilege should in the future be confined to 
his own immediate family. There is no fine for trespass since the Caft're 
is a land communist ; but if he drives cattle from the tract in his im- 
mediate vicinity which he has been allowed to improve, and injures them 
in the driving, he is fined. Any man may occupy unimproved land, and 



lOO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

no one but the chief can disturb him ; but should he leave his land, and 
another occupy it, he can recover it if he desires. 

Returning to the undesirable wife. There is no system of divorce, 
but if a man repudiates his wife and can show that he does so on good 
grounds, he gets back his cattle from her father. Should a man die 
without children by a wife, the cattle given for her may be recovered by 
his heirs. Should only one child have been born and the woman be still 
young, a part of the cattle can be recovered. In a word, it will be inferred 
from this dissertation on cattle and wives, that a wife can be bought, 
but never sold by her husband. She may pass along to the next brother 
as so much property, but is never sold except by her parents before 
she is married. 

GOOD TRAITS. 

Now, what are some of the good qualities of the Caffre? He is 
inclined to be honest. He is cleanly, and punishes his pickaninnies if 
they do not go into the water four times a day instead of whipping them 
if they do. He is hospitable and peaceable if he does not think himself 
imposed upon. His people live to a great age, and old age is respected. 
Old men and women are generally accompanied by two boys who lead 
them about, give them their daily baths and supply their other wants. 
He is cheerful and takes "hard rubs" as they come. The loss of a cow 
crushes him for a day; but he is sunshine the next — he never broods. 
He will nurse you with the faithfulness of a mother, but, if you wince 
under his treatment, his sympathy and his wonderful powers of mimicry 
get the better of him and he puts himself in your place at once — 
expression, posture and everything. He is a good neighbor, and will 
sit around the sick man's hut for hours comforting him every way in his 
power; or he will start up and without a word start on a journey of a 
hundred miles or more. He may do that or send a special messenger 
who, for a shilling, will go half that distance on a run, holding the doc- 
tor's letter in the slit end of a stick, well over his head. Unless he stops 
along the road to take a spoon of snuff, nothing short of wild beasts or 
death can slacken his pace until he has delivered his message. 

The physician is an awful personage, for although as naked as 
the average Caffre, he has suspended from the back of his neck a small 
skull ; and claws of eagles, and feet of lions are hung about his person to 
act as charms. Upon the point of his assagai is fastened a small bunch 
of herbs. He also sings away disease. If the doctor is not sent for 
and the patient dies, the relatives of the deceased are fined by the chief. 
When death has occurred the family become unclean and unable to mix: 



GOOD TRAITS. ID I 

in society for a certain period. It was a former custom to cast away the 
dead body to be devoured by wild beasts, unless the deceased happened 
to be a chief, when he was given a decent burial ; but now rich and 
poor are placed under the ground, a hole being dug near the hut. With 
the body of the chiefs are buried his arms and ornaments. If he was an 
"Umkumkami, " (head chief) watchers attended by a number of cattle 
are posted by his grave for at least a year. Watchers and cattle thereby 
become sacred ; the watchers have certain privileges accorded them and 
the cattle can never be slaughtered ; nor can their progeny, until the 
sacred kine have breathed their last. The sub-chiefs, in the mean- 
time, have shaved their heads, abstained resolutely from milk, and per- 
formed other feats indicative of their profound grief. Furthermore the 
grave of the dead chieftain is considered a sanctuary for every villain in 
the land. Be his crime ever so heinous, let him once be able to cast 
himself upon it, and he is safe from all pursuers. 

The kindness which the Caffre shows toward his friend when he is 
sick or in distress is, however, a more effective medicine than all the 
charms of the physician. A European who lived for many months among 
them, and thoroughly learned their language and their ways, tells the 
following, as illustrating this trait of sympathy and its concomitant, 
helpfulness : "A poor fellow had lost all his cows with lung sickness, and 
three of his wives died at the same time, I believe, from eating the 
diseased meat of the animals. Unluckily he had not planted many 
mealies, so that he was in a true state of bankruptcy. But in this wild 
and happy condition there being no assignees, a meeting of the heads of 
the kraals was called, and after talking the matter over for some time, 
they all became silent and thoughtful, evidently considering what had bet- 
ter be done. Suddenly a man sprang up and claimed, 'I feel so m^any cows 
and calves for you.' Then another got up and said how many he felt ; a 
third had a like sensation, and then a fourth, and so on through the 
august assembly, until the man was again possessed of a very respectable 
herd of cattle." 

Notwithstanding all these good qualities, the Caffre, in a matter of 
business, will cheat like a professional sharper. When one is in his 
house as a guest he can not treat him with enough kindness and hospi- 
tality, — but with the Caffre, as with his civilized and unfortunate brother, 
""business is business;" and that is all there is to it. There never was a 
man who was so tender and yet so cruel. This is particularly shown in 
his hunting customs. Even when he can, he seldom kills an animal 
outright, but seems to delight in torture and a slow death. For instance, 
the hippopotamus is in the habit of getting into gardens and causing 



I02 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

much damage. It is one of the Caffres' modes of revenge to lasso their 
enemy and when securely fastened to thrust the bough of a tree into his. 
mouth. Thus propped open the mighty cavern furnishes a fair mark for 
their assagais, with their curved iron blades. They kill the beast by 
slow degrees, but before the tortured brute is really cold they cut him 
up and feast ravenously upon his warm flesh. Whether hunting the 
wild pig which they consider (with fish) unclean ; or the powerful buffalo 
who disdains the lion himself, or the hideous hyena, or the king of 
beasts whose blood they lap up in the belief that they will inherit his. 
boldness, the Caffre is always accompanied by his dog, who is of a swift^ 
fierce and stubborn breed. 

SUPERSTITIONS. 

The superstitions rife in Caffraria, or rather among the Southern 
Caffres, are many but quite harmless. A snake represents the devil 
and, strange to say, (in a country where snakes are almost as plentiful as. 
jungle grass) a snake was seen to enter the hut of a person who died a. 
year thereafter! Or a fowl passed in front of the hut. No Caffre 
therefore, on pain of death, will allow a harmless hen to be driven in 
front of his hut; she must go round by the back way! Not one could be 
induced to eat a hen's egg, or sell it for less than fourpence ; if he did, he 
would surely meet with some crushing misfortune. A coolie is an abom- 
ination to a Caffre. Some evil influence is thought to reside in his very 
breath ; so that if a Caffre meets one on the road he not only will pass, 
him on the other side, but will throw over his mouth whatever skin or 
covering he may have upon his person. The true native whose natural 
superstition has not been weakened by an accidental contact with rational 
ideas, is firmly convinced that death never comes except by accident or 
through the instrumentality of witches now and then. The Caffres- 
pitch upon one of their number as a wizard, or " King of Snakes," and. 
flee from him as from a pestilence. If they are obliged to approach him 
they fear to look him in the eye, lest they or their cattle should be 
stricken. This same evil-eyed gentleman often wills it that his trembling" 
victim should kill a fat cow and make over to him her very best parts. 
After a time, however, if it is found that he is one of a family of wizards 
who are engaged in their wicked practices, a concerted assault is made 
upon them and all are destroyed. Opposed to the wizard is the 
" prophet" of the kraal, who, when the witch's time has come, is placed 
in the center of the company and immediately commences to "smell'" 
for the evil one. The wizard is smelt out, denounced, seized and sub- 




NcGRU."^ 



HEGRO 



SUPERSTITIONS. _ 103 

jected to some horrible form of torture which the Caffre knows so well 
how to inflict. The family and friends of the wizard (for he sometimes 
has both) must assist in the hideous work or be suspected themselves 
and perhaps subjected to the same tortures. It often happens that this pro- 
cess of "smelling out " the wizard covers the deepest of evil designs. A 
chief may wish to rid himself of a political enemy, or a prominent mem- 
ber of his tribe has a neighbor who has cast covetous eyes upon his cat- 
tle. In either case the priest or prophet is called in, and after many 
contortions on his part, and much smelling around the circle, and great 
howling and beating of drums by the conspirators, the unfortunate one 
is named. If he persists that he is innocent he may be tortured to death 
as a stubborn sort of a " royal snake." Admitting that he is "possessed " 
in some way, his cattle are appropriated by the chief and he is beaten 
and purified of the Evil One. If he is merely considered to be a torment- 
ing wizard he usually escapes with his life ; if he is the enemy of one in 
power he is apt to die of his injuries. 

The rain-maker is also a great personage among the Caffres of South- 
ern Africa. In obedience to the summons of a chief he arrives and at once 
gives orders for the slaughtering of an ox, whose bones are burned. If 
rain does not come after about the third day, the " maker" commences 
to look wise and serious, and the chief very fierce. After deep reflec- 
tion the rain-maker discovers that the beast was manifestly of an unac- 
ceptable color and a second one is sacrificed. Another anxious waiting 
of two or three days, with the pasture lands burning up and the patient 
cattle standing about disconsolately, and the tribe commences to get in- 
credulous, but being told that some "witchcraft" is the matter with 
the second ox, they straightway proceed to smell it out. Should the 
drought still continue, the chief is more likely than not to order the 
impostor drowned. 

Kaffir or Caffre is an Arabic word signifying "unbeliever" and was 
applied to these people by the Mohammedans. Although among the 
tribe of Griquas, Christianity has made some progress, they have, as a 
whole, no prescribed forms of religion. They have, however, a general 
belief in a Supreme Being. Their government consists of a national 
council which is composed of a head chief ("The Umkumkani,") 
subordinate chiefs, and petty chiefs who merely have jurisdiction over a 
kraal or hamlet. Their laws are unwritten but are undoubtedly stowed 
away in the heads of the chief men of the kraal, who, when a case is 
brought before them, sit solemnly in a circle and place the culprit in the 
center. The defendant pleads his own case, uninterrupted, and may 
either clear himself, be sentenced to death or be mulcted heavily in a fine 
of cows. 



1 94 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Of the unwritten laws which hold fast among the Caffres is one 
which is unique even in the annals of polygamy. In the division of a 
man's property after death the wives of the deceased go to his next 
brother, which may explain the custom of allowing said next brother to 
discipline an unruly wife during the lifetime of her husband. It will 

thus be seen that the 
death of a brother may be 
the fortune of the next in 
succession, for every wife 
who falls to him represents 
so many cows even up to 
the number of one hun- 
dred ! 



^ ZULU WARFARE. 

But where the Zulu 
or the Zulu Caffre, as he 
is often called, goes upon 
the war-path he leaves far 
behind all ideas of human- 
ity, and blood and re- 
venge are straight before 
him. Painting his body 
with a fiery red clay and 
arming himself with his 
terrible assagai and shield 
of ox hide, he issues forth 
to carry terror into the 
camps of native tribes ; or 
with a rifle, which he may 
have learned to use as 
skillfully as a veteran 
sharp-shooter, arouse the 
admiration of the Dutch 
Boer and the British 
soldier. Even in their former conflicts with European troops, before 
they had the advantage of fire-arms, they seldom showed that conster- 
nation which usually seizes upon the savage when he firsts faces powder, 
shot and shell, with their roar and mysterious force. On the contrary, 
although the reckless warriors could perceive the havoc they created, as 
the cannon ball rebounded from the rocks behind which they were 




A NATIVE WARRIOR. 



ZULU WARFARE. 



105 



■conducting a stubborn defense they chased them over the field and 
captured them, if whole, with the intention of using them to grind their 
^rain. If, on the other hand, the shells exploded, they would pick up 
the pieces and with shouts of derision, pretend to throw them in the 
faces of their foes. When the fire actually became so hot as to threaten 




NOTABLE CHIEF AND WARRIOR. 



annihilation, however, the wonderful speed of the Caffre was brought 
out to perfection. Night attacks the Caffre is not proof against. Dur- 
ing the heat of the day he is as lithe and venomous as a snake, but 
when night comes he loses much of his energy, and all his superstitions 
are alive in the darkness. His two pieces of stick joined together with 
a strip of leather and blessed by a witch doctor seem then to avail him 
little and under cover of the darkness many of his stanchest warriors 



I06 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

have been cut to pieces and his brave chiefs brought into subjection. 
When his spirit is once broken his virtues seem to fade away. 
When he reahzes that he is defeated he will abandon wife, children and 
home. Should his wife be driven from her hut she will leave her baby 
to die by the roadside upon the first opportunity. A Caffre child will 
ask you to give him the beads first, before he conducts you to the hut in 
which you are going to shoot his own father. 

The incessant warfare which has been waged against the Zulu Caffres 
has had the effect of driving their most independent tribes far north. 
Those who remain have retired across the St. John's river into the dis- 
trict called Kaffraria Proper, or have been settled by the British govern- 
ment along the frontiers of the Cape Colony. 

The Fingoes are a money-making people, made up of various Zulu 
tribes, who occupy the frontier of the Cape Colony. They were for a 
time held as slaves by their more warlike neighbors, but rescued by the 
British, to whom they are closely attached. They are a saving, 
careful race, and much better financiers than the Caffres of the Natal 
region, who are in the habit of burying the money they receive from 
Europeans. The result is that sometimes until they can be induced to 
disgorge, the shops of the colony are obliged to close because there is 
no medium of exchange. The Fingoes, on the contrary, are so success- 
ful as financiers that they are called the Jews of the Caffre race. 




THE SOUTHERN BECHUANAS. 




HE country proper of this great tribe includes the central 
and northern portions of Southern Africa — in fact, all the ter- 
ritory not occupied by the Caffres, Hottentots and European 
colonists. Branches of the nation also spread over Central 
Africa. They treat as slaves the tribes even of their own 
nation who have not been able to stand against superior 
'Q\ prowess or have not paid tribute to a powerful native chief. 
These native vassals are known as Bakalahari, and when the}^ 
show an intelligence or bravery above that of slavery they are 
called to enjoy the privileges of citizenship with the members 
of the ruling tribe. The Bakalahari are well treated by their masters, 
who put them to the task of tending their flocks and herds, seeming to 
remember that their slaves are the same as they, only weaker brothers 
or children. When the owner of the stock makes his appearance at the 
post, he speaks of the cattle as if they belonged to the Bakalahari ; and 
when it is his intention to slaughter one, even asks permission of his- 
well-pleased slave. When he goes hunting the master retains the ivory 
and ostrich feathers, the furs and skins, giving the meat to his vassal. 
When he visits the little settlement it is usually with a present of 
some tobacco or wild hemp for smoking, or a clasp-knife or a few beads, 
staying with them to hunt, or to oversee their work in a friendly 
way. It is sometimes with the greatest difficulty that the master can be 
induced to leave his slaves and cattle in order to please his chief and 
assist him in carrying on his wars. 

But although the Bechuanas are no cravens in war, they are diplo- 
matic by nature, and their chiefs indulge in many pretty little forms in 
treating with each other, or one of another tribe. Each chief has usually 
three or four confidential officials, or special ambassadors, to whom he 
entrusts all his most delicate missions. Before starting on any journey 
the party is assembled to hear the message of their chief. The head 
ambassador, or Minister Plenipotentiary, then repeats it. Should he 

hesitate one of his assistants prompts him, if possible. They now start 

107 



io8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



on a journey of a week or more, going over the message once or twice 
at their evening fire, and especially reviving it in their minds the night 
before their arrival at their destination. Upon being received by the 
chief, the leader of the ambassadors commences to recite his story, and 
w^hen he comes to important parts of it, he pauses and turning to his 
attendants demands : " Am I lying? Does not our chief say so?" 

"You speak the true 
words of our master" 
is the reply of his 
companions, who 
thereby become his 
witnesses, and also as- 
sist him to carry back 
the true reply of the 
chief whom they are 
interviewing or peti- 
tioning. The largest 
of the Bechuana 
towns is Shoshong ; 
and, indeed it is one 
of the larsfest towns 
in Southern Africa, 
being midway be- 
tween the Kalahari 
Desert and the Trans- 
vaal Republic. There 
is a courtyard in the 
town, fronting which 
is a semi-circular row 
of houses occupied 
by the twelve wives 
of the chief. The 
headmen have from 
three to six wives, 
according to their social standing, while the common freemen of the 
town have seldom two. When the chief takes a wife home he agrees 
to furnish her a certain number of servants and cattle. In return she 
raises, every year, a certain quantity of corn for him. 

When the chief dies wailings and lamentations resound in every hut 
of the town, and especially those which front the court-yard. 

" Oh where shall we find him? who shall now provide for us? Who 




AGRICULTURE UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



THE BUSHMEN. 



109 



will take his place in the council, or the chase, or the field of battle? 
Where shall we find him?" And then follows the wild chorus expressive 
of great anguish — "Yo-yo-yo!" — the mourners falling on their faces,, 
tearing their hair and beating their breasts. The most sincere of these 
mourners are often the Bakalahari who have had occasion to kindly 
remember some pitying attention not only from his head men but from 
the chief himself. 

THE BUSHMEN. 

But there is one class of slaves who have no occasion to mourn with. 




A GROUP OF BUSHMEN. 



those who mourn ; for the Bechuanas, from poor townsmen to rich 
headsmen and chief, have never shown any affection for the degraded 



no 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Bushmen. " Bushmen are great rascals," or " Bushmen are perfect 
snakes," are remarks which are commonly made by the governing class. 
If a man becomes whatever you call him, the abuse which is continually 
heaped upon this disgraceful species even of the Hottentot has made 
him what he is — so grovelling and mean, that his whole race is threat- 
ened with extinction. When they are not the slaves of other tribes, or 
are too uncivilized to act as guides, they are found living on both banks 
■of the Orange river or in mountainous regions, subsisting upon roots, 




CAVES OF THE BUSHMEN. 

raw flesh, the larvse of ants and locusts, mice, vermin and snakes. They 
have then no fixed residence and build no dwellings, being simply aim- 
less, miserable roamers. They usually wear a sheepskin for clothing, 
and arm themselves with knives, small bows and poisoned arrows. With 
their broad foreheads, high cheek-bones, oblique eyes and dirty olive- 
colored complexion they resemble the Hottentots. But they are smaller 
and have a crafty look, unlike the stolid expression of the Hottentots. 
Both languages have the same guttural, clicking sound, but neither can 
understand the other. Wherever the Bushman is, he seems to be a 
creature of circumstances — a slave to nature or to man. He shows at 



THE BUSHMEN. I I I 

iiis best as a guide, who has been trusted by his fellows to some extent. 
He knows every tree and herb in the country, and- what to use them 
for, and if you, are sick and cannot obtain the most improved medicines, 
trust him to bring you out of your distress. 

Nothinof can exceed his skill as a hunter and an observer of the 
liabits of wild animals ; he seems to understand the twitter of every bird 
or every rustle -made by an approaching beast. In common with the 
Hottentot, he is noted more for his endurance than for great bodily 
strength, and the dogged way in which he lives for years through the 
really cold winter seasons of South Africa with only a small skin mantle to 
throw around his shoulders, is only another proof of how the most miser- 
able will stubbornly cling to the most miserable kind of life. Imagine a 
company of them lying around a log fire, asleep in the mountainous 
regions of the Orange River country ; or they may be sitting upright 
nodding over its welcome fiames, with their skins drawn around their 
necks. Suddenly, as if by arrangement, they stretch, yawn and grunt 
in concert, and walk sleepily to a pile of logs near by from which they 
replenish the fire. When the savages are fairly on their feet, you see 
that their bodies are scorched and scarred, caused by literally baking 
themselves at night to keep up their vital heat. They have had their 
backs to the flames, the first part of the night, and after they have 
thrown on fresh logs they methodically resum.e their places, but with 
their faces to the fire. By the time that side of their bodies is fairly 
" done," light commences to break, and they bestir themselves to look 
for breakfast. Their restless, hungry eyes scan heaven and earth. Sud- 
denly one of their number starts to his feet and seizes his spear. He 
points off in the distance and grunts out a few discordant words to his 
•comrades, and they all start in the direction indicated. After they have 
gone perhaps a quarter of a mile you would be able to discern the cause 
of this commotion in the shape of two or three huge vultures sweeping 
over a certain spot. Arriving at their destination they find a large lion 
busy over the body of an antelope or zebra, with hyenas, younger lions 
ahd birds of prey waiting at a distance, and biding their time. This the 
Bushmen do not mean to do ; so they commence to shout at the top of 
their voices, rattle their spears, shake their mantles, break off the 
branches of trees, and make such a commotion generally, that after lift- 
ing his bloody jaws for a moment, the king of beasts makes off with his 
associates, under the impression that the whole forest is about to sweep 
down upon him. Everything which is left is now borne away to the 
encampment, even if they find only bits of bone and hide and hoof. 



I 12 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



There is marrow in the bones, and gluten in the hoof and hide ; and this' 
is better food than a Bushman gets every day. 

The next best " treat" to getting a repast of fiesh or rich bones is 
to meet a Boer and be able to kill him. The Hottentot and the Boer 
are quite likely to stand in the relation of servant and master, but the 
Bushman has never forgotten that the Dutch first took possession of his 




A CIVILIZED BUSHMAN. 



country of Cape Colony and drove him away ; and although he may 
become the slave of a Bechuana he has sworn an interminable war 
against the Boer. His hatred is returned in kind, and to show to a 
lymphatic Boer his aboriginal enemy is like shaking a red rag at a 
usually peaceable cow. With actual haste he lays aside his pipe of 
tobacco and leaves, undrains his glass of brandy, while his buxom wife 
lets her cup of coffee get cold, and his daughters open their mild eyes 



THE BUSHMEN. II3 

with interest ; for he is about to take down his gun and show that he has 
not forgotten how to use it. He is passionately fond of his mutton, 
soaked in the fat of his long-tailed sheep, but the death of a Bushman 
goes before everything else. He will even break into his rules of hos- 
pitality and leave the stranger, who has shaken hands with him and kissed 
his motherly wife to amuse himself as best he can, while he and his 
grown up sons go " a-gunning " for the Bushman. 

Now let us narrate the story of the Bushman's life as a slave to the 
Caffres, or the Bechuanas, though he is much better off with them than 
when he shifts for himself in the desert and the mountains. He is the 
hunter of South Africa, even as a slave. He knows the meaning of 
every sound in the air, every turned leaf or disturbed twig, and yet is 
always consulting his charms. When his master comes to hunt with him, 
he first goes through his hut, and the " bee-hives " in which his brother- 
slaves swarm with their families. He has no kind words for them, but 
is only looking to see that they have secreted no skins. If he has ven- 
tured to make a mantle for himself or wife, without consultine his 
master, he is sadly taken -to task — perhaps flogged. In former years 
some of the tribes even authorized a master to kill his Bushman slave 
for withholding the proceeds of the chase, obtained during his absence, 
and selling them to European hunters or natives. But such severity 
only seemed to rouse the Bushmen to greater deceitfulness, and the 
Bechuana chiefs finally were obliged to enter the field as common com- 
petitors in trade. So that the slaves now get a more generous allowance 
of skins in cold weather, and, occasionally some tobacco, while their 
wives and children are presented with beads and trinkets. In return, 
the Bushmen are expected to turn over all the skins, ivory and ostrich 
feathers which they obtain in the chase. But European enterprise, even 
with this growing leniency, is the cause of much trouble ; for the variety 
and attractiveness of the goods, which it sends into the country for pur- 
poses of barter with the natives, snatch away from the Bechuanas many 
articles of value on which they formerly had a monopoly. They, 
therefore, throw every impediment in the way of traders, to make their 
passage through the country as slow as possible, and give them time to 
gather up the spoils in advance. 

When the master decides to go upon a hunting excursion with his 
Bushmen, he enters into the sport with all the zest of his slaves. The 
Bushman, in addition to his native spear, bow and arrow, is often en- 
trusted with a gun, which he has learned to handle with remarkable pre- 
cision; for with all his hardships his eye is true and his nerves are steady. 
They then sally forth with their dogs, the master decked out with feath- 



114 



X 

m 

in 

t-' 
> 
< 



o 

> 
n 




EUROPEAN — BECHUANAN CIVILIZATION. II 5 

^rs and beads ; the Bushmen wearing plain skins, and around their necks 
cr in their bushy hair bits of wood or bone, to be used as medicines or 
charms in case of sickness or danger. Besides marks on their faces, some 
of them have the cartilage of their nose pierced, a survival of 
a tribal custom not yet dropped in their present condition of bondage. 
The leader of the party, who is invariably a Bushman, having con- 
sulted the bits of bone or ivory which are strung around his neck, 
announces confidently the direction in which their game will be found, 
and they go briskly forward, with their dogs ahead. If you ask him 
about his ivory charms, he will call them *' things of my god," and will 
add, " they tell me news." He does not attempt to explain, but evidently 
believes in some power outside of himself. 

In times of peace it is evident that these vassals of the Bechuanas 
are far more comfortable than if left to themselves ; for they seem to have 
no idea of combining into kraals and settlements for protection or con- 
venience, although they are thus grouped by their masters. It is the 
custom that a slave can appeal to the chief of a tribe if he considers him- 
self ill-used by his master ; but the certainty of obtaining justice depends 
upon the fact of whether said master is a friend or a foe to said chief. 
Every Bechuana cannot have his Bushman. Slaves are the property of 
the headmen of the tribe. These great men often get to quarreling 
among themselves, and the anxiety of the slaves may be imagined when 
it is known that if the quarrel comes to bloodshed, they may be driven 
hither and thither, and even butchered as so many cattle who are of 
value to a hated rival. In times of civil strife the Bakalahari, or native 
slaves, are liable to suffer the same atrocities. When one Bechuana 
tribe attacks another the Bushmen and Bakalahari are placed in the 
same category with cattle and sheep — they are to be " lifted," or killed 
as opportunity offers. During such troublous times, therefore, the slaves 
flee into the desert, the forest or the mountains, and hide themselves 
until the commotion is past. 

EUROPEAN — BECHUANAN CIVILIZATION. 

Hedged around by the territory of the Orange Free State is a com- 
munity or tribe of Bechuanas, whose position is unique in the history of 
African progress. They possess a territory about thirty-five miles 
square which supports 15,000 natives. They live under their own laws 
and are governed by their own chief, and as they have been allies of the 
Dutch in times part, they live quietly and unmolested, growing maize 
and corn and tending their cattle and sheep like other Caffres. The 



ii6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



land is held by the chief, who apportions it as he pleases, but withdraws 
what has been given only for serious cause. A European has now and 
then ventured into the fertile territory and received a share of the land 
from the chief, whose sole aim seems to be to advance the prosperity of 
his people. The principal town of the nation, which contains about 
6,000 people, is laid out in regular streets, and within the same province 
are smaller villages with their shops and a general appearance of life and 
hope. What few Europeans are living in the place have their houses 
low on the plain, while the huts of the natives are constructed on a hill. 
The king resides in a spacious hut and has his chairs, bed and settles, 
and dresses and walks like a European. He has his watch and chain, a 

round fiat-topped hat and cord 
trousers, is quiet and courteous 
and " progressive " in the best 
sense of the word. A court-yard 
runs around the huts occupied by 
the royal family and his min- 
isters, which is inclosed by a cir- 
. cular fence of bamboo canes, 
}"--;.><;/;;^ stuck into the ground perpen- 
"i-^i^" dicularly and bound together. 
^>^*.. The way into the court-yard is 
" *v# open, but the circle is brought 
around so as to overlap the en- 
trance and prevent the passer-by 
from looking in. The king ad- 
A EUROPEANizED CAFFRE. ministers justice sitting outside 

in his court with his counselors around him; and their word is law. 
Their laws are somewhat similar to those of the Caffres. Death 
is the penalty for rebellion against the government. All other crimes 
are punishable by fines of cows, heavy or light according to their mag- 
nitude. 

SOUTH AFRICAN ABORIGINES. 

The Hottentots, which include the Bushmen, are supposed to be 
the descendants of the tribes which first settled in Southeastern Africa, and 
with the influx of the more energetic Caffres were driven into the south- 
ern portion of the continent. They now dwell for the most part in and 
about the Cape of Good Hope. In moral and intellectual caliber they 
have been found far superior to the Bushman and fully on a par with the 
Caffre. They are courageous, when occasion warrants, but are by nature 




SOUTH AFRICAN ABORIGINES. 



117 



mild and tractable, being generally emplo)ed by the Dutch Boers as 
herdsmen and laborers. Their eyes and complexion, and the shape of 
the head and face, as well as the structure of the hair have been the 
means of separating them from the other African races, notwithstanding 
they are small in numbers and decreasing. Ethnologists have even gone 
so far as to place them among the Mongolians, and they do bear a strik- 
ino- resemblance to the Northern Asiatics and the Esquimaux. When 
the Dutch first commenced to colonize around the cape they found the 
Hottentots occupying all the country now included in the Cape Colony; 
they were living under rather democratic forms of government, although 
o-overned by chiefs, and marched proudly to battle to the sound of the 
pipe and the flageolet. 
Now they have lost all 
national ambition and 
have allowed them- 
selves to be scattered 
and absorbed by the 
superior races. Their 
downfall was principally 
occasioned by their in- 
ordinate love for rum, 
for which they would 
eagerly part with their 
flocks and herds. Then 
they became slaves to 
the Dutch — those who 
were not driven into the 
desert and waste places, 
like the Bushmen. The 
purest remnants of the 
native tribes are found 
in Namaqua land, a sandy, mountainous tract of country, in the north- 
western part of the Cape Colony. 

North of this is Damara land, in which a few miserable aborigines 
drag out a savage existence among its hills and gorges and sandy plains. 
This is a narrow belt of drought-stricken land which they also share with 
the Damaras, a warlike tribe of the Bechuanas who formerly extended 
their depredations as far as N 'garni lake and the Zambesi river. These 
dreary regions of fire, rocks and famine have only one attraction for civ- 
ilized people; they are known to be rich in copper — some travelers 
assert with confidence that when developed they will be among the most 




e^"^ 



A NAMAQUA. 



ii8 



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w 

t?3 



t/i 
O 

a 

W 
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JO 

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TRIBES OF SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA. I I9 

productive of any in the world. The Griquas, who live along the Orange 
river further to the east, are half-breeds, a mongrel tribe of Hottentots 
and Boers. The partially civilized Hottentots as they are found around 
the Cape of Good Hope and scattered all over the colony are docile and 
willing to be taught, and it is asserted that no uncultivated people have 
received the instructions of the Moravian missionaries more readily than 
they. They OAvn both oxen and sheep and, with the Bushmen, are 
addicted to the chase. Their onl}- manufacture is a kind of earthen- 
ware. Their taste for music is satisfied with a rude, three-stringed oruitar 
and a bark flute. Closer contact with Europeans has dispelled many of 
the superstitions which still thrive in the darkness of the Bushman's 
mind or in that of the wild Hottentot. On the other hand the "Cape" 
Hottentot has imbibed several which he would not have done had he 
never brushed up against the life of the nineteenth century. If there is 
one thino^ more than another which makes him shiver it is to have his 
photograph taken, for he honestly thinks that the process in some way 
draws his vitality from him and will shorten his life. 

The young Hottentot is remarkably symmetrical. The girls in par- 
ticular are models of proportion, with delicate hands and feet. But an 
attractive face among either sex is almost unknown, and as the boys and 
girls become men and women every part of the body seems determined 
to outdo the other in ugliness. And their language is in keeping, being 
compared to the discordant clucking of a hen after she has laid an egg. 
It has been suo^o-ested that hereon hino^es the orisfin of the Avord 
Hottentot; that it was given to these people to convey an idea of the 
peculiar clicking or clucking of their words — Hot-en-tot or Hot-and-tot. 
They call themselves Ouai-quae, Gkhui-gkhui. When discovered by the 
Dutch nearly 300 years ago they were known according to their dialects 
as Koi-koin, Tkuhgrub, Ouenan and Ouaquas. It seems impossible to 
find an explanation of the name in their own language. In years to 
come some light upon the mystery may be thrown from an obelisk 
unearthed from Egyptian sand ; for philologists have found some things 
in common between the two tongues, and it may be that the Hottentot 
io only a degraded Pharaoh after all. Who can tell ? 

TRIBES OF SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA. 

The Griquas are a tribe who much resemble the Hottentots. Their 
country which lies along the Orange river is fertile and yet affords fine 
pasturage ; so that they are both agriculturists and raise large flocks of 
sheep and goats. As has been observed, many of them have embraced 



& 



I20 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the Christian faith. They are so enthusiastic in their devotion that 
they attend church upon every possible occasion. Some cynic has made 
the suggestion that they do so, principally with the idea of showing off 
their fine clothes. However this may be, they appear in a variety of 
costumes. Some of the gentlemen wear roundabouts, frock coats or 




DAMARA WARRIOR AND MAIDEN. 



regimentals obtained from British merchants or peddlers. They may 
have vests and pantaloons, or they may be minus the accompanying gar- 
ments. Again they may don cotton shirts or turbans, and rest satisfied. 
The women appear in the most grotesque head-dresses, bodices which 
fit close to the waist and colored petticoats which reach to the ankles. 
As a rule they have been firm allies of Great Britain and have assisted 



TRIBES OF SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA. 121 

them in their warfare with the Boers. They seem particularly attached 
to the Mother Country — for what they can "get out of her;" and the 
appearance of an Englishman on the banks of the Orange river is the 
signal for a concerted attack upon him in the shape of petitions for the 
very clothes upon his back, and especially his shirt. The Griquas are 
not warriors, however, by disposition, and if possible keep at a safe dis- 
tance from the energetic Dutch fighters. As a rule the parties are 
separated sufficiently so that the herds of antelopes or zebras grazing on 
the broad plain between them receive the brunt of the conflict. The 
Griquas are principally noted for possessing (under the control of Great 
Britain) the finest diamond fields of Africa, that is, they work in them 
and are paid wages. 

Unless it be quarreling with the Damaras, or fighting among them- 
selves, the chief occupation of the Namaquas appears to be hunting the 
. ostrich. They usually go after their prey when the sun is at its hottest, 
and the plan pursued is to first tire out the fleet birds by a skillful com- 
bination of their hunting party. The chase is generally conducted on 
horseback. A troop of ostriches having been espied, a number of 
hunters encircle them at a great distance, and then cautiously draw 
toward them, merely showing themselves sufficiently or making enough 
noise to start them in motion. As the circle ©"rows smaller and the 
Namaquas see that they have their quarry secure, they shout loudly and 
urge their horses upon them, keeping them moving from one hunter to 
another, until finally the ostriches commence to wave their wings heavier 
and heavier, and perhaps come to a stand-still, falling to the ground 
completely exhausted. At all events, few of them escape. Another 
mode is to drive them over a plain and toward a narrow defile where a 
party is stationed, there being also relays along the way who take up 
the chase when the horses of one division have become exhausted. By 
this latter method the number of birds captured is often so large that 
the hunters have more food than they can eat and allow some of the 
ostriches to escape, after they have plucked their wing and tail feathers. 
If the Hottentots discover a collection of nests containinor the ostriches' 
huge eggs, those who make the discovery quickly divest themselves of 
their nether garments, should they be so fortunate as to be w^earing 
them, and tying up the lower ends, pack the trophies securely within, 
throwing the load over their shoulders or across their horses' back. 

Beyond the Damaras, are the Ovampos or Otjiherero. They are 
given rather a " good character," seeming to be a connecting link 
between the best qualities of the Zulu Caff're and those of the Congo 
Caffre to the north, although the stout, athletic, warlike and dirty 



122 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Damaras come in between them. The Ovampos are tall and well- 
formed, and although generally intelligent, and willing to come "in con- 
tact with Europeans, their thirty years' intercourse has not disabused 
them of the idea that they look best with the least possible amount of 
clothing. They buy guns and ammunition, but no cloth. The native 
arms are the bow and arrow, a dagger-shaped knife, and a short club 
with a knob on the end. With this latter weapon they can kill a bird 
on the wing, or a man on horseback. The men have few ornaments,. 




- WOODEN UTENSILS OF THE OVAMPOS. 

I — Bowl. 2 — Kettle. 3 — Shovel. 4— Pipe-bowl. 5 and 6 — Double Cup for Pouring Beer. 

but the women are loaded down with various colored beads and shells 
of ostrich eggs. The heavy rings around the ankles, which many tribes 
still consider fashionable, have been discarded by the Ovampo women, 
and are now fastened to the limbs of servants and slaves who are sus- 
pected of wanting to run away. Another practice also has been 
discarded by the Ovampos — the men do not allow the women to do all 
the field work. When not engaged in cultivating the soil or tending 
their cattle, they often make journeys of several hundred miles to 
exchange the iron and copper rings, the hoes and the spear-heads which 
they make themselves, for the crude ore, and for articles of food which 



SCATTERED CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES. 12 3: 

they do not raise. Both men and women are Hght-hearted, and deHght 
in music and dancing. When the labors of the day are over, they 
gather out-of-doors and go through with many queer movements to the 
sound of the tom-tom and a sort of guitar. As a rule the men take the 
most active part in the dance, jumping and kicking about like colts, 
while the women stand in a ring, singing and clapping their hands, and 
keeping time with their feet. It is singular how plump and healthy they 
all appear, since they will hardly touch a piece of meat if it is not 
putrid, and they do not hesitate to devour it if the animal is known to 
have died of disease. As the land of the Ovampos is given over prin- 
cipally to agriculture, it has no villages. An exception might perhaps 
be made in the case of the chief's werft, or kraal, which is surrounded, by 
a palisade half a mile in circumference. Like his humbler subjects he 
is the center of a numerous family of wives, children, slaves and servants, 
who live around him in hundreds of mud huts. The surrounding wall 
is, of course, stronger, consisting of two or more rows of poles, as do 
also the walls which enclose the pathways leading to all the principal 
huts of his immense household. These defenses are of a very substan- 
tial nature, and each member of the king's tribe contributes his quota 
of material and labor to make them so, the only remuneration of the 
workman being an unlimited distribution of native beer. 

SCATTERED CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES. 

Shortly after leaving the Orange river in Southern Africa, one 
commences to meet the tribes of a great nation which is nearly allied to 
the Caffres, the energetic and progressive Bechuanas. Their complexion 
is light, although they have short, crisped hair. Each tribe has a village 
with a chief of its own, and although their huts are of the prevailing 
style, cone-shaped and thatched with grass, those found nearest the 
southern coast of the continent are plastered within and without. Their 
dwellings have no windows; the doors are about three feet high. Each 
hut is fenced with wicker-work and the villao-e entire with a thick fence 
of thorns. They dress in skins and wear charms attached to copper 
chains around their necks. One of these is a bone whistle which they 
blow when in danger, as if to call their guardian spirits to protect them. 
Instead of slaying an animal and studying its internal organization, to 
determine what the result is to be of any of their enterprises, they shake 
dice and throw them on the ground. Living so near the Caffreland 
they are obliged to be warlike, and therefore go armed with a thick 
shield covered with the skin of a camelopard, a triangular-shaped battle 



124 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



axe, and a javelin which is thrown to kill at one hundred yards' distance. 
Both sexes go bare-headed and besmear their hair with a composition of 
grease and glittering sand. The men engage in war and hunt. The 
women cultivate the fields and drudge at home. The average wife is 
quoted in the market at ten or twelve head of cattle ; is sold sometimes 
for a spade, or a string of beads. 

The weapons of nearly all the tribes south of the Kalahari Desert 
being made of iron, those natives who are the most expert blacksmiths 
are held in the highest estimation. A blacksmith is above the genius — 




A NATIVE VILLAGE. 



or rather, a good blacksmith is a great genius. He gets his ore by a 
peculiar process of smelting; his anvil is a large stone, his hammer a 
small one and his bellows are made of skins. The natives poison their 
arrows by dipping them in the juice of a certain shrub. They also 
impregnate springs and streams with the powerful poison so that when 
antelope come to drink they fall dead, and, strange to say, are used as 
food without bad effects. When the bee extracts the poison, however, 
and the natives indulge in the honey, of which they are very fond, the 
effect is fatal. The black rhinoceros, the fiercest of his species, eats the 



SCATTERED CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES. 



125 



shrub with great greediness, and comes from his repast with his ferocity 
unabated. 

Just before plunging into the great desert of Central Africa a pas- 
sage must be effected through the country of the Bamangwatos, a name 
which the reader is not expected to keep in mind, but only to consider 
as implying an odd sort of people burdened with an odd sort of name. 
It is a very rocky country; but the pods of the Acacia tree and its gum, 
which are eaten with relish, fatten both cattle and natives to a very 




A NATIVE AT LIVINGSTONE'S FUNERAL. 



comfortable size. The tribe is of quite a commercial turn, perferring to 
let braver people kill the elephant, while they are careful to lay in a 
goodly stock of beads and trinkets which they barter for the ivory. 
They, in turn, will pay preposterous prices for old muskets, powder, 
bullet molds and rusty iron ladles, snuff and coffee. With their 
"improved" firearms they occasionally kill an elephant themselves, and 
when the huge beast rolls over on his side, all the " savage " comes out 
of them. They dance around the carcass, and with shouts of joy brandish 
the knives with which they intend to cut it up. The leader of the party, 
as if unable to suppress his growing appetite, suddenly makes a dash at 
the head of the elephant and cuts off a nice beefsteak from the temple, 
which is the choiest bit of meat to be found. His companions are soon 



126 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

into the body, skinning and cutting up the carcass as if on a wager, and 
smearing their bodies with gore. The flesh is cut into strips of from six 
to twenty feet in length and about an inch in thickness, hung on poles 
to dry and wound up in bundles. When they wish to make a meal of 
one of them they uncoil one of the rolls and commence to chew, as a boy 
does a long strip of slippery-elm. The feet of the elephant are baked 
in a hole which is dug in the ground, and they, with the trunk, are really 
delicious eating. But the Africans do not stop with the temple piece, 
the flesh from the body, the feet or the trunk; they crack the skull, the 
spinal column and all the bones, sucking out the marrow with the keen- 
est of enjoyment. Reaching Lake N'gami, the Zambesi River region, and 
Lake Tanganyika, larger and more diversified tribes or nations come 
under observation than those which are further south. Among them 
the lamented Livingstone spent the last years of his life and his faithful 
negro servant, Wainwright, was among the most affected mourners at 
his funeral. Those inhabiting the immediate vicinity of the Zambesi 
river are spoken of in connection with the ancient kingdom of Monoma- 
tapa, or Mozambique. 

It is not very surprising, though it may at first seem an anomaly, 
that some of the largest of the native towns of Africa have been dis- 
covered far in the interior. These people are seldom of pure negro 
blood, but may rather be of that Ethiopian stock which has been 
emigrating from the northeast, via the River Nile, since history began. 
A dash even of Moorish or Arabian blood appears. But it is quite 
reasonable to suppose that the basis of these nations, with their cities 
and governments and manufactures, was laid in the fact that the more 
powerful tribes pushed the weaker ones away from the inhabited 
portions of the continent but could not extinguish the memory of what 
they had learned. These ideas they put into practice and, unmolested 
in their new homes, they used the materials at hand to found cities and 
governments. And who shall say that many of these little fragments 
were not broken from the body of that great Ethiopia, which rivaled 
Egypt when her glory was brightest and then mysteriously dissolved 
into the darkness of Central Africa? 

Two hundred miles or more above the nations which dwell on the 
banks of the Zambesi river there is a large town, which is given over to 
the manufacture of cloth by the felting process and to the working of 
all kinds of useful metals. Gold and silver its inhabitants value far below 
copper and iron. 

Two hundred miles further to the north," in the Valley Londa, in 
the very center of the continent, is a compact little kingdom of people 



SCATTERED CENTRAL AFRICAN TRIBES. 



127 



-who hold to many of the truths of Christianity; who beHeve in the im- 
mortahty of the soul, religious freedom and trial by jury, and have a 
written language. They are also manufacturers and their trade extends 
to the Bechuanas in the south. The Hottentots even of South Africa 
often find their way to their capital with ivory and ostrich feathers, to 
barter for their goods. The complexion of this people is about as light 
as the Moors and they have straight hair and regular features. 
Their language is somewhat similar to the Hebrew and they have a 
tradition of a general deluge. Churches or temples they have none, but 
worship in their own houses or in groves. The priests are supported by 
voluntary offerings of the public. As to their government, the king may 




CENTRAL AFRICAN MANUFACTURES. 
1-2-7— WoodeK DRt'iMS AND Drumsticks. 3-4 — Iron Bells. 5-6— Palm Wine Coolers. 

be deposed for cause. They have magistrates who are elected by a 
magisterial college, and who must be vouched for by ten good citizens. 
The college consists of forty-five members, sixteen of whom are selected 
by the chief for the trial of causes. They are not allowed to receive 
compensation, lest their decisions should be biased; and they need no 
salary, for they, as well as the king, maintain themselves by means of 
some handicraft. They write upon the prepared leaves of a palm tree 
with a pencil of red clay mixed with resin. These Bermegai manufac- 
ture both woolen and cotton cloth. The dress of the men consists of a 
long frock-like garment which reaches below the knees and is fastened 
behind with loops, and long striped stockings. Rank and occupation are 
indicated by the color of the upper garment. The royalty wear green, 
public men yellow, farmers blue, mechanics red and priests white. 
Black is w^orn by criminals and such as are under jDublic censure. The 



128 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



dress of the won-'en is a loose robe of light cotton cloth, reaching almost 
to the feet. Their country houses are made of logs; their farms inclosed 
by hedges of wicker-work; their wagon wheels made of the segments of 
large logs with a body of wicker-work and drawn by zebras, oxen or 
antelope; and their plows are skillfully fashioned, the share being the 
breast-bone of a large bird of the condor species. 




THE CONGO CAFFRES. 




ORDERING on the Atlantic Ocean for about one thousand 
miles, and stretching over three hundred into the interior, a 
great portion of which territory is yet unexplored, is the 
country of the Congos, or the Congo Caffres, and once the 
scene of great activity in the slave trade. Through the north- 
ern region runs the great Congo river, whose source is now 
known to be Lake Tanganyika. The Congos are a branch of 
the Bechuanas, or nearly related to them. Planted in the 
very midst of the country of the negro, they have lost much 
of the activity and fierceness of their Caffre progenitors, and 
their distinguishing qualities are now indolence and good-nature. When 
once aroused, however, they are exceedingly fierce and reckless, as 
Stanley and other explorers have found in fighting their way down the 
Congo and through their country. At the time of their discovery by 
the Portuguese, the Congos were a very numerous people, and most 
improbable stories are told of the immense armies which they could 
bring into the field. One of these is that the king actually marched 
against a rebellious chief, at the head of 900,000 men. It is probable 
that this tale is on a par with the great stories which were brought back 
to Portugal by the discoverers of the region, and which resulted in an 
attempt to subdue and Christianize the country. 

The capital of the kingdom was situated on a high mountain com- 
manding a magnificent view of the surrounding country, and when most 
prosperous, is said to have contained at least 40,000 people. But with the 
grovx^th of the slave trade, the repeated invasion of hordes of Giaghi, a 
terrible tribe from the east, and serious civil dissensions, the country was 
so decimated that now it is far from populous. The Portuguese and 
early missionaries did much to improve the general condition of the land. 
They built wooden palaces for the king and his chief, planted gardens and 
fruit trees, and erected substantial houses both for private dwellings and 
places of public worship. The " upper classes " of the Congos felt the 

benefit of these acts, but the mass of the people, then as now, lived in 
9 129 



I30 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



their bamboo huts, scratched their ground with a hoe, and, if they wore 
any clothing, made it as scant as possible. Then as now, slavery was 
the penalty for all crimes except murder, the difference being that in the 
palmy days of the slave trade, immense numbers of Congos and other 
native tribes were shipped openly to the western world, whereas now the 
traffic is pursued with fear and trembling. It would seem that the chiefs 




TYPES OF THE CONGOS. 



themselves brought many of the horrors of the slave trade upon their 
country by selling into servitu-de their own people who had fallen under 
their displeasure, or were criminals, and also those whom they had cap- 
tured in war. When the supply fell short of the unrighteous demand, 
then the country suffered all the horrors of fiendish raids, chainings, 
burnings and desolations which accompanied the hunters of human prey. 
Domestic slavery is still common among the Congos, and if the slave 



THE CONGO CAFFRES. 



131 



'Commits a crime, he may be transferred, or, in other words, sold. In a 
"word, slavery is held over the Congo as a cattle-fine would be over his 
cousins, the Bechuanas and Caffres ; his is not a country of cattle, but it 
always has been a country where slavery was an institution, and this is 
therefore made the basis of his criminal code. A man who cannot 
pay his debts may become a slave, and places his children also under 
bondacje. 

If he is found guilty 
of witchcraft, he is re- 
duced to slavery. A pris- 
oner of war has the choice 
of death or slavery, and 
there are scores of other 
loopholes through which 
he may escape from mis- 
fortune and death into 
serfdom. It must not be 
inferred, however, that 
the slavery of Congo or of 
Southern Guinea is an in- 
stitution which is attend- 
ed, as a rule, by the abom- 
inations which have dis- 
graced it elsewhere. The 
master has no right to sell 
a slave, after he has proved 
faithful, from the sordid 
motive of gain ; and if he 
punishes his servant un- 
justly, he exposes himself 
to all the horrors of witch- 
craft which the slave can 
command. He puts the 
children of his slaves at 
some kind of lijjht work, 

such as bringing wood and water, or taking care of the younger ones, 
Avhile the man is called upon to do everything that a man servant should. 
The master treats the slave almost as he would his own child. They 
both call him father, work with him, eat with him, and sleep with hini ; 
cases are not unknown of the slave rising to a greater portion of wealth 
than his master, and yet preferring to be his servant. A slave, also, is 




A CONGO KING. 



132 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

sometimes the owner of slaves. So that the word and the institution do 
not carry with them the odium which is attached to them in countries 
where even domestic slavery means cruelty. When the slaves are under 
the arbitrary power of a chief, the case is somewhat different ; for his 
rank in the state is based upon slavery, and when he dies he is allowed 
to sacrifice the number which fixes his station, that he may have attend- 
ants in the other world. 

There are royal families from which the king must be chosen, but there 
is no regular order of descent. The people elect their king in-so-far as 
they decide what particular member of the family shall rule them ; and 
before the king is crowned, everybody has a right to say exactly what 
they think of him. His character is "raked over the coals" as 
thoroughly as if he were running the gauntlet of a political campaign. 
If he is miserly he hears of it. If he is deceitful, or cruel, or oonceited, 
or has stolen, or cheated, or lied, or swindled, he hears of it from some- 
body. Every sharp tongue does its best ; but when the king is once 
inaugurated, the clatter ceases, and the royal arm cannot thereafter be 
lifted to chastise the offender. After he becomes king he is sacred. 

Lower Guinea is a country where there are no taxes. Its revenue 
consists of voluntary offerings made by the captains of the vessels who 
come to trade at the different ports. If the captain wants merely a load 
of wood, he pays about thirty dollars, ten of which go to the king and 
the balance to the head men. If the vessel comes for a cargo of ivory 
and is obliged to make a long stay, something like one hundred dollars 
is presented to the king and his chiefs. Besides these offerings, which 
are considered somewhat in the nature of royal rights, if the business 
proves quite successful, the captain of a vessel may make an additional 
donation to the king of a piece of cloth or something else of value. 

FETICH WORSHIP. 

The superstitions of the Caffres of this region are more gross, if 
anything, than are found among the tribes further east. They brought 
with them their own ideas of witches, fetiches, rain-makers, spirits and 
mysterious agencies, and upon these have been engrafted the supersti- 
tions and practices of the negro. Further south and east they were 
more in the nature of ideas, but the negro fashion was to embody those 
ideas in some material shape ; so we find that the Congos have a great 
spirit who pays visits to their different villages and lives for a period in 
a large, flat house which has been provided for him, and from which he 
disciplines and overawes all the women and children, by rolling forth 



FETICH WORSHIP. 



^33 



Strange noises and keeping them in a constant state of terror. He is 
supposed to dwell in the bowels of the earth, but comes forth by request 
of the wise men. \Mien he desires to make a solemn vow, the Caffre 
will swear by "the spirit of his ancestors ;" the Congo has his images, 
skulls or b^nes in a small house built for them, to which he takes food 
and drink and a share of his profits, and where he goes to make his vows 
or narrate his troubles. Although the people have ostensibly several 
kinoes, with reeular seats of o-overnment, and the Portuo^uese have often 
a word to say, there are as many independent communities as there are 
chiefs, and neither kings, chiefs nor Portuguese have any authority com- 
pared to the power which the " fetich " exercises over them. The fetich 




A PRECIOUS PAIR. 



is sometimes a horrible figure set up in the v.'oods or in a small house 
built for it, and is supposed to represent something which will detect the 
evil doer and punish him. Those who know of crimes and do not give 
information are also in the power of the monster. The Congos have 
their laws, and some of them very severe against stealing and other 
crimes, but these have no perceptible weight when compared to the 
effect which "fetiches" and other superstitious notions have to prevent 
the commission of crime. Their custom is to erect a hut in the middle 
of the street for the convenience of the priest, who exorcises evil spirits. 
The process is often stretched out to a great length, requiring two weeks 
or more to be perfected. Day and night dancing, drumming, feasting 
and drinking are continued, and all at the expense of the relatives of the 
invalid. If she is a female her face, bosom, arms and legs are streaked 



134 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

with white and red chalk, her head adorned with red feathers, and usu- 
ally she can be seen pacing in front of the shanty wildly brandishing a 
sword, gnashing her teeth, foaming at the mouth and exhibiting other 
horrible symptoms. If the patient recovers, she is required to build a 
little temple near her own house in which her evil spirit is supposed to 
reside and to which she regularly takes offerings to keep it at a safe 
distance from her. The house erected to the Great Spirit in some of the 
Congo villages, is also an object of terror to those who have not been 
initiated into the mysteries of the interior. The term of initiation is the- 
period in the boys' lives between fourteen and eighteen, and even after 
they grow to manhood their respect for the Great Spirit does not seem 
to have weakened. Upon any matter of grave importance, such as an 
agreement between different tribes, he is invoked as a witness, after 
which the covenant is binding. The Great Spirit also gives sanctity and 
authority to the laws. 

The Congos have a spirit of the woods who comes out at night 
bundled up from head to foot in dried plantain leaves and accompanied 
by young men. The party dance through the streets of the village upon 
the occurrence of any unusual event, such as the birth of twins or the 
inauguration of some one into office, and the women, children and slaves 
hurry away to hide themselves. It is suspected that this spirit is used 
principally to keep the weaker portion of the community in proper sub- 
jection. None but males are admitted to his company. The women, 
in turn, have a secret order whose meetings are held in the woods. They 
march there in regular file where mysterious ceremonies are conducted 
to the sound of a crescent-shaped drum and by the blaze of a fire. Some- 
times they spend whole nights in the woods. As they pretend to detect 
thieves and other wrong doers, and also to perform wonders, they 
undoubtedly feel that they have gotten even with the gentlemen Congos 
and their Spirit of the Woods. 

For the detection of witchcraft a powerful drink is used. Small 
sticks are laid down at a short distance apart, and if the suspected per- 
son, after he has swallowed the medicine, can step over them without 
staggering, he is pronounced innocent ; if he reels or otherwise shows 
that his brain is affected he is either put to death or heavily fined and 
banished from the country. Sometimes the test is made by requiring 
the accused to pass under a row of bent twigs stuck in the ground. The 
drink which is called " Casca" has been analyzed by scientists and found 
to invariably affect the limbs so that one loses all power over them ; if 
the dregs only are taken the effect is different, and this the " fetich " man 
who prepares it, and gives it, probably knows. He therefore holds the 



fT'li'TllH 



ii|iiiiriri|iiiiTiff 



'. r 



I 






V 




< 

u 



< 
in 

a 

t/j 

a 

u 



o 
z 



136 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



life of the' person in whose hands, though this is not known either by the 
ignorant women and children who have been dancing around the hut 
beatine their drums and shaking their rattles, nor do the men who sur- 
round the poor fellow while he is undergoing the ordeal, armed with 
knives, hatchets and sticks. It would not be surprising if he should 

stacrgfer with- 
out having tak- 
en any power- 
ful drink under 
such circum- 
stances; but 
should he so 
much as stum- 
ble, the howl- 
ing multitude 
set upon him 
and cut and 
hack him to 
pieces in a few 
minutes. 

The V il- 
lage house, in 
charo^e of the 
fetich man, 
is generally a 
small square 
hut, with mud 
walls w h i c h 
are painted 
white, and cov- 
ered with the 
figures of men 
and beasts in 
red and black 
colors. Here 

the guardian spirit of the town resides. This hut is also the place where 
the fetich man deposits his charms which bring health and rain, andAvard 
off all misfortunes ; and from his hoard he supplies the men, women and 
children of the entire region. You see them everywhere — bits of wood, 
with a carved head protruding from a pouch ; a bundle of filthy rags; 
or small antelope's horns and land shells, suspended from the neck, waist 




A FETICH MAN OF THE COAST. 



HOW THEY TREAT THE DEAD.- 13^ 

and shoulders of little children. In the huts and ovet their doors hano- 
hideous images of clay or wood, but always colored red, black and white. 
The tribes on the Congo river are considered the most proficient manu- 
facturers of fetiches, and their fetich men are in great demand, sometimes 
carrying their ugly figures for long distances, accompanied b}' their 
attendants beating drums and chanting a dismal song as they go along. 
Besides the fetich msn of the interior, there are those who live on the 
coast and make a specialty of controlling the surf, and regulating it 
according to the wishes ol the natives who may, or may not, wish to 
fish. When on duty they usually station themselves on a high cliff, and, 
covered with shells and sea-weed, wave their arms about, mumble to 
themselves, and go through with other mysterious motions calculated 
to keep up their weird reputation. Their knowledge of natural signs 
enables them usually to delay a trial of their powers until everything is 
propitious; until the wind dies away, and the power of the surf weak- 
ens, when the native remunerates the imposter for his services. 

Notwithstanding that they are far above the bulk of the population 
in acuteness they are sometimes exposed and killed by the infuriated 
natives. Not many years ago a native village was destroyed by fire, the 
inhabitants refusing to lift a finger, as they relied upon the protection 
of their fetiches, which had been given them by one of the greatest 
men in the land. When the fetich man returned to the ruined villaoe, 
he found not only his house gone but his occupation, and was nearly 
beaten to death by those who previously would not have dared to look 
him in the eye. 

The Cono^os show the same reverence for old acre, and the same 
crude ideas regarding legal justice as the Zulu Caffres, only modified by 
their different "habitat." If a person, besides having reached a good 
old age, has become noted in trade, tribal affairs, or war, he is ahr.ost 
worshipped as a deity on earth. The youth must not pass his dwelling 
without bending low. If they hand him anything, they do it on their 
knees, and address him as "father;" while if they venture to sit in his 
presence, they must be separated a distance proportionate to the differ- 
ence in their ages and station in life. A reproof or a curse from such a 
person is deemed a great misfortune. This feeling which we see evinced 
to a degree which almost runs from the pathetic into the ridiculous is 
carried forward in their worship of ancestors. 

HOW THEY TREAT THE DEAD. 

The burial customs of some of the Congo tribes are so singular as 
to merit attention, the treatment of the dead as of the living depending 



138 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

on the social or tribal station of the deceased. If he Is a stranger, two 
men take the body, tie the wrists and knees together, and then, by 
means of a long pole, carry the pauper to some point outside the town, 
and bury him anywhere. If the corpse is that of a man, his staff is laid, 
on the grave ; if that of a woman, a basket marks her burial place. 
Should the death be that of a king, or chief, however, the case is quite 
different. The body is placed in a shallow pit, dug in the floor of the 
hut, where the deceased breathed his last, and covered with a thin layer 
of earth. For a month fires are kept burning over the grave, the hot 
ashes being continually spread over it. The body is then uncovered 
and smoked in a frame work of sticks, the whole operation being wit- 
nessed by the family of the deceased, the women keeping up a dismal 
wailing day and night. With the hut full of smoke, the foul atmosphere 
caused by the emanations from the body and lungs of those who crowd 
the scene of the "wake" and the superstitious excitement attending the 
ceremonies, it is a wonder that any members of the dead chief's family 
pass through the ordeal alive. But the body being at length com- 
pletely desiccated, is wrapped in cloth and stood upright in the corner 
of the hut, where it may remain for several years ; for it is necessary 
that every surviving relative should be present, when the body is wound 
in hundreds of yards of cloth, and the last rites of burial are performed. 
These consist of dancing, firing of guns, drinking the native beer made: 
from Indian corn, and eating roast pig. It is the custom in some of the 
coast districts to place boots and shoes on the feet of free men when they 
are buried, and the spirit of the deceased is thereby thought to imbibe 
some of the advanced ideas of the white man, for which these people have 
unbounded reverence. In some places there are regular burial grounds, 
the mounds being ornamented with broken crockery and bottles, but, as 
a rule, the body is buried in a private spot, and after a time may be 
resurrected and the bones used as fetiches. Paradoxical as the statement 
may seem, the Congos, naked though they be, assume a mourning habit 
of black. They first roast a species of oily ground-nut, and grind it into 
a black paste, which is smeared over the whole or a portion of the body. 

In short, the reverence for old age and ancestral worship, bloody 
sacrifices, the observance of new moons, purifications and various other 
Hebrew customs, exist among the Caff res of Africa, as among nearly 
all the Ethiopian tribes of any prominence. The Congos show the 
same eagerness for a numerous progeny as did the Jewish patriarchs. 
Upon the birth of twins they rejoice exceedingly, some of the tribes 
having processions and regular jubilees in honor of the event. A public 
crier proclaims the fact of the birth of even a single little one, the pop- 



BAPTISMS AND DANCES. 



139 



ulation turn out en masse, and the new-born infant is brought forward 
for inspection. Its Httle head is then sprinkled by the chief man of the 
town, and most of those present add their quota of water, with their 
pledges of friendship, to the blessing invoked upon it by the head man 
of the village. It has thus been given a name, and been formally 
received into the community. The people have no idea where this form 
of baptism originated, but everything points to the belief that most of 




A GROUP OF MUSICIANS. 

their customs, distorted now by a long separation from the best intelli- 
gence of the world, had their birth in the land of Canaan, and in their 
journeyings across the continent, via Christian Abyssinia, have been 
metamorphosed into their present forms. 

The Congos seem to have two kinds of dances. Possibly one may 
be the fashionable dance, the other that of the countrv ; for one is 
mostly indulged in by the coast tribes, and the other by those of the 



140 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

interior. In tlie former a ring is made of the participants and specta- 
tors, and all assembled clap their hands in time with the drums and 
other musical instruments, which should be described before the dance 
commences. First comes the marimba, a flat, hollow piece of wood, 
upon which are fixed a number of thin, iron tongues, which are snapped 
upon a wire on which some glass beads are strung. The instrument 
sometimes has a gourd attached to the under part. All in all, it is to 
the Congo what the guitar is to the Spaniard. Then there is an instru- 
ment made by a palm stem, split and grooved, and rubbed upon with a 
stick ; another is a combination of a bow and a gourd, the string being 
struck with a stick, and the gourd rapped gently against the stomach. 
Where the tribe has advanced beyond the simpler forms, and has been 
able to obtain a small powder barrel from traders, or make a hollow 
Avooden cylinder, a more complicated sort of 'instrument is manufactured 
by stretching over this a piece of sheepskin. A piece of wood is 
inserted with a knob at the end to prevent it slipping through, and the 
performer's hand is wetted and thrust into the cylinder (open at both 
ends). The piece of wood is then grasped and pulled lightly up and 
down, the result being a booming sound not unlike that proceeding from 
our own big bass drum. These instruments, and others, may be brought 
to give eclat to the dance. They strike up, those assembled clap their 
hands, and soon the dancers, both men and women, jump yelling into the 
ring. The dancing consists chiefly of a slight motion of the head, feet 
and arms, and a great swaying of the body, and a tremendous twitching 
of the muscles above the hips. The two or three who commence are 
soon covered with perspiration, and give place to several others, the 
dancers apparently being applauded according to the rapidity with 
which they can make their muscles quiver. The dancing is kept up all 
night, or if there is no moon, as long as the great heaps of dried grass 
last, which furnish illumination for the occasion. The other dance has 
the same accompaniment of musical instruments and spectators, but is 
taken part in by one man and woman. The pair shufifle their feet with 
great rapidity, pass one another backward and forward, and are gener- 
ally more boisterous, reminding one of the plantation dancers of the 
South. 

RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. 

Regarding the rights of property, there seems to be a marked differ- 
ence in the disposition of the Congo Caffres and the Zulu Caffres. In 
a certain sense, supposing he is not suspected of being uncanny, the 
Zulu's person is sacred ; but in Congo the most common way of collect- 



RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. - 141 

ing debts is to seize the person of the delinquent or make prisoners of 
his friends, and retain the body or bodies until the matter is settled. It 
is but justice to the Congo Caffre, however, to say that he usually notifies 
the person or persons, through the elders of the village, that unless his 
claim is satisfied, he shall proceed to extremities. 

Similar to this practice is the method pursued by the husband 
whose wife has deserted him, and married another man. Poylgamy is 
much more general amonof the sea-coast tribes than amonor those of the 
interior, the former being, as a rule, in far better circumstances, and 
their members able to support numerous wives; for ability to support is 
the sole measure of a man's responsibility. The Bushmen, or bush tribes, 
however, are poor and usually have but one wife. When she, therefore, 
is taken from him, he puts into practice an unusual but not (in his 
country) a disreputable mode of revenge. Shouldering his musket, he 
starts for the first village near him, and shoots anybody — it matters not 
whom. He then proclaims his reasons for the action, and asserts that 
the villagers must hold as responsible the man who stole his wife. 
Gunners are started out from this villacre, who in turn shoot some 
innocent party in the next ; and so blood continues to flow until the 
whole country is aroused, and it is no longer possible for one village 
to be revenged upon another. Then the chief of the last village 
where a murder has been committed, summons a council, and the 
relatives of the man who has been slain agree to accept a certain sum 
of money from the guilty one who was the prime cause of all the 
trouble. He pays his money, but is ostracised from even African 
society. 

Another case in point. The member of a sea-coast tribe purchases 
a wife from a Bushman. She runs away, because of cruel treatment, 
and secretes herself with her relatives. If they refuse to give her up, 
the husband may seize not only the persons and property of the rela- 
tives, but, if they are poverty-stricken, the bodies and chattels of any 
fellow townsman. If the woman flies to a distance and becomes the 
Avife of another man, her friends are still held responsible unless hus- 
band number two should see fit to pay the original purchase money. 

Among the maritime tribes, wives are not bought, but sisters and 
daughters are exchanged. There is no marriage ceremony, but the 
groom marches to the residence of the bride's father at the head of a 
noisy procession, with drums and fifes playing and banners waving, and 
after a season of drinking and dancing, returns with the bride to his 
house. His arrival is heralded by the firing of muskets and cannon. 
If the bride comes from a bush tribe, much of this ceremony is dispensed 



142 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Avith. She is at once placed under charge of the " head wife " to be 
refined into a poHte member of society. 

COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 

From what has already been said it will probably be inferred that 
the coast tribes and interior tribes are widely separated in material 







HEAD DRESSES OF THE CONGOS. 



prosperity and general attainments. They are, in fact, as diverse as a 
Hottentot of the Cape of Good Hope, who is master of several 
languages, and the Bushman of the mountains, who grubs for worms, 
and eats them when he finds them. The houses of native tribes along 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 



143 



the coast are usually quadrangular in form, constructed of bamboo and 
covered with mats made of the bamboo leaf; divided into five or six 
rooms with raised clay floors, if the occupant is well-to-do; neat, clean, 
dry and airy. You see chairs, sofas, tables and clocks, and the native 
trader who receives you has on a large square cloth which trails on the 
floor. His wife is also decently clad, but the massive rings around her 
limbs greatly detract from the grace of her movements. The women 




CONGO HEADS. 

show real skill in dressing' their hair, and when, unluckily, they become 
bald, they are in the habit of covering the defect with a wig made from 
the fibres of the pine-apple leaf, which, as a counterfeit, leaves little to 
be desired. Such civilized customs as this are^only in vogue with the 
bon-ton of even the maritime tribes. 

And speaking of the appearance of a Congo's head, it varies from a 
smooth scalp, to the hair which is fashioned into the semblance of a 
Roman helmet with a round horn projecting in front, Those who shave 
the head clean or in various complicated patterns, are often provided 
with neither razor nor scissors. If nothing else comes handy, they 



144 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

skillfully split a piece of glass from the bottom of an ordinary bottle, and 
use that upon the head of the luckless victim. The coast tribes are 
quite apt to treat their hair in some way. The interior tribes often let 
it grow into a tangled mass of wool, dirt and palm oil, or comb it 
straight up and ornament the front with a cock's feather or a red flower. 
Some of the tribes shave their hair all round, letting the hair in the 
middle grow upright. Some plait their hair in little strings, twisting 
them round and round until they end at the top in a round knot, looking 
as if they had baskets in their heads. 

The Congo seldom indulges in the excitement of the chase. As a 
rule he is too indolent. He will occasionally shoot an antelope or a hare, 
but it is an event in his life. You find him at his best, however, when 
he starts out with the other villagers upon a hunt for field rats and mice, 
which he considers great food dainties. The party are armed with hoes 
and little bows and arrows to dig, cut and shoot their prey. Wickerwork 
traps, into which the rats and mice run or by which they are caught 
around the neck, are placed across the field paths. Then the bushes are 
beaten with sticks, and the little tender bodies are soon strung on a pole 
and roasted over a fire. There is also a large white grub of which he is 
very fond, which is roasted and used as butter. 

The interior tribes build their houses in a much more primitive 
style than those of the coast, many of them having a fashion of arrang- 
ing them in two parallel rows, varying in length from a few hundred 
yards to a mile or more. They are often situated on high hills, and the 
end of the street is barricaded, the walls of the houses being protected 
by piling against them brushwood on the outside, and thick blocks of 
wood inside. At intervals the long range of common houses, or parti- 
tions, will be broken by a more pretentious structure, occupied by a chief 
or head-man. The whole appearance of the villages indicates that they 
were built for defense. Hidden as they often are in the midst of a dense 
forests of plantain trees, they are a novel and picturesque sight ; but one's 
feelings will be rudely shocked if he does not give notice of his 
approach ; for otherwise he will be considered an enemy, and a well- 
directed shot from a native gruard will make him realize tliat tlie Conoco' 
Bushman is on the alert. The interior furnishings are what might be 
expected, consisting of a few sleeping mats, some blocks of wood to sit 
on and some rude cooking utensils. The men and women are clad only 
with strips of bark, the women ambitiously striving to see who can make 
the largest holes in their ears and noses, and wear the biggest piece of 
fat meat therein. 

But a maritime tribe does not necessarily imply an opulent one; it 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 



145 



would be manifestly absurd to consider any whole tribe of West Africa 
in that category. The most ambitious interior tribes eventually 
reach the sea-coast, and their most worthy members usually become 
traders. It is singular also how soon they take to the ocean life. The 
most noted canoemen on the coast, the people who occupy the coast 
near Cape Lopez, descended from the mountains of the interior not 
many years ago, and now they shoot over the roughest sea in their 
feather-weight canoes, perched upon a narrow strip of wood thrown 
across the sides; now using the feet to bail out the water, while their 
hands are busy with the 
paddles ; and again using 
their feet as paddles while 
they rest their arms ; now 
skimming around a sailing 
ship like a sea-gull ; again 
tirincrof the amusement and 
climbing up the side of the 
boat with their lisfht canoes 
to visit the captain and crew. 
They make also a long boat 
of very hard wood, capable 
of seating thirty or forty, in ^| 
which they make excursions . I 
of fifty or one hundred miles. .: i-l 
In this reo-ion, or the Poncjo 
country, live the remnants }^. 
of the Giaghi, who ravished "S 
the kingdom of Congo when J3 
the Portuguese were the 
lords of the coast and pat- ^^'^ "^^^^^iii;=. 
rons of the Congos, and 
who were so instrumental in 
depopulating the whole country. The appearance of the Pangwes who 
have not adopted coast manners, indicates an origin far to the East ; 
perhaps they are a tribe from the Gallas country of Abyssinia — a shoot- 
ing meteor from the restless body of the Tartars of Africa. Their com- 
plexion is several shades lighter than that of the neighboring tribes, and 
their features are comparatively regular. Their hair is softer than the 
negro's, and is generally plaited into four braids, two short ones in front, 
and two lone ones which are thrown over the shoulders. A red oint- 
ment covers their bodies; they are almost naked, and armed with a huge 

10 




CONGO SHIELDS. 



146 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



knife in a sheath of snake or guana skin; a hatchet is carried on the 
shoulder, and usually a bundle of long spears. When on the war-path 
they use cross-bows and poisoned arrows, and have shields made from 
the skin of the elephant. They are workers in copper and iron, their 
skill in the manufacture of the latter metal supplying a large extent of 

country with a circulating medium. They are ad- 
dicted to hunting, and excel all others in killing the 
elephant. One of their methods is to first draw 
around a browsing herd a kind of forest vine which is 
exceedingly distasteful to the animals, and over 
which, if unmolested, they will not go. A strong 
fence of upright posts is then constructed outside this 








H // / rmg 









mm§. 



A COLLECTION OF ARROWS. 

cordon, and poisoned plantains scattered within. Of these the elephants 
are very fond, and soon become weak from the effects of the poison. 
The natives now mount into trees, and with their spears finish the work. 
It is from this region that large quantities of India-rubber are exported, 
and the manner in which the blacks collect it is indicative of their crude 
methods generally. India-rubber is the milky juice of a giant tree- 
creeper. It dries very quickly, however; so the negro makes a long 
gash in the bark with a knife, and as the milky juice gushes out, it is 
wiped off continually with his fingers, and smeared on his arms, 
shoulders and breast. At length a thick coating is formed, and this is 
peeled off, cut into small squares and boiled in water. 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 



147 



South of the Congo country is the kingdom of Loango. Since the 
decHne of the slave trade, the people have devoted themselves to export- 
ing ivory and wax and to the manufacture of baskets, boats and canoes. 
Their boat building is especially excellent. Trade is free to all, but is 




NATIVES OF LOANGO. 

transacted through the king's chief minister. The king himself is sacred, 
and eats and drinks alone. Any person who should dare to look upon 
him would be put to death, and the statement is made upon authority, 
that a dog was put to death who looked up into his master's face when 
he was eating; also that a little child who was accidentally left in the 
royal banqueting hall, went to sleep, and upon waking saw the king eat 
— whereupon it was put to death, and its blood sprinkled on the king's 



148 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



fetich. Dwarfs and albinos who are born in Loango are regarded as the 
king's spirits, and therefore as his sacred property. From the sacred 
king who has his collection of hideous fetiches down to the humblest 
Loangoan, idol-worship is faithfully practiced. Fetich houses disgrace 
every village and disfigure every forest and stretch of country. 

The Congo Free State, which adjoins the kingdom of Loango, is 














If 'M .■« ■• ■'■■f'J.T'e ' t ' 



If 

Si 













A ROYAL PAIR. 



ostensibly governed by a " lindy," but his chiefs show no great respect 
for his authority, though he is attended by a royal guard, who are 
dressed in stiff, round hats, in skirts and sandals, and are armed with 
huo-e swords which depend from bands thrown over their bare shoulders. 
The chief of the province, or of the town even, is a ruling power com- 
pared to the "lindy." When a chief dies his son does not succeed him, 
but his brother or uncle whose age and experience would, as a rule, 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 1 49 

carry more weight. The "chenoo's" insignia of office is a small staff of 
black wood, inlaid with lead or copper. In addition to these divisions 
of society, there are those who collect the revenue and carry on the 
trade ; the farmers, who own property and wives and slaves, and fisher- 
men and laborers who possess not even a portion of a fowl or hog. In 
times past the king of Congo might be called the ruler of the territory 
now occupied by the Congo Caffres. Under his protection the Portu- 
guese established sugar-cane plantations, manufactured indigo and 
smelted iron. With the decline of that power, however, he fell from 
his high station, and Is, at the present time little more than chief of San 
Salvador, and a few other small towns. There are so many smaller 
chiefs and kings than the potentate of Congo, however, that even now 
he cuts quite a figure when he takes a notion to go abroad and visit the 
country. He attires himself in a white shirt, fastened round the waist, 
a blue velvet coat edged with gold lace, and a cap of the same material 
and color. The king is furthermore attended by his royal guard of 300 
blacks and his private band, consisting of about a dozen horns made of 
elephant tusks, and drums hollowed out of pieces of wood covered with 
sheepskin and rubbed over with beeswax. A piece of beeswax is left 
sticking in the middle, and when the band gets ready to play, the drums 
are warmed before a fire and the operators smartly tap the sticky cen- 
ters with the fiats of their fingers, which produces a resonant sound. 
Thus he proceeds, and many of the chiefs through whose towns he 
passes, drop on their knees to him, bow their heads to the ground and 
clap their hands, remembering that he was once great, though they 
now refuse to pay him tribute. Others present him offerings — gourds 
of palm wine — as he proceeds on his tour through his provinces. Some 
of this homage which is shown him is also due to the fact that the king 
of Congo is known to have in his possession a most powerful fetich, 
which has descended to him from his ancestors. 

Some of the blacks in this part of the country are armed with flint 
muskets of the heaviest pattern, and ornament the stocks with brass 
tacks. They usually load them to the muzzle, and notwithstanding the 
rebound, they persist in firing them from the side without much regard 
to aim or the distance they may carry. An amusing story is told of a 
tribe along the river, who captured a cannon from some traders, who 
were on a commercial trip. The natives became involved in a dispute 
with a neighboring village, and being warned of an attack, planted the 
cannon In the path along which their enemies would march. This they 
loaded to the muzzle with powder and stones, and laid a long train of 
powder to It. When the assaulting party appeared, the besieged fired 



I50 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the train, and took to their heels, while the enemy fled, terrified, in the 
Opposite direction. Next day the enemy sent proposals of peace to the 
town which had so tremendous a fetich. 

Angola adjoins the kingdom of Congo. It is the only colony on 
the western coast, of all the early settlements made by the Portuguese, 
over which the natives acknowledge they have not still control. It is 
opposite Mozambique, on the eastern coast, and it has long been the 
dream of the Portuguese to connect the two colonies by a continuous 
chain of forts. There are several fortified places in Angola ; the first 
links in the chain have been forged in Mozambique, and one or two 
expeditions have crossed the continent between the two points ; but it 
is probable, since now their richest source of revenue, the slave trade, is 
being surely dried up, that the Portuguese will never carry their original 




A BOAT OF THE WARLIKE CONGOS. 

plan into effect. The capital of the colony was for nearly three cen- 
turies the principal depot on the coast for the supply of slaves. For 
hundreds of miles great herds of slaves were marched down to St. Paul 
de Loando, each able-bodied man bringing with him an elephant's tusk. 
Such sights are no longer seen, but the Portuguese still engage in a 
little of that trade, and their commerce is also considerable with the 
natives, from whom they obtain ivory, skins, gum-copal, turtle-shell, 
cocoa-nut oil, and a little sugar-cane and coffee. The mountains of 
Angola abound in iron and copper, gold also being found in consider- 
able quantities ; but although prospecting parties of Americans, 
Eno-Iishmen, Germans and Frenchmen are not uncommon, neither 
the Portuguese nor the natives seem thoroughly to have realized their 
value. 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. 



151 



The natives of Angola were formerly quite 
celebrated for the fine quality of iron which they 
smelted; yet they and the Congos generally now 
seldom smelt from the ore. They are usually 
satisfied to take the iron hooping from bales ob- 
tained from traders and transform them into the 
simple hoe which they use in scraping the ground, 
or into their spear heads. 

Their furnace is a hole in the ground, but 
their bellows are identical with that used by the 
ancient Egyptians. What is quite singular also, 
is that those tribes who do not speak the same 
language, but who belong to the same great sub- 
division of the Caffre family, should use the same 
kind of bellows in the smelting of ore. 

Although in most districts of the colony the 
Congos still cling to their savage ways, some of 
them along the coast are remarkably intelligent, 
havinof learned to read and write and to success 
fully manage a large share of the trade of the 
country. Aside from a few natives who have 
thus lifted themselves from the prevailing state 
of ignorance and laziness which pervades the col- 
ony, the only Congos who have any regular occu- 
pation are those employed by the government as 
burden carriers. As there are no public roads 
in the colony, all the traffic which passes to and 
from the coast is conducted by means of these 
beasts of burden, whose endurance, as they toil 
over rugged mountains and through dense for- 
ests, is something which is almost superhuman. 
There are thousands of Congos thus engaged. 
They are furnished by the head men of the dif- 
ferent villages both to the grovernment and to 
Europeans who may be abroad on exploring 
expeditions. 

As all of these provinces, in fact with few 
exceptions the whole of Guinea, is given over to' 
the ivory trade, it may be interesting to know 
how the article reaches the coast. It is carried a carved tusk. 
from points as far as four or five hundred miles from the ocean by great 



152 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



squads or caravans of natives. They generally travel in the dry sea- 
son so that they will not be impeded by the great number of streams 
and gullies which they have to cross. The tusks are carried by the 
natives on their heads and shoulders, being fastened in a cage of four 
short pieces of wood. Very heavy teeth (for they sometimes weigh i 75 
or 180 pounds) are slung to a long pole and carried by two natives. 

Some of the native traders of Angola collect and deal in hides, 
skins and other articles, traveling long distances in pursuit of their com- 
mercial ventures. They are averse to manual labor, however, preferring 
to rely on this spirit of enterprise and their sharp wits. Others, on the 




DREARY SCENE IN SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA. 



other hand, who are also of the educated class, do not even stir far from 
home, but trade a little in wax and other produce. Once a year the 
owner of the hives climbs the baobab tree, in whose branches they are 
placed, and draws up a basket for the wax and honey. His hives are 
made by splitting a large branch of a tree in two, hollowing it out and 
afterwards fastening the halves together. Taking with him some dry 
grass and fire he proceeds to smoke out the bees and take advantage 
of their industry. But whether lazy or industrious, when the natives are 
once seized with the educational fever, their pursuit of wisdom is indeed 



COAST AND INTERIOR TRIBES. , 1 53 

absorbing. It is no uncommon sight to see children of both sexes, early 
in the morning, squatted on the ground, wrapped in their cotton clothes, 
lazily but contentedly learning their letters. A man is never so happy 
as when, in exchange for some article of produce, he receives from a 
trader a sheet of foolscap. This he rolls up carefully and hangs by 
a bit of string to his pack, and when he arrives at home he is pretty sure 
to sit down and with his quill pen and chircoal ink write a letter to a 
friend or a high-sounding petition to a cliirf. 

Beyond Angola the traveler soon reaches the rocky and barren 
country of the Damaras and Nemaquas, which is being quite generally 
entered by practical Germans, who brave the wastes for the rich mineral 
deposits which are known to exist there. The province of Benguela, in 
Angola, which borders upon that country is also a mineral region, but 
the tribes of the mountains are so fierce tiiat scarcely any attempt has 
been made to take advantage of the knowledge. They are said, natur- 
ally, to be harmless, but contact with slave-traders has made them 
suspicious, brutal and dangerous. " The land along the coast is low 
and flat, but it rises in a series of terraces toward the interior, and fur- 
ther back into mountains of considerable heitrht. The low grround near 
the coast, especially during the rainy season, is extremely unwholesome. 
On the high ground and among the moantains the air is pure and 
healthful. Numerous rivers descend from the mountains, amonor which 
sulphur, copper, petroleum, gold and silver are found. Vegetation is 
luxuriant, and both tropical fruits and European vegetables grow Avell. 
Elephants, buffaloes, zebras and antelopes are common, hyaenas and 
horses even venturing down to the city of Benguela. This, the capital 
of the province, is on the coast, and is so unhealthful that no Europeans 
can withstand the climate. It is especially fatal to women. The most 
unwholesome months are March and April, the rainy months, and next 
to them January and May. The harbor is commodious and safe, but 
difficult of access. Ivory, panther skins, and the other productions of 
the country are brought into the city, and it is visited occasionally by 
Portuguese and Brazilian trading vessels. The city was formerly the 
principal slave market foi the trade with Brazil. It is under the juris- 
diction of the Governor-general of Angola, who resides at St. Paul de 
Loanda." Benguela comprises the southern districts of Angola, and 
some idea of the extent of this country may be gained when it is stated 
that it is larger than California. It is also similar in shape to the 
American State, although its eastern boundaries are not definitely fixed. 
The natives, who are estimated to number between 2,000,000 and 
3,000,000, speak a dialect of the Bantu or Caffre tongue. 



154 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

In the desolate region beyond we meet those tribes whicli connect 
Congo Caffres with the Hottentots. It seems as if they were the weak- 
est and most degraded of both races who have been driven into this 
terrible country. From Cape Negro to the Orange River, a distance of 
900 miles, there is no fresh water and nothing green, with one unimport- 
ant exception, which only serves to make the fact more evident. The 
coast is a low desert, which runs into a rocky ridge, and beyond the 
sandstones is a more elevated and rocky desert. But as if to recom- 
pense man for the blight that she brings upon the vegetable kingdom, 
Nature has been careful to make rich deposits of the useful metals in 
this sterile region. 

Upper Guinea, to which our next voyage of discovery tends, pre- 
sents, in some respects, a complete contrast to Lower Guinea. The 
natives are negroes proper, and their states and kingdoms are either 
compact and powerful in arms, or vital forces in the commercial and 
Mohammedan world. They may not be more civilized than some of 
the Central African kingdoms, but whether their people are bloodthirsty, 
aristocratic or commercial, they evince a masterly command of their 
resources, which seems almost lacking in the Caffres of Lower Guinea. 



^m^ 



►i*^ 



" t * ^ — ^V^ - ^ T /^^V— ^ * A -^' 




THE LAND OF NIGRITIA. 




:FTER we had completed our tour of Lower Guinea we found 
that we had traversed the ereat continent of Africa east of the 
Sahara desert and south of the Mountains of the Moon, and 
felt that we had become quite well acquainted with the Ethio- 
pian under his most diverse forms of civilization. In the cen- 
tral portions of the continent we discovered quite a smattering 
of negro blood, but had only touched upon the borders of the 
Land of Nigritia. It lies now before us, embraced and held 
W together by the wide-spreading arms of the Niger river. Like 
T an immense bar of iron Soudan lies firmly below the Great 

Desert, pressing Guinea and Senegambia into the ocean. This vast 
region is the home of the negro — indolent and passionate, dull and 
intelligent, brutal and^affectionate. He was thought so low and degraded, 
so devoid of all manly spirit, that the greedy eyes of the slaver and 
the pitying eyes of the philanthropist have rested upon him for four 
centuries as the most fit object of their attention. The representatives 
of all nations have set foot upon the coast of Nigritia, and there assisted 
to drain from the interior its ivory, its gold, its slav^es and its riches of 
every description, or have bravely attempted with their weak levers to 
pry the tremendous land from its mire of ignorance and superstition ; but 
still it lies there with its savacje kingdoms, its fierce tribes of the 
mountains, its milder people of the coast, its republics, its human sacri- 
fices, its superstitions and its idolatries. Fragments of the race have 
broken off into the desert, such as the Tibboos in the east, and an alien 
tribe now and then has established itself in their midst, as the Foulahs 
of Senegambia, but it would be speaking within bounds to say that West 
Central Africa is purely the land of the negro. A little Moorish and 
Arabian blood oozes in from the north and a little Ethiopian blood drips 
in from the south, but the type is there in greater purity than can be 

155 



156 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



found in any other race — the negro with his unctious skin, his thick 
lips and protruding jaws, his broad nose and small ears, his woolly hair, 
his retreating forehead and his thick skull. 




MOUNTAIN WARRIORS. 



Notwithstanding the protection which European powers are giving 
to the milder negroes of the coast, the fierce warriors of the interior are 
supplanting them. Toward the ocean the native star of empire takes 
its way, as will become more clear when we come to speak of the negro 
kingdoms of the coast. 




SENEGAMBIAN TRIBES. 




THE JALOFS. 



ENEGAMBIA is the western-most country of Nigrltia, and 
although the smallest political division, its people represent 
three tribes, who seem already to lead the race in commercial 
talent and intellectual force. The Jalofs occupy the delta 
formed by the Senegal and Gambia rivers. Of all the negroes 
they are the handsomest, being tall and graceful in form, but 
glossy black, with the woolly hair and thick lips of their race. 
Their lano^uaoe is soft and as^reeable, and in their conversa- 
tion as well as their personal bearing, they evince a realization 
of their claim that they are the most ancient people of West- 
ern Africa, and were formerly the dominant race. They are generally 
mild, hospitable, generous and trustworthy, but remembering their 
descent, they will not intermarry with other African tribes. Among 
themselves also they have a marked species of caste. They prostrate 
themselves before an autocratic emperor, proud though they be, because 
this has been the custom handed down to them from their powerful 
ancestors. Their nobles are the "good Jalofs." The smiths are called 
the "tug;" tanners and sandal makers, the "oudae;" fishermen, the 
" moul ;" musicians and bards, the "gaewell," and wanderers or tramps 
"saobies." The "gaewell," though they faithfully chant the praises of 
their ancestors and materially assist the nobility to keep alive the spirit 
of pride which so distinguishes the Jalofs — the faithful and useful "gae- 
well" cannot live within town walls, keep cattle, drink sweet milk, or be 
buried. They are refused interment on the ground that nothing will 
grow where they are buried. The Jalofs do not even seem to have that 
respect for European advancement which marks the most of the negro 
tribes, and except with the agents of trading stations, have little com- 
mercial intercourse with foreigners. They are easy and polite, but have 
a cool indifference for all pretensions but their own. Notwithstanding 
which, they manufacture cotton cloth of a firmer texture and a more 

157 



158 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

durable color than any other tribe in Western Africa. With this they 
clothe themselves, both men and women wearing two square pieces, one 
around the waist and the other thrown around the shoulders. Although 
fearless and expert in hunting, and splendid horsemen, they are quite 
domestic in their habits, and do not wander abroad in quest of advent- 
ures and gain, as do their more enterprising neighbors, the Mandingoes. 
They live simply and their houses are small, but a man of any standing 
will have two houses — one in which he sits and sleeps, the other in 
which his cooking is clone and in which he eats. 

The Jalofs occupy four provinces, number over one million souls, 
and are under the rule of an emperor, who traces his dynasty back to 
the most ancient of the royal houses of Western Africa. The penalties 
for a violation of his laws are very severe, but there are few of them 
which any one would care to violate. Any one, for instance, who 
sleeps under a certain kind of mosquito netting which is peculiarly 
royal, is liable to be sold as a slave. To come into the presence of the 
emperor without prostrating one's self is a serious crime ; but there 
are no William Tells among the Jalofs, for they are glad to prostrate 
themselves before so august a personage. 

A portion of this tribe are strict Mohammedans, and others have 
never become adherents to any faith, but whatever they are, and 
wherever they are, they are pagans in the matter of fetich worship. In 
conformity to the general exclusiveness of their dispositions, they 
observe their religion quietly and faithfully, but unlike the vigorous 
Mandingoes, they do not attempt to spread its tenets. They are firm 
believers in witchcraft, and, strange to say, wear the same kind of 
charms to ward off its evils, and resort to the same ridiculous ordeals to 
detect it, as the most ignorant of the tribes of Central and Southwest- 
ern Africa. 

THE FOULAHS. 

The Foulahs of Senegambia and the Fellatahs of Central Soudan 
are believed to be a branch of the Nubians, who eniigrated westward at 
a very early day. Some ethnologists have attempted to trace their 
origin to the Malayan stock. Their complexion is a brownish black, 
their hair soft and curly, forehead good, lips thin and nose of the 
Ethiopian but not the Nigritian cast. In stature they are of the 
medium size, and limbs delicate but well formed. They are Moham- 
medans, but have engrafted upon their religion the pagan superstitions 
and worship of the negro. They have a tradition that they are the 
descendants of Phut, the son of Ham, and hence wherever they settle, 



THE FOULAHS. I 59 

they seem desirous to perpetuate the fact. The Foulans are the largest 
and most powerful of the three great families of Senegambia, occupying 
Futa-Torro, near the Senegal river, Futa-Boudu and Futa-Jallon 
to the north of Sierra Leone. Manv of them are good Arabian 
scholars and have a remarkable knowledge of the Koran. They are peo- 
ple who seem to possess the faculty in a remarkable degree of doing as 
Rome does. They are industrious and enterprising in their dealings with 
the European ; courteous and gentle with the Asiatic ; cunning and sel- 
fish with the Moors ; but in whatever position they are placed, show a 
strength of mind, superior even to the Jalofs, who are their neighbors and 
the aristocracy of the negro race. One thing also which stands greatly to 
their credit, is that they have never participated in the slave trade, 
except that in a few cases they have sold criminals into servitude instead 
of putting them to death. By many of the negro tribes it is considered 
infamous to injure a Foulah ; thus highly are they respected ; and a 
blessing is said to rest on any territory which contains one of their 
villas^es. 

Until the early part of the present century the Fellatahs had been 
living a roving life in the forests of Central Soudan, tending their 
cattle, and keeping out of the way of the warlike people of Borneo, 
They were governed by their chiefs, who held also the position of 
religious teachers to them ; for they were strict Mohammedans. One 
of these, a prophet as well as chief, so effectually aroused them that the 
people, scattered as they were, flocked to his standard and under him 
subjugated seven or eight rich provinces, the empire of Bornoo to the 
east and that of Yarriba to the west. He extended his conquests even 
to the shores of Senegambia ; many of the Foulahs joining him, he 
assigned them a province and formally incorporated it as a portion of 
his empire. The emperor-prophet died insane, through religious fanat- 
icism, and his son succeeding him, the conquered states made an 
unsuccessful attempt to shake off their yoke. The empire continued to 
flourish, the son fortified his capital (Sockatoo) which his father had 
built and was able to bring into the field a larger army than any prince 
of Africa. Sockatoo itself, surrounded with walls and spacious gardens, 
and embellished within by mosques, public squares and market houses, 
stood on a gentle eminence which overlooked a branch of the Niger, 
and was second to Cairo in population. With the exception of Alex- 
andria it would probably still occupy that position, but the empire is 
now divided into several states. Bornoo early regained its indepen- 
dence, and the powerful empire of the Fellatah was eventually dismem- 
bered. Its people, however, remain as the representatives of a race 



i6o 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



different, in many respects, from the Nigritians, who hem them about, 
and the great empire is divided among a number of princes. Ganda, 
about forty miles from Sockatoo, is the seat of a powerful prince, and 
Timbo is the capital of the S( negambian state. 

The lujulahs first appear in history about the middle of the four- 
teenth century, when two of i members of the tribe are recorded as 



journeying from the borders 
reliofious mission. It is held 
seat of their kincj^dom, and ti 
race, however, they have co 
many people, that it is nc 
dispute, with any of the easi 
considered the typical Foula 



.enegambia to the king of Bornoo on a 
-lany that this region was the original 
hey spread east into Soudan. As a 
'cd so many states and absorbed so 
impossible to identify them, beyond 
milies, or even to say what should be 
he best that can be done is to take 

the statements of 
their own people 
and consider the 
traditions which 
have come down to 
them, which all 
point to the j)rob- 
ability that th(;y 
came from the 
East, bringing with 
them the tastes 
and aspirations of 
t h c ancient Ethi- 

UO SECTION OK SAME. . .... 

opian civilization. 
They have a tradition, among others, that their ancestors were white 
and certain tribes call themselves white men. Certain it is that their 
appearance, and methods of thought in many respects, stamp them as 
intellectual. Their language is neither African nor Semitic, and 
although they are in a continual .state of warfare with the Arabs, the 
children of the better classes are taught to read and write the language 
of their enemies. They have schools and mosques scattered throughout 
their provinces, are workers in iron and silver, are skillful manufacturers 
of woodenware and leather, are dairymen and cattle breeders, and intel- 
ligent traders, although they cannot be considered as being .so purely a 
commercial race as the Mandingoes, Although under the rule of 
princes, they are immediately governed by republican chiefs, and virtu- 
ally manage their own domestic affairs. 

The usual dress of the men is a red cap with a white turban, a 




A NATIVE CUP. 



THE MANDINGOES. l6l 

short white shirt, a large white robe, white trousers trimmed with red 
or green silk, and sandals or boots. The women wear a striped gar- 
ment falling as low as the ankles, a rosette or ribbon is placed in the 
hair, which is neatly dressed, and bracelets and ear-rings usually com- 
plete the list of ornaments. 

Although commercial, and the most scholarly of the West African 
races, the Foulahs are warriors of no mean standing. The men wear 
swords at all times, and even go armed with bows and arrows on horse- 
back. A few years ago the princes of the Foulah, or Fellatah states, 
could bring into the field a well-disciplined force of 25,000 cavalry, and 
a proportionate number of infantry ; but the people have so diffused 
themselves throughout Western Africa that their influence is more as a 
race than as a civil or military power. Their population is estimated at 
6,000,000, and with the Mandingoes they divide the honor of supremacy 
amonw the tribes of Western Africa. 



*& 



THE MANDINGOES. 

Outside of Turkey and Arabia this great tribe, whose home is 
between the sources of the Senegal and Niger rivers, are the most ener- 
getic propagators of Mohammedanism in Africa. Like most people 
whose native country lies among the mountains and higher regions, they 
are hardy, enterprising and ambitious. They are the travelers and 
merchants of the continent, and in the pursuit of their operations after 
ivory, gold dust and slaves, have penetrated into more of its hidden 
nooks than any other people alive. The valleys of the Senegal, Gambia 
and Niger see throughout their length and breadth their three- 
cornered cotton caps and their leather pouches, filled with scraps of Arab- 
ian writing, while Upper and Lower Guinea and Central Africa itself 
draw upon the Mandingoes for articles of commerce and potent charms 
written in an unknown tongue. They are a people who seem to most 
closely connect their religion with their pleasure. As they go traveling 
through the continent, conducting caravans, acting as agents between 
native tribes in their commercial dealings, or in pursuit of their own 
schemes, they are ever on the alert to establish schools for the purpose 
of teaching the Arabic language and spreading the truths of the Koran. 
At the same time they are busy trying to get good value for the charms 
Vv'hich they carry in their leather pouches, in doing which, however, they 
believe they are conscientiously laboring to capture the soul of the 
pagan. Their black faces have not the peculiar rayen gloss of the Jalofs, 
but are sufficient, with their general features, their cheerful, gay natures 



1 62 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and their great love for music and dancing, to place them in the Nigri- 
tian group of tribes. It may be said that from the equator to the Sahara 
Desert, the Mandingoes control the trade of the continent. They have 
extended themselves over Western Soudan, and small communities of 
them have located around many European settlements along the coast 
and along -the rivers, where they manufacture sandals, bridles, whips, 
sheaths and various other articles out of their own leather, and sell 
amulets to the natives. But it must not be thought that the Mandin- 
goes are mere wanderers and a race of traders. They are most success- 
ful agriculturists and raisers of cattle, sheep and goats. They are often 
not only good Arabic scholars, bnt proficient as extemporaneous speak- 
ers, and make some pretensions to being poets. The regular education 
of the average child, however, consists, as among all Mohammedans, in 
being able to read and write a few passages from the Koran, and to 
recite their prayers. The six million, or more, Mandingoes whose pres- 
ence is felt in Western Africa, acknowledge the authority of their chiefs, 
Mandingo itself being divided into a number of petty states nearly inde- 
pendent of each other. Each free man, however, may appear before 
the general council of his tribe and speak as he pleases. Freedom of 
speech is certainly a recognized plank in their system of government. 
Notwithstanding the people are independent and frank in their conduct 
with each other, society is divided into castes, as it is among the more exclu- 
sive Jalofs. Next to the king or chief stand the teachers of the Koran, 
then artisans, dependent freemen, native-born domestic slaves, and slaves 
who were prisoners of war or criminals. Their Mohammedan education 
has severed them neither from pagan superstition nor native custom. 
They persistently cling to " Jumbo," that monster who comes out of 
the woods clad in plantain leaves, to maintain proper discipline among 
the women and children ; their funeral ceremonies are attended by the 
same wailings and beatings of drums as we find in Lower Guinea and 
Central Africa, and the grave is dug in the floor of the house where the 
deceased lived. Occasionally the burial place is under the shade of 
a favorite tree and the spot is always marked by a rag flying from 
a pole. 




NEGROES OF UPPER GUINEA. 




N the Jalofs, Foulahs and Mandingoes, of Senegambia ana 
Soudan are found the higher types of the negro race, if, 
indeed, the Foulahs may even be considered a type of the race. 
In the people of Upper Guinea we meet representatives of the 
race whom no one could doubt to be a concentration of all the 
broadest features of the negro, as he would be recognized by 
the veriest infant. His paganism has not been diluted by the 
faith of Mohammed, and fetich worship prevails In as exagger- 
ated a form as in Southern Guinea, with the lamentable difter- 
ence that human sacrifice has become quite common. There 
seems to be a more general belief in one god than among the tribes to 
the south, but the evil spirits appear also to have obtained a firmer 
holdupon the world, and therefore require more cruel forms of propitiation. 
Most of the tribes have names for God, and some of them are descriptive 
of his nature, as maker, preserver, benefactor. In the barbarous king- 
dom of Ashanti, whose people are noted for their bloodthirsty sacrifices 
and the general cruelty of their natures, he is called " My Great Friend." 
At the death of a king, a large number of his wives or favorite slaves are 
put to death to be his future attendants. The same practices are com- 
mon in the kingdom of Dahomey, east of Ashanti, although of late }'ears 
the sanguinary nature of the sacrifices has been somewhat modified, 
throutrh the efforts of missionaries and the Powers of the West. Not- 
withstanding the reforms which have taken place, it is said that the 
present king of Dahomey, upon the death of his father, sacrificed five 
hundred human victims. Despite these abominations the Ashantis and 
the Dahomans are courageous, intelligent, and far above most of the tribes 
■of Upper Guinea in general morality. 

SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NEGROES. 



Believing as they do that the world and all its affairs are in the 

keeping of either good or bad spirits, they do not always wait for their 

163 



164 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



priests or fetich men to drive away the evil ones, but, upon stated 
occasions take matters into their own hands. At a criven sio^nal a whole 
village will start up with torches and clubs, rush around their huts, 
yelling and beating here and there; then out into the streets, howling 
and waving their weapons, until some one in authority announces that 
the evil spirits have fled through the gates of the town. Pursuit does 
not end here, but the spirits who have brought sickness, or scarcity of 
food, or some other form of misfortune upon the community, are chased 
and scourged far into the woods, where they take up their abode in 

hollow trees, preat 

"^^^l,ife.^^^^^^^ii<^ rocks or deep riv- 

ers. Tree, rock, 
river and mountain 
are the dwelling 
places of both good 
and bad spirits and 
are never passed 
by the true negro 
without beinof of- 
fered some propi- 
tiation, such as a 
leaf or a shell. He 
1 approaches a deep 
cavern with fear 
^^ and trembling that 
he may receive 
spiritual advice. If 
he brings a suita- 
ble offering in the 
shape of food or 
drink, he receives 
an oracular answer 
to his queries, and although he may suspect that his priest is the spirit of 
the cavern, he dare not investigate for fear of the legion of spirits in 
whom he does believe. The negroes of Upper Guinea also have a very 
definite faith in the transmigration of the soul. Monkeys, crocodiles, 
snakes and sharks are the favorite dwelling places of the human soul, and 
are considered sacred. The consequence is that the crocodile, in certain 
localities, has been so pampered that he will follow a man for a long 
distance like a dog; the snake will bite or harmlessly lick the hand, as the 
keeper desires ; or the shark will come to the water's edge and wait for 




IN THE STOCKS. 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NEGROES. 1 65 

his food like a tame trout. They beheve in the unity of the human race, 
and have a saying that God offered the two sons of its first parents the 
choice between gold and a book; the elder son, and the progenitor of 
the black race, seized upon the gold, leaving the book to the younger. 
The latter was immediately transported to a colder country, retaining 
his book (his wisdom) and his white skin, while the son who seized upon 
the eold, retained his riches and his black skin, but lost wisdom. The 
neoToes have also ridiculous traditions of a deluge which have become 
distorted in being handed down either from ancient times or from 
Portuguese missionaries, who may have visited their forefathers three or 
four hundred years ago. 

An African funeral in Northern Guinea is tantamount to a Fourth- 
of-July celebration in the United States. A bullock is slaughtered, 
ostensibly for the dead, but really for the living, and, except the value of 
the presents which are laid upon the grave of the deceased, the respect 
which can be shown their dead is commensurate with the amount of 
powder which is used in the discharge of musketry. If the deceased is a 
person of quality, sometimes a hundred men will be discharging their 
muskets over the heads of the mourners, enveloping everything in sti- 
fling smoke. After these ceremonies, two persons take up the cofiin, 
which is often the section of a canoe, and proceed to the graveyard. 
They may not be allowed to go far, but may be cast hither and thither 
by the spirit of the dead man, and finally propelled toward the residence 
of a certain villager, who is thereupon accused of murder. He is 
confined in a hut built for the occasion, and, after the burial, is brought 
fonvard to undergo the "red-water" ordeal. The man is formally 
accused of murder, when invoking the name of God three times to pun- 
ish him in case he is guilty of the crime, he steps forward and drinks the 
Avater freely. \^irtually the same ceremony is gone through with in South- 
ern Guinea to detect witchcraft; "red-water" is also so employed in 
Northern Guinea, with a like understandino^ that if the drinker is taken 
Avith vertigo, his life is forfeited. Children even are encouraged to hoot 
at him, pelt him with stones and spit upon him in case he does not pass 
through the ordeal. In many instances the men and women then seize 
him by the heels and drag him through bushes and over rocky places 
until there is no life in him. Again, there is the "hot-oil ordeal," 
through which the innocent will pass unscathed. Ridiculous as these 
tests seem to be to the more rational ideas of the Western World, they 
bear a striking similiarity to those applied not long ago in England and 
America. 

The old story of fetich upon fetich is repeated in Upper as in Lower 



1 66 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Guinea. In a word: "One of the first things which salutes the eyes of 
astrangerafter planting his feet upon the shores of Africa, are the symbols 
of its religion. He steps forth from the boat under a canopy of fetiches 
not only as security for his own safety, but as a guaranty that he does not 
carry the elements of mischief among the people ; he finds them sus- 
pended along every path he walks; at every junction of two or more roads;: 
at the crossing place of every stream ; at the base of every large rock or 
over-grown forest tree ; at the gate of every village ; over the door of 
every house and around the neck of every human being he meets. They 
are set up on their farms, tied around their fruit trees and are fastened 
to the necks of their sheep and goats to prevent them from being stolen. 
If a man trespasses upon the property of his neighbor in defiance of the 
fetiches, he is confidently expected to suffer the penalty of his temerity- 
at one time or another. If he is overtaken by a formidable malady or a 
lingering sickness, twenty, thirty or forty years afterwards, he is knowa 
to be suffering the consequences of his rashness." 

COAST TRIBES AND KINGDOMS. 

The tribes which have settled along the coast of the colony of Sierra 
Leone present few features of interest, with the exception, perhaps, of 
the Veys. Although their manner of living was not materially different 
from that of other neighboring tribes, they not only conceived the idea, 
but carried it to a successful conclusion, of inventing an alphabet for 
writing their own language. It is said that the characters are all quite 
new and that the invention was entirely their own, although the idea 
was no doubt suggested to them by the Mandingoes, who had labored 
among them as among all other tribes of the coast to induce them to 
learn the Arabic language, and become converts to Islamism. About 
twenty years were spent by their leading men in bringing the language 
to a fair state of perfection. 

The Liberian, or Grain Coast, is so named on account of the great 
quantity of Malaguette pepper, or Guinea grain, which was formerly 
raised in this locality. It was exported from the coast to England, and 
used in the manufacture of malt liquors until it was thought to be harm- 
ful. It is used as a medicine by the native doctor, and' highly prized. 
The principal article of commerce at the present time is palm oil, while 
forty years ago it was almost unknown in this region. The representa- 
tive people of this coast are the Kru, whose beautiful country is covered 
with little villages. They are a progressive tribe, with a manly, frank 
and courteous bearing and noble in physique. Although they have the 



COAST TRIBES AND KINGDOMS. 



167 



narrow and peaked forehead of the negro, they have proven their 
capacity in more wa)'s than one. A majority of the men speak the 
Enghsh language, and have quite an extensive knowledge of civilized 
customs, though they refuse to abandon many of their own. But they 
have greatly improved in the construction of their houses and it is 
nothing unusual to see modern articles of furniture in their huts. They 
have less intelligence than the Foulahs and Mandingoes, but are, as a 
rule, more straightforward in their dealings. They are the sailors of 




A VILLAGE ON THE GRAIN COAST. 

Guinea, and may be found on all seas; even in London, Liverpool and 
New York a Kru seaman is no remarkable sight. They are often 
absent from home for three or four years, shipping on one voyage after 
another. If the young Kru is fortunate enough to reach home with a 
stock of goods intact, the fatted sheep, goat or bullock is killed, and he 
is marched around the streets of his native villaofe to the sound of the 
firing^ of oruns and the acclamations of his fellow townsmen. He is con- 
sidered a fit subject for matrimonial honors and married off at once. 



1 68 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Soon he is restless for another voyage, which is taken ; perhaps with 
Hke results as to the collection of property and being rewarded with a 
wife. By the time he has reached middle age our Kru sailor has accumu- 
lated quite a collection of wives and children, and settles down to 
domestic bliss. By the death of a brother or uncle he also has the 
possibility of inheriting a group of wives and children, and becoming a 
regular patriarch of the village, with the reputation of being a great 
man. There he lives in his peaked, tent-like hut, having a small gar- 
den in front planted to corn, peas, beans and bananas, his farm being 
some distance away so as to be beyond the reach of his cattle. This is 
sown to rice, which he both uses for his family and puts upon the 
market for sale. When the grain commences to head, he marshals his 
numerous children and posts them in different parts of the field, armed 
with sticks, stones, brass pans and anything which can be thrown, shaken 
or rattled, for the purpose of driving away the myriads of birds which 
threaten his harvest. Some of these youthful negroes, more ingenious 
than the rest, make a net-work of cords which connect with dry bushes 
to which bells are attached, so that they can lay around in lazy enjoy- 
ment, taking care, however, to keep their machines in rapid motion, and 
the birds in a constant flutter in all parts of the rice field. In four 
months from the .time of planting, the grain is harvested, each head of 
rice being cut with a small bladed instrument no larger than a pocket 
knife, and the large bundles are carried home on the heads of men. 
This is a season of great excitement, and the roads leading into the 
villages are lined with the burden-bearers, some cheerfully trotting along, 
single file, but the majority of them screaming and shouting in a mad 
race for the village. When the rice of our well-to-do Kru is brougrht to 
his house, it is tied to the rafters in his attic (which is his granary) and 
there left to be dried and cleansed by the smoke from his household 
fire, which, in default of a chimney, passes through the roof. After- 
wards the women remove the chaff in a small wooden mortar. In the 
upper part of the house are also stored earthen jars filled with palm oil, 
which has been extracted from the nuts of the palm tree. If the Kru 
sells his oil, it will go into the manufacture of soaps and candles, in 
England or France, but it is probable that he has other designs upon 
both rice and palm oil than to sell them for filthy lucre. The rice being 
nicely dried and cleaned, one of the wives boils a large quantity of it 
and places it on the floor in a wooden bowl. She then calls in her hus- 
band and the party of friends from a distant village whom he may be 
entertaining, and they seat themselves on the floor around the bowl, 
while she pours over its contents a generous quantity of fragrant ]3alm 



COAST TRIBES AND KINGDOMS. - 1 69 

oil. Each man now thrusts his hand into the dish, and taking up a 
goodly allowance of the mixture rolls it into a ball, which he pitches 
into his mouth. Even strangers who visit a Kru village, have food and 
lodging provided for them free of expense ; unless the townsman is thus 
honored, he has no regular meal, but he and his families eat when they 
are hungry. At the conclusion of a regular repast, the hostess brings 
in a jar of palm-wine and having removed the tuft of leaves which 
•covers its mouth dips up a little of the wine and drinks it. This is to 
convince the company that there is no poison in it. We have observed 
the same custom among the Abyssinians and Gallas Avhose country is 
across the continent. Their habits at table no doubt seem filthy, biit in 
other matters they are extremely cleanly, and perhaps using the hands 
so indiscriminately would not be considered so gross a practice if it 
Avere known how persistently the Kru performs his ablutions and rubs 
all parts of his body with pure palm oil. Clothing is not esteemed of 
more value than knives and forks, but a Kru would barter his rice or 
his pepper field for a quantity of large blue beads or a large string of 
ticker's teeth. 

The government of the Kru is not substantially different from that 
of other people along the coast, there being one singularit}' to be noted, 
however, and that is that certain tribes have, from time immemorial, 
divided themselves into families, and certainly one of these has retained 
a division of twelve as did the children of Israel. The families have 
each a head man, or. patriarch, and the property is held in common. 
The head man is responsible both morally and materially for the con- 
duct of his family. When any object of public interest is to be 
considered, those who are entitled to take part in the deliberation gather 
in the "palaver house " or the open air. The representatives of the 
soldier element are the most powerful, next to the high priest of the 
nation who takes care of her fetiches, and guards her health and pros- 
perity, and the general of all the forces ; both of the latter being 
presiding ofificers over the deliberptions of the palaver ; then come the. 
old men of the tribe. The soldiery are middle-aged men who have 
proved themselves in times of war. Young men, also, who aspire to 
become members of this influential body, form a portion of the circle 
Avhich gathers around the two presiding officers, each member thereof 
having brought his stool and sat down with dignity in his proper place. 
A long staff is handed to the speaker who is to open the discussion by 
the high priest or generalissimo. The orator stands in the center of 
the circle and says, with an impressive motion of the staff, Listen ; 
To which the people respond. We do listen. He then states the 



I/O • PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 



object of the gathering, and when he has concluded, in case he has not 
become excited, he hands the staff to the next speaker. If his remarks 
have become very forcible, he uses his staff for emphasis and concludes 
by casting it violently upon the ground — as though he were speaking 
from the rostrum and had thouo^ht best to brino- down his fist with a 
crash upon the desk. These popular assemblies make the laws and 
execute them, elevate the deserving humble, and confiscate the property 
of those who become too arrogant ; they are common to most of the 
tribes of Upper Guinea, which have not been consolidated into such 
autocracies as Ashanti and Dahomey, and are the scenes of many bursts 
of native oratory which might arouse the emulation of the better edu- 
cated and more refined. 

ASHANTI. 

What is called the Ivory Coast extends frortj Cape Palmas to the 
kingdom of Ashanti. Quantities of ivory were formerly collected here 
by traders, but it might now with greater propriety be called the Palm- 
oil coast. There are no striking tribal peculiarities until we reach Ash- 
anti, or Ashantee, which is the seat of the most powerful state in West- 
ern Africa. Formerly the Fantis occupied the coast and the Ashanti 
kingdom lay almost among the Kong mountains ; but notwithstanding 
an English protectorate, the Ashantis power continued to extend until 
it has now virtually absorbed their rivals. The language of the two 
tribes is nearly the same, the Fantis being milder in their manners, as 
they have been long a coast people, and enjoyed a more intimate 
acquaintance with European civilization. The history of the Ashanti 
kingdom commences when the tribe appeared beyond the Kong mountains, 
whence it no doubt was driven by the more powerful and numerous 
Foulahs, when the empire of the Fellatah was spreading over so great 
a portion of Soudan ; its history has been one of war and blood-shed, the 
chief objects of pursuit being the Fantis, whom they drove to the coast, 
and whose territory they repeatedly desolated. At the commencement 
of the eighteenth century their implements of warfare were but the bow, 
arrow and spear ; but when their troubles with England commenced at 
the commencement of the nineteenth, they learned the value of powder 
and guns. The awful cruelty, or it may be fanaticism, which separates 
the Ashantis even from the cruel and fanatical tribes of Western Africa, 
was first brought forcibly to the attention of the world, when, to protect 
their own commerce and the Fantis, the English entered into one of their 
many campaigns of subjugation. The English force had greatly under- 
estimated the strength and determination of the Ashanti army, so that 



ASHANTI. 171 

when the war horns of their barbaric foes were heard one winter day in 
1824, they marched confidently forward to meet them. Although the 
English brought several field pieces to bear upon the howling Ashantis, 
and defended themselves bravely with bayonets, their ammunition having 
been exhausted ; and though they were heroically supported by their 
allies, the Fantis, the combined forces were overwhelmed, cut to pieces, 
and their English commander killed. Others were taken prisoners and 
were spared, to sleep nightly in the same room with the heads of their 
chief and companions in arms, which were carried to Coomassie, the 
capital of the kingdom. The heart of the commander-in-chief was 
devoured by the great warriors of the Ashanti kingdom, and his flesh 
eaten by those of the lower rank, that they might imbibe the courage 
which he showed upon the field of battle, and which they could not but 
admire. His bones were preserved for a long time as national " fetiches," 
while one of the bravest of his officers was sacrificed to the protecting 
idol of an irnportant native town. Two years afterwards the Ashantis 
were subdued, as they have been several times since ; but though repeat- 
edly subdued, both they and the Dahomans to the east, still control the 
coast, and are a perpetual menace to the trade of Great Britain, Portugal, 
France and other nations whose commercial representatives venture 
into their disputed dominions. 

Moderation is an unknown word in the vocabulary of the Ashanti. 
His king is absolutely despotic and is very likely to cut off his head, if 
he suffers defeat on the field of battle. He, therefore, does not fight 
with moderation, but with the desperation of despair. It is said that 
after several unsuccessful engagements with the English, many of the 
king's nobles met their death by applying matches to kegs of powder 
upon which they were seated, knowing their probable fate should they 
return to the capital. He rules over them as they do over their slaves, 
who compose the bulk of the army. Should they by the slightest word 
reflect upon the character or policy of their royal master, so complete is 
his system of espionage that, in some mysterious way, he hears of it, and 
calls them to account. Some of these nobles have as many as one 
thousand slaves, and although they lead their men to battle and place 
all their other property at the disposal of the king, their privileges are as 
limited as those of the most common subject. Provided he has behaved 
himself (according to the idea of good behavior entertained by the king) 
each noble is allowed to display his wealth once a year in the streets of 
Coomassie. If he thinks it politic, he loads down his children with all 
the jewels and gold he can collect, and with them parades the streets 
to the sound of music. He may not, however, wish to exhibit to the 



172 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

king the extent of his possessions, especially if he has much pure gold 
in his keeping ; for, at his death, the latter is the royal property — and 
death may come to him at any moment if he make too great a display. 
The consequence is that most of the gold, quantities of which are found 
in Ashanti, is promptly manufactured into ornaments. But the king 
still retains his clutch upon the property of the nobility by levying a 
heavy tax upon all gold ornaments, as well as all metal taken from the 
mines, which belong to the crown. There are a few exceptions to the 
latter rule, certain mines being sacred to the spirits and divinities. The 
royal treasury is also replenished by the tribute which the king levies 
upon a score or more of conquered provinces. Since the partial sup- 
pression of the slave trade, however, one of his most prolific sources of 
revenue has been running dry ; although the institution of domestic 
slavery is conducted on the same tremendous scale which marks every 
other institution In Ashanti. 

The king of Ashanti being a polygamist, is not satisfied to be a 
moderate one, but for some inscrutable reason has drawn the line at 
3^233 wives ! When the grains of the kingdom are being harvested, or 
the fruits being gathered, the wives are dispersed over the royal planta- 
tions, laboring as if they were the meanest of slaves. This, in fact, is 
their condition. A man's importance is measured by the number of 
wives whom he can bring into the harvest field to work for him and the 
number of slaves he can bring Into the field of battle to fight for the 
king ; but the king only is allowed to reach the sacred number of 3,333. 
When his wives return from the harvest field, headed by the wife whom 
he most trusts, his whole capital runs to cover ; for should even one of 
his noblemen set eyes upon one of them, the head of that man is in 
danger. Any one who is caught in the way must fall upon the ground 
and hide his face. When once they are housed in the two streets reserved 
for them in Coomassie, the king's female relatives, or special messengers, 
may communicate with them through their bamboo walls. 

The wives of the more common Ashantis are also poor, degraded 
creatures. They do not eat with him, but each brings her portion of 
the repast to her lord, and either retires, or remains with the children to 
receive in her little wooden bowl such morsels as he may see fit to dispense. 
This performance Is said to give the lord of the household much manly 
satisfaction. It would be as unbecoming a true Ashanti to carry any 
spirit of mildness to the family meal as to show it In war. 

The houses of the nobles and rich men of the kingdom often have 
many rooms, and are so constructed as to leave a square or court In the 
center, Into which the apartments of all the wives open. They receive 



DAHOMEY. • 1 73 

their visitors in a sort of portico, built from the side of the house, which 
is furnished with louncres and other conveniences. 

War is the great occupation of the kingdom, but agriculture, com- 
merce and manufactures have their part. It has a large trade with the 
interior provinces, such as Borneo and Sackatoo, and caravans even 
come from Cairo and Tripoli for its gold dust and ivory. When it is 
not quarreling with Europeans, much of its trade in these articles, how- 
ever, goes to the forts on the sea coast, where they are exchanged for 
manufactures. The Ashantis make a beautiful kind of cotton fabric, 
richly finished earthenware and highly tempered sword blades. They 
have made some advancement as manufacturers of agricultural imple- 
ments, and otherwise show an intelligence and ingenuity, which is all the 
more surprising when we consider their moral turpitude and the fiendish 
lengths to which their pagan fanaticism carries them. 

DAHOMEY. 

Adjoining the Ashanti country on the east is the kingdom of 
Dahomey, or the Land of Horrors. Its autocrat even rivals the king of 
Ashanti in the power which he exercises over his subjects, for his gov- 
erning power is not so much fear of personal injury as the greater dread 
of spiritual destruction. His subjects all consider him a demi-god, and 
not only put the property of the whole realm into his hands, but their 
very daughters. They grovel before him and throw dust upon them- 
selves as if they were in truth worms of the dust. They esteem it a 
favor to send their young girls to him every year and have him parcel 
them out to his guards or nobles, retaining the most pleasing for him- 
self. This custom nets him a large revenue (which is the more appreci- 
ated since the decline of the slave trade); for the king does not give 
away these maidens as rewards for bravery, but sells them to his sub- 
jects as so much merchandise. There are no freemen in the kingdom, 
each subject not only paying a head tax, but a tax upon everything which 
he eats, drinks and wears. The principal part of the revenue is now 
derived from duties on palm oil and ivory exported, and a duty levied 
upon every import. When a chief dies the king inherits his possessions 
absolutely, and is not even so kind as to make an exception of the furni- 
ture and household goods of the deceased; but as he has provided the 
chief with wives, and everything that the chief has had during his life- 
time has been upon sufferance, so upon his death he takes everything 
back. 

The king of Dahomey does not even limit himself to 3,333 wives as 



I 74 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

does his neighbor, the king of Ashanti, but he takes as many as he 
chooses. His bodyguard is composed of women who are chosen from 
amonof the most muscular females of the land and brouofht to him from 
outlying districts. They are tall and commanding, are put through a 
course of private and severe training, and are considered by him the 
fiower of his army, as they are fierce as tigers and cruel as wolves. These 
Amazons have the greatest contempt for the male warriors, and when 
they desire to reproach one another with cowardice, say, Avith a sneer, 
"You are nothing but a man." Most of them are furnished with bows 
and arrows, swords and clubs, though some are armed with muskets. 
Each of them is also furnished with a rope to bind prisoners. As they 
parade through the streets on public occasions, dressed in their sleeve- 
less blue and white tunics and short linen trousers, with hideous scalp 
locks dangling from their belts, or cowry shells fastened to their guns 
with coagulated blood (one for each man slain) it is like getting a 
glimpse of the three furies, repeated again and again. 

Dahomey is saddled with two kings, each absolute in his particular 
province. Europeans hear most of the city king, for he rules the cities, 
makes war, regulates the slave trade, and always appears to the outside 
world when scenes of cruelty are being enacted. He it is who makes 
the raids upon neighboring tribes, seizing the women and children for 
slaves, who are destined for sacrifical victims upon the occasion of his 
own death or that of a relative ; and once every year some hundreds of 
them are slain that the king may have blood to water the graves of his 
-ancestors. His loyal subjects express their homage to him by drinking 
the blood of the victims thus offered, intermixed with a plentiful supply 
of rum. The unfortunate slave is led to the king by the official heads- 
man. This omnipotent ruler then whispers in the ear of the victim a 
message which is to be conveyed to his ancestors who have passed away, 
after which the headsman performs his duty. After decapitation and 
the collection of a sufficient quantity of blood for the purposes named, 
the bodies are dragged out of town and left to be devoured by beasts 
and birds of prey. Their skulls are cleaned and used as building mater- 
ial for palaces, as ornaments to public buildings, and as the heads to 
banner staves. The city king is the only one whom the traders meet, 
but there is another royal autocrat who rules the country districts, who 
regulates tillage and commerce. He is called the "bush king," and has 
a palace about six miles from the palace of the city king in Abomey. 

The skeptic who smiles when told that there are people who believe 
in a Supreme Deity, and yet who bow down in worship to the snake, 
would shudder and grov/ sick at heart could he but visit some Dahomey 



DAHOMEY. ■ . 175 

town ; for it is usually provided with a house, which is centrally located, 
and in which sacred reptiles dwell. They are in charge of a priest who 
feeds them and guards them tenderly and carries them about with him. 
If a person is suspected of witchcraft or other crime the priest is sum- 
moned with his charges ; the guilt of the suspected party is determined 
by whether or not he is bitten by the writhing monsters. In this, as in 
other ordeals, the fetich man undoubtedly holds the^ reputation, the life 
and the death of the " defendant" in his own hands. If a reptile escape 
from his house, the people first prostrate themselves before him and then 
carefully bear him back, even at the expense of their lives. To kill or 
to injure one of them is a capital offense. The origin of this hideous 
form of worship is found in their belief that although there is a Supreme 
Deity, he must be reached and propitiated through the minor gods. 
The most important of the minor deities is the snake-god, who has 1,000 
snake wives. The tree-gods, of whom the "poison tree" is the most 
powerful, have also a like number of help-mates. The sea-gods are rep- 
resented by a high priest at the seaport of Whydah. This individual 
ranks as a kiuQ^ and has qoo human wives. The immediate agents of the 
sea-gods are the sharks, who snap up the sacrificial victim as he is cast 
into the water. Sharks are therefore sacred. When a person has been 
killed by lightning it is not lawful to bury him — he is the victim of the 
thunder-gods. The dead body is placed on a platform and cut up by 
women who hold pieces of flesh in their mouths and pretend to eat them. 
This is supposed to intensify their power as fetich women, and nearly 
one-fourth of all the females in Dahomey belong to this order. 

There was a time, and that not a century ago, Vv^hen the king of 
Dahomey was lord of the coast of Guinea. But the desolating wars 
which he has waged to keep up the supply of skulls for his court-yards 
and temples, for his national fetiches, for his periodical and ancestral 
sacrifices ; to fill his coffers with tribute money and to collect wives for 
sale ; the slaughter of his own people whom he charges with crime, 
reduces to servitude and sacrifices to the gods ; the death of thousands 
of wives who must follow the king to his grave and the hereafter ; the 
fiendish raids upon native tribes for hundreds of miles around to supply 
the demands of the slave trade ; the decline of this, his most profitable 
traffic ; and finally the ruinous system of taxation which he imposes 
— all of these things have combined to impoverish the surrounding 
country and reduce almost to impotency the internal organization of 
the kingdom. Tracts which were formerly cultivated are now a desert, 
and the population is but a fraction of what the territory might 
support. 



176 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

A NATIVE REPUBLIC. 

Between Dahomey and the Niger there are two loosely-jointed 
negro kingdoms which were the powers of the coast before Ashanti 
and Dahomey acquired the ascendancy. Yoruba was ruptured by an 
invasion of the Foulahs about sixty years ago, but still contains more 
populous cities than any other one kingdom of Western Africa. The 
Yorubas are an industrious race of people, with clear, brown complexions 
and rather incline toward the European cast of features. Many of them 
are good mechanics. Palm oil is their principal article of export, which 
they exchange for powder, brandy and European fabrics. In the eastern 
and northern portions of the kingdom, the Foulahs are in the ascendant, 
but the southern and western parts are in the hands of native tribes. 
The manner in which they consolidated and formed a government of their 
own, evinces an independent spirit which is rare. Not only was their 
kingdom conquered by the Foulahs, but their tribes were being 
continually decimated by slave hunters. The remnants of the 
country, the discouraged and intimidated inhabitants of many 
towns, finally abandoned their territory and took refuge in an immense 
cavern near the banks of the Niger, about seventy-five miles from the 
coast. At first they did not venture far beyond their hiding place, but 
collected berries and roots and dwelt in their cavernous home. As they 
increased in numbers, however, they built houses, engaged in agriculture 
and other industries, formed a government, and named their town or 
colony Abeokuta, or " Under-Stone," in remembrance of the great stone 
roof which had sheltered them in the time of their misery and weakness. 
The founding of Abeokuta was as much a protest against the enormities 
of the slave trade as Sierra Leone or Liberia; and it was a more remark- 
able protest, as coming from "home talent," unprotected and unpatron- 
ized by any Western Power. The city received accessions from Sierra 
Leone, even. Slaves who had been recaptured and placed under the 
protection of the British flag preferred to sojourn in the rich and power- 
ful city of Abeokuta. At one time its population is said to have num- 
bered nearly one hundred thousand souls, and its people were spread- 
ing over to the coast and to the west. Such prosperity was so distasteful 
to the slave-power, Dahomey, that its brutal king determined to destroy 
the city and reduce its inhabitants to bondage. But the Abeokutans 
became aware of his designs and before he had set his large army in 
motion, they had been so trained under the leadership of an American 
missionary, that when it appeared it was driven from the walls, despite 
the frantic assault of the king and his Amazonian soldiers. The king 



THE STATES OF SOUDAN. 1 77 

himself was nearly captured, and his defeat seriously imperiled the exist- 
ence of his kingdom. Thus Abeokuta became the capital of the native 
kingdom of Yoruba. It is still so considered, although the kingdom 
itself is little more than a collection of independent communities, which 
form a close union only in times of war. 

" Benin " was the name formerly applied to the whole coast of 
Guinea, and the kingdom ruled over many tribes. It is now chiefly 
noted for what " it has been," the kingdom being an unimportant factor 
even in native commerce, notwithstanding its population is dense. Its 
king is worshiped as a fetich. 

THE STATES OF SOUDAN. 

This vast country has for many centuries been the battle-ground of 
the Arabs, the Moors, the Foulahs, the Mandingoes and the Berbers. 
It is rich in cotton, tobacco, indigo, wheat, rice, maize, gold-dust and 
iron. Ivory and ostrich feathers are also largely exported. The com- 
mercial races of Africa have therefore concentrated much of their energy 
upon this valuable expanse of land, and where they have found it possible 
to absorb a native tribe or wrest a tract of country from one another, they 
have not hesitated to do so. Remnants of the great Fellatah Empire are 
scattered over the country in the shape of independent states governed 
by native chiefs, but each is so powerless that he is unable to maintain 
himself against any combination of his rivals. The result is that, especi- 
ally in Western and Central Soudan, the Foulahs and Mandingoes are 
called upon to settle all disputes, and besides being numerically in the 
majority are so superior, intellectually, that these portions of Soudan 
may be said to belong to them. They are both the commercial and 
political powers, and with the Moors, have founded many towns which 
do not even make a pretense of being subject to any native jurisdiction. 
Bambara and Borgu, west of the Niger river, have nominal monarchs, 
but are thus under the dominion of these energetic races. They carry 
on an active trade, the Mandingoes principally exporting ivory by way 
of the coast, and the Moors dealing in gold and slaves through the great 
Sahara Desert. The Touaricks, or Berbers of the desert, obtain their 
share of the riches of Soudan by constantly swooping clown upon the 
border states, and exacting tribute from them, or by attacking the 
richly laden caravans which wend their way across the Sahara sands 
toward the Barbary states. The pivotal point of their plundering opera- 
tions has always been Timbuctoo, which is situated on the great north- 
western bend of the Niger, and the center of this immense trade. To 

12 



178 PANORAMA OF NATIONS 

protect the caravans, which make Timbuctoo the commercial mart of 
Western Africa, the city pays an immense annual tribute to these robbers 
who were driven by the Arabs from their Mediterranean homes, and 
continually seek to avenge themselves upon the race which expelled but 
never conquered them. 

In Eastern Soudan the Arabs seem to be the dominant race. Three 
or four centuries ago, when Timbuctoo was the center of a vast empire, 
with seven kingdoms dependent upon it, this fiery people ruled the 
whole country. Since the rise of the Foulahs and Mandingoes as a 
political power, they have been confined to Eastern Soudan. Here, in 
the vicinity of Lake Tchad, is to be seen a wreck of their former might 
in the "Empire of Bornoo." This name has a very large "sound," and 
in the days of its glory meant Eastern, Southern and Central Soudan ; 
to-day it signifies a small state, somewhat stronger than the weak ones 
which surround it. Most of the inhabitants are called Bornoose or 
Kanowry. They are genuine negroes, peaceable and lazy as when the 
Arabs conquered their kingdom. The government is nominally vested 
in a native sultan, but really is in the hands of the Arab sheik. The 
sultan is surrounded by a bodyguard of nobles and chiefs, clad in the 
most grotesque garb ; the military of the empire to the strength of 30,- 
000, and consisting mostly of cavalry, is at the beck and call of the sheik. 
The troops are armed with huge spears, and both men and horses are 
clad in armor. 

The Begharmis are a powerful negro tribe to the east of Bornoo, 
who engage the cavalry of their neighbors in thicker iron armor than 
their enemies are able to don. They have a sultan who has several petty 
states tributary to him. At last accounts Begharmi acknowledged the 
supremacy of Bornoo, although the following correspondence lately 
passed between the Mohammedan sheik and the pagan sultan, upon 
the occasion of a rebellion from his authority by the Begharmis. Halt- 
ing his army about half a mile from the capital of his enemy, the ruler 
of Bornoo sent the following : " Ruler of Begharmi, deliver up your 
country, your richss, your people and your slaves to the beloved of God, 
without reluctance on your part ; for if you do not suffer him quietly 
and peaceably to take possession of your kingdom, he will shed your 
blood and the blood of your household ; no one shall be left alive ; while 
your people he will bind with fetters of iron to be his slaves and bonds- 
men, forever : God having so spoken by the mouth of Mohammed." 
The reply : " The sultan of Begharmi does not know you or your 
prophet ; he laughs your boastings to scorn and despises your impotent 
threats. Go back to )'our country and live in peace with your people ; 



THE STATES OF SOUDAN. 



1/9 



for If you persist in the foolish attempt to invade his dominions, you 
will surely fall by his hands; your slaves shall be his slaves, and your 
people his people. Your chiefs and warriors and mighty men will be 
slaughtered without mercy, and their blood shall be sprinkled on the 
walls of his town ; even your priests and princes shall be thrust through 
with spears and their bodies cast into the woods to be devoured by 
lions and birds of prey." Mohammedanism has been introduced among 
the Begharmi, but they are still pagans as a people. Physically they 
are a fine race ; their women being especially handsome. The men, 
however, are subject to a peculiar disease in the little toe, which eats it 
away. The disease is supposed to be caused by a worm, and it is said 
that one in every ten of the male population has lost his little toe. 




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THE BERBERS. 




THE TOUARICKS. 

RIVEN from " pillar to post;" scourged by the Phoenicians, 
Romans, Vandals and Arabs ; crowded from their fertile ter- 
ritories alonor the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlas Mountains 
and the s^reat Sahara desert — is it to be much wondered at 
that the Berbers of Northern Africa are suspicious, cruel and 
treacherous, and that many of them, as the Touaricks, are 
robbers by trade, whose hands are against every man ? Is it 
to be wondered at that they, especially the settled Berbers 
near the mountains, are a proud people ? They have seen the 
ships of Phoenicia rotting for centuries, and the great Roman 
fortresses which were thrown alono- the Atlas ranores have crumbled into 
ruins, while they are still a distinct people with a government of their 
own. They call themselves "Amazirghs" (noble or freemen), and 
although they are but a shred of their former selves, they have still as 
distinct an existence as when the Vandals had swarmed over into 
Europe and were hovering over the decaying carcass of Rome. The 
Arabs have spread themselves over Northern and Eastern Africa, mix- 
ing with negroes, Egyptians, Abyssinians, Gallas, Caffres and Mada- 
gascans ; but the Berbers have kept their blood pure and are proud of 
it, though they have nothing to show but a few villages, sundry herds 
of sheep and cattle, some fertile land and fine fruit trees, water mills 
and oil presses, imperfectly developed mines of iron and lead, rude 
agricultural implements, swords, guns and powder (their own make), 
some horses and a motley collection of plunder, comprising all the prod- 
ucts of Africa. Why they are called Berbers is a somewhat mooted 
question; some say from their word "berberat," which expresses the 
murmuring sound which runs as a common harmony through all their 

dialects ; others from " Ber," one of the shepherd kings of Egypt, from 

i8i * 



l82 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

whom some of the tribes trace their origin. That branch of the Berber 
family which has firmly planted itself near the Atlas Mountains, south 
of Morocco, is believed to be identical with the ancient Numidians, who 
were mature in their strength when the Carthaginians were in their 
infancy, and whose empire included a part of Tunis, Algiers and Beled 
El-Jerid. The latter country, or the "land of dates," is a narrow strip 
of sterile land, sprinkled with oases, and stretching along the borders of 
the desert from Morocco to Tripoli. The Lybians have been identified 
in distinct tribes of Berbers, who have settled in a chain of oases near 
the Touarick's country ; while the Touaricks themselves, in the moun- 
tains and desert south of Algiers, are believed to be the Northern Gae- 
tuli of Pliny and Ptolemy. Though this vast stretch of ccmntry may 
be called their rendezvous, their home is the Great Desert. They 
claim that no one is so well acquainted with its natural features as 
they; that it is not so destitute of water as the ignorant generally 
suppose ; that they can detect water in the most sandy districts 
by boring into the soil with their long lances. By slightly lifting 
the points and allowing them to remain in the holes, a little moist- 
ure will have collected at the bottom if the survey has been success- 
ful. The Touaricks have their well districts in every portion of the 
great Sahara desert, so that they can dig for water as they require it, 
and then cover up all traces of their discovery. To reveal this secret to 
any foreigner is punishable by death — thus has their king decreed. 
Many of these robber nomads camp in small leathern tents which are 
peculiar to them. They seem to be made of the untanned hides of 
goats or antelopes. 

The Touarick's bulwark of strength as a successful robber is in his 
great white dromedary, which is as peculiar to him as his tent. Its 
head is small, its hair fine, its limbs as long as a greyhound's, and its 
chest as deep as that of a thoroughbred race horse. In fact it is the 
swiftest of its kind, and the Touarick is as proud of his " mahari " as the 
Arabian or Galla is of his steed. The mode of training- this noble 
war-horse of the desert is kept as close a mystery as the existence of the 
well districts ; but it is as docile as a dog, obeying the voice but being 
guided by a bridle. The saddle is placed on the neck and shoulders, 
and is shaped like a chair with a high back, with a peak in front around 
which the rider crosses his legs. Then over the desert he rushes, the 
mahari going at a swinging trot from sunrise to sunset, covering with 
ease eighty miles a day. The Touarick's long tuft of hair streams out 
from under his high red fez cap, and his blue sleeveless cloak, with the 
rapid motion, puffs out behind him. He has on cotton trousers coming 



REPUBLIC OF THE SEVEN CITIES. 1 83 

down to the ankles and, if he is well off in the world, wears no shoes ; 
for he maintains that it is only those who are too poor to ride who need 
to protect their feet. Over his trousers he wears a loose robe of black 
cotton, which, with his nether garments, are confined by a broad leather 
girdle. The blue cloak goes over this. There is a black turban around 
his red fez cap, and one end of the folds is brought over the face and 
fastened with an ivory pin, so as to expose only the eyes. Even in 
eating, this black veil is never removed, but held from the mouth by the 
left hand. To expose the face is considered a degradation. The women 
are never veiled. Although the Touarick evidently thinks she is not 
thus degraded, he seems, on the whole, to treat his wife with considera- 
tion, and his life is remarkably free from vice. The common weapons 
are a lance seven feet in length, and a large, straight, double-edged 
sword slung over the left shoulder. A short dagger is sometimes worn 
in the girdle. To bear fire-arms is the privilege of only the wealthiest 
chiefs. Besides the weapons aforementioned, the rank and file carry on 
the left arm a round shield made of elephant hide, stretched on a wooden 
hoop and studded with large-headed nails. Thus towering above the 
horseman on the highest of steeds, the Touarick robbers, as they swoop 
down upon the caravan, are dreaded foes. They seldom kill, however, 
except in self-defense. In appearance the Touarick is of a dark-brown 
complexion, tall and slender-limbed, with thin lips, aquiline nose and 
remarkably small hands and feet. The language of the Touarick is 
stated, on good authority, to be the purest existing dialect of the Ber- 
ber family, it being quite unintelligible co the Kabyles, the Berbers of 
the Atlas Mountains, or to the inhabitants of the oases who have set- 
tled between the Touaricks and the mountains. They are not pagans ; 
neither are they strict Mohammedans. They are lax in the observance 
of forms, but seem, all in all, despite their loose ideas of property, to be 
moral, straightforward and fearless. 

REPUBLIC OF THE SEVEN CITIES. 

North of the Touaricks, in Beled El-Jerid, is the Republic of the 
Seven Cities of the Mozabites. Their own tradition is that their founder 
was named Messab, the fourteenth in succession from Noah, They were 
driven from the northeastern shores of the Red Sea, remained for sev- 
eral generations in Upper Egypt, when they emigrated to the shores of 
the Mediterranean, the main body settling on the frontier of Morocco 
and Algiers. A portion of the race settled on a small island between 
Tunis and Tripoli, where they still remain. They remained for several 



184 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

generations on the Morocco frontier under the rule of the king being, 
at that time, Christians. About ^^'] a.d., having by this time also inter- 
mingled considerably with the aboriginal Berbers, they adopted a form 
of Mohammedanism from a Persian priest who settled in their metropolis, 
which was located in the modern province of Ovan, Northwestern 
Algeria. Their Berber neighbors who belonged to another and a 
stricter sect, drove them from the country in which they had resided for 
two centuries; but establishing several artificial oases further to the 
south, they founded a new state in company with the aboriginal inhab- 
itants who were settled at WareMa. The relio-ion of the Mozabites was 
also a cause of offense to the Wareglas, and the immigrants were so 
harassed that they sent out scouts to spy out another land in which they 
could dwell in peace. This they found still far to the south, and in a 
rugged, mountainous region surrounded by the Algerian desert of the 
Great Sahara, secure from the attacks of the Arab and Touarick cav- 
alry, they have dwelt for nearly 900 years, irrigating their land and draw- 
ing from it the necessities of life, building houses and cities and found- 
ing their snug little republic. They afterwards extended their republic 
both to the north and the southwest. 

The Mozabites hold the Jews in as great contempt as they are held 
by the Arabs, and where the Hebrews have settled in the cities of their 
republic they are strictly confined to their own quarters. The great 
cause of this animosity is found in the assertion which the Jews have 
made for ages, that the Mozabites are the Moabites who conquered 
Israel and w^ere conquered, in turn, by the Babylonians whom they 
assisted to subdue Palestine, who were worshipers of Baal — both the 
religious and national enemies of the Hebrew people — a portion of 
whom emigrated to the west, and with the other idolatrous foes of the 
Jews, the Ammonites, disappeared for a time from the light of history. 
Among the coast tribes of Zanzibar, also, there is a numerous people 
called the " Weled Hammam," whom the Jews assert to be the children 
of Ammon. It has been a custom of the Mozabites, for several ages, 
after performing the pilgrimage to Mecca, to go to this country in order 
to visit their acknowledged brethren. But although the feud between 
the Jew and the Mozabite stretches back, indefinitely, the Hebrew is a 
useful member of the industrious republic, being a skillful worker of 
metals and a merchant. 

Most of the cities of the republic have been built on bold emi- 
nences, the houses of the inhabitants being mostly of mud. The walls 
and gateways of the towns and the structure of their parliament houses 
and other public buildings are decidedly Egyptian in style. After the 



REPUBLIC OF THE SEVEN CITIES." 1 85 

fashion of the Egyptian temples the porticos of their mosques and tow- 
ers lean inward, and their marabouts, or great buildings in which are the 
tombs of their dead, instead of having their tops domed as among the 
Arabs, are brought to a point. All the graves are covered with urns, and 
many of them have a ram's horn stuck upright in the neck. This latter 
peculiarity seems certainly to point to them as worshipers of Ammon 
(who is represented as a human being with a ram's head) whose greatest 
temple was in Thebes, and from which country they claim to have emi- 
grated. Whatever may have been their former religion, they are now 
known as the fifth sect of Mohammedans and treated as schismatics. 
When they are abroad and worship in the regular mosque of Islam, they 
are separated from the true followers as though tainted with leprosy. 
Every species of luxury is forbidden among them, tobacco, snuff and 
coffee being banished. They have a distinct priesthood, but scorn a 
dervish. The priesthood elect the sheik, who is president of the repub- 
lic. Each city or republic is under the government of a popular assem- 
bly, which consists of from four to twelve members, according to the 
number of families in the district. The Mozabites have only one paid 
official in their government, he being a negro who is paid to execute 
orders and to see that strangers are properly entertained. The people 
are hospitable and generous — within bounds. They are lovers of home 
and they guard their houses with the utmost care. No man ever goes 
abroad without a ponderous polished key or brace of keys in his hand. 
In default of iron he uses a yard of wood, his wives being safely locked 
up at home. They delight in music with all their austerity, and from 
their seven cities the tones of the pipe, tom-tom and zickar are inces- 
santly arising and mingling with the echoes of the drum. They are 
peaceable, reserved to strangers, honest in their commercial dealings and 
truthful in their conversation. 

Any immorality is punished by the assembly, presided over by the 
priest. The man is first warned of his fault, and if he persists in it, 
sentence is passed upon him incapacitating him from entering the 
mosques or voting in the civil elections; otherwise any man may cast his 
vote who has a house and establishment of his own. The offender 
against virtue can be restored to his religious and political privileges 
only upon proof of his repentance and good behavior. If he repents, 
the nails of his fingers and toes are pared very close. He Is shaved, 
rubbed all over with warm grease and washed from head to feet. With 
his hands crossed over his breast, the penitent then presents himself 
before the assembly and exclaims : " I am one of the children of God, 
and of the children who repent." The priest thereupon reads a chapter 



1 86 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of the Koran and absolves him. Punishment by death is unknown to 
the laws of the Mozabites, perpetual banishment being the heaviest pen- 
alty recognized. To the average native this punishment is severe 
enough, for although most of the young men go abroad upon commer- 
cial enterprises, traveling at times for years without returning perma- 
nently to their desert homes, their aim is, when age comes upon them, 
to be able to live and die within the domain of the peaceful republic. If 
a citizen finds himself in distress, his natural heirs or his clan are bound 
to support him ; begging is a crime. If a man dies without heirs, his 
property is divided by the state. Should a citizen not be able or willing 
to respond to the demands of the government upon him for work upon 
the city walls, wells or aqueducts, he may deposit, in lieu of his labor, 
a certain sum in the money chest of the mosque. Taxation is levied 
upon houses, gardens, palm trees and camels, every man who pays a 
house tax being exempt on six palm trees and six camels. 

In every city of the Barbary States, this industrious well-governed 
people are found, usually formed into societies or guilds, in which each 
member is responsible for the debts and good behavior of all the rest. 
When at home the principal occupations of the people are the cultiva- 
tion of their gardens and weaving. Their towns are usually perched on 
the steep side of a rocky eminence, behind which, in a ravine or artificial 
oasis, are the gardens of the villages. The walls which surround them 
are of stone, plastered with mud-colored lime, and are strengthened with 
four towers on each side. On each side of a town commonly appears a 
cemetery, the graves being cut from solid rock. Near one of their most 
ancient cities is a vast cemetery in which is a tomb building containing 
the remains of 27,000 human beings, respected citizens of the kingdom 
and republic, whose lives stretch over a thousand years of time ! But 
we started to say something about their industry and modes of cultiva- 
tion ; then we shall see how they look, take a stroll over their seven 
cities, and depart for another community of peculiar people, as distinct a 
race as they. The soil is all artificial, vegetable and animal contributing 
to its slow formation. The city groves or gardens are hedged with palm 
trees. At the foot of each palm is a trench to hold water, which is con- 
veyed to the soil by neat channels formed of hard lime, the land being 
divided into squares as it is in Egypt. Each garden is daily watered,, 
and every inch of space is utilized, being sown to capsicums, pumpkins, 
carrots, turnips and barley. Vines are trellised from palm to palm, and 
fig trees, quinces and pomegranates give the stately hedge the beauty of 
their pale green. The plow by which the soil has been turned up is 
devoid of iron, being merely a long piece of wood sharpened at one end, 



REPUBLIC OF THE SEVEN CITIES. 1 8/ 

to which are fastened two beams, one for drawing and the other for guid- 
ing. The camel who furnishes the motive power is led by one boy and 
driven by another. Wheat is almost unknown in the republic, and the 
use of meat is confined to festivals. 

The Mozabites are expert dyers and tanners of morocco leather. 
They use the rind of the pomegranate for tanning purposes. After 
bleaching the wool with water mixed with the powder of a soft lime- 
stone, they use the roots of various desert plants for yellow, primrose 
and red dyes. 

The women do not appear much in public, spending most of their 
time on the tops of their houses. Four of them are allowed one husband, 
at least one man is allowed to marry four wives. Their hair is twisted 
into a huge knot on each side of the forehead, and there is another knot 
behind on the left side. The whole arrangement is fastened with large 
gold or silver skewers, and powdered with red and white beads. On the 
right knot only they wear such ornaments as gold stars and coins. 
These ladies are very dark, and yet have red or black patches of paint 
on the forehead, and a black patch on the end of the nose. Rings, 
bracelets and anklets are plentifully worn. The men, however poverty- 
stricken, always wear a signet-ring of silver. More ornaments are some- 
times tolerated by the Jews, but otherwise there is no distinction in 
dress between them and the Moslems, except in place of the red fez 
under the turban they always wear a black one. 

Each of the seven cities of the republic has a distinctive air and 
although the people are united, there is so much that is different in 
architecture, in local laws and customs as almost to leave the impression 
of a passing into another country. The military city of the confederacy 
is Beni Isguen. Surrounded by a double line of fortifications, it stands 
upon the side of a hill at the summit of which are the ruins of the first 
settlement of the Mozabites, made more than a thousand years ago. 
The space between the w^alls is covered with Arabian tents. This 
privilege is not even accorded the Jew ; for the inhabitants of Beni 
Isguen boast that they are of the purest Mozabite blood, part of them 
having come from the Arabian shores of the Gulf of Bab-el-Mandeb, and 
the others from the Berbers of the mountains. None but members of 
these two clans are allowed to hold land. Every fortnight one hundred 
of the citizens are summoned to practice ball firing against the face of a 
rock. Their military faithfulness has worn it into a cave twelve feet deep, 
so that little of their ammunition is lost. Everything is ancient and 
impressive in this city, although its population does not exceed ten 
thousand ; it has two massive mosque towers, one for the upper and old 



1 88 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

town, and the other for the lower city. After pointing these out to the 
stranger, the Kadi (civil jDresident of the corporation) will lead him 
proudly to the city's register, in which, for nine hundred years, are 
recorded its chief events and the names of its distinofuished visitors. 

The capital of the republic is Ghardaia, a city, as usual, " founded 
on a rock," its flat-roofed huts built in terraces, tier upon tier. A taller 
hill, on one side, is crowned by the oldest of the Mozabite fortified 
towns ; on the one hand loom the ruins of another ancient town. Enter- 
ing through the gateway, overshadowed by the square tower of a mosque, 
you are met by the "mayor," who is also president of the republic, and 
who carries in his hand three enormous keys with which he ushers you 
into the " guest" house. This is apt to be a small windowless hut, with 
only the door through which you enter; upon the floor you find spread for 
your reception a long carpet of some thick material, a basket of dates, a 
dish of pomegranates, and perhaps a huge water-melon. The great cem- 
etery of the republic is located at the capital, and here is the immense, 
marabout, or tomb building, to which reference has been made. This 
hallowed ground is not only the scene of mourning, but of one of the 
most joyous, simple festivals which can be imagined. It is known as 
the "death-feast" of the founder of the Ghardaia. Once every year, in 
a large open space in the cemetery, the poor of the city gather to receive 
a bounteous feast from the hands of the rich. Underneath the open 
space is the grave of the man whose name is revered in so tender- 
hearted a manner. 

Trade is comparatively so brisk at the capital that quite a commer- 
cial atmosphere surrounds it. Windowless, one-story houses front the 
streets, and some of them have holes in the wall through which cotton 
cloaks, burnooses, handkerchiefs, etc., are sold. The market is an 
irregular space, surrounded by rows of venders with their wares on their 
knees on the ground, the buyers sitting beside them. A negro acts as 
auctioneer, having an assistant who carries the article to be sold around 
the square. Among other strange valuables disposed of is a large heap 
of date stones, which are cracked between stones, and fed to camels. The 
Jews are here allowed the freedom of the city, though they are confined 
to one quarter, where they work as jewelers, silversmiths, farriers, and 
blacksmiths. 

Mellika is the sacred city of the republic, which contains more 
mosques than its sister towns, more ruined houses outside the walls, 
more tumbled-down gates, and boasts a large cemetery in which are 
buried many of the republic's revered founders. Beyond this is a city so 
small and jumbled together that it does not even have a house for the 



THE WAREGLAS. . 1 89 

entertainment of guests; it has seen better days, however, for the top of 
the hill is covered with a mass of ruins. El At'f has a double wall like 
the military city, and is the oldest city which stands upon its former site. 
You see again the same holes in the wall through which cottons and 
fruits are being vended. There is also something which looks like a 
mass of loose sand. It is really a desert lichen and not considered bad 
eating by the hungry Touarick, though to any one who has a liking for 
the dainties of this life, it might just as well be a section of the Sahara for 
all the attraction it would have to him. The entire site of the city is a 
polished rock, and its gardens are choked with sand — but the Mozabite 
is proud of it, too, with its white-washed houses, built of good stone, and 
its palm trees within instead of without the walls. 

Guerara, the seventh city of the Mozabite republic, wonderful to 
relate, occupies an almost level site, being situated in an isolated oasis, 
and havinof little intercourse with the balance of the commonwealth. 
The houses stretch from both sides of the usual tower, and are of mud- 
brick and stone. Small eminences surround the town, each crowned by 
the tomb of a holy man ; this is a complete little house with many cham- 
bers, but all closed and dark, in which prayers are offered by the family 
on stated occasions. On the anniversary of his decease, the virtues of 
the departed are extolled and a largess doled out, as in the death feast 
we have described. 

THE WAREGLAS. 

A three days' march from the Seven Cities brings one to the 
Wareglas, with whom it will be remembered the Mozabites attempted 
to form a union. As you approach their city the " Peace be with you" 
which greets you on every hand makes you imagine that you are among the 
faithful people of the Prophet. The people are of a different race from 
those among whom we have been living — very dark, often with a strong 
dash of negro features ; the women with frizzed hair curled into cork- 
screws, plaited at the back and oramented like Nubians with red beads 
and gold coins. Instead of the long cord of camel's hair worn around 
the fez by the Arabs, the Wareglas wear a simple twist of fine grass 
matting. In other ways they show the independence befitting a people 
who claim to have founded the most ancient city in the Sahara. Although 
Waregla boasts that it has never voluntarily submitted to Dey or 
Porte, it was, at one time, unable to choose a native prince and called 
upon the Emperor of Morocco for a ruler. He sent his son, who agreed 
to levy no taxes, but to be content with as many gardens as there were 
days in the year. The extravagance of the royal family induced the 



IQO 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Wareglas to stipulate that the sultan should receive a camel-load of dates 
for every one hundred trees of the 60,000 in their oasis. This generous 
provision, however, did not long keep the foreign ruler within bounds, 
and the indolent people therefore aroused themselves, and put into 
effect their prerogative of deposing the sultan at will. Their resolve was 
delicately conveyed to him, as had been previously understood, by neglect- 
ing to furnish him a band of music at the time of morning prayer. The 
band did not play before his chamber door, and he retired to private life, 
only to give place to a powerful chieftain of the Southern Sahara, who 
agreed to protect the city against the raids of the Touaricks. These 
marauders have more than once attacked the place, and laid waste the 
gardens and palm groves which extend for several miles in all direc- 
tions. The trees are irrigated by salt water, which is said to be con- 
ducive to their fruitfulness. Be3^ond the gardens is a marsh swarming 
with wild duck and abounding with rank herbage. The city has a triple 
circuit of crumbling walls, the outer enclosing a wide space where cattle 
are driven in, camels loaded and unloaded, and caravans arranged. The 
middle walls are built of sun-dried brick. A forest of palms envelops 
the whole city. The mosques with their lofty, square towers again 
appear, but instead of the clear-cut features of the Mozabites, we are 
confronted with the broad nose and coarse mouth. There is a Jewish 
quarter in Waregla, also, given up almost entirely to the workers of 
metals. The Hebrews have their own streets, a separate municipal 
organization, and if they pay their taxes, may be greeted with the " Peace 
be with you " of the lax Wareglan, who seems to have forgotten that the 
salutation should only be given to the faithful Mohammedan. 





THE MALAYANS. 




ROM the southeast of Asia, in the dim past, there came a 
fierce, active race of men, driving the aborigines into the 
islands of the sea. First they crowded them into the interior 
and sometimes off tlie islands entirely. The race of Papuans 
finallv concentrated themselves on the o-reat island of New 
Guinea, from which the v.'ar-like Malayans were unable to drive 
them. This with the Philippines and a few small groups of 
islands in direct communication with New Guinea, or Papua, 
were virtually all that remained to the overwhelmed aborigi- 
nes. From Borneo and the Celebes Islands the hardy and 
•enterprising conquerors shot out in all directions. Describing curves 
of thousands of miles, the race swung round the oceanic territory of the 
Papuans, when they could not break through it, until the}^ had in their 
embrace nearly all the islands of the ocean from South America to 
Africa and from Australia to the Sandwich Islands. At quite an early 
day in their history of savage colonization there occurred a gigantic 
split or emigration. For fifteen hundred miles east of the Celebes 
Islands the Malayan language, both in its structure and traditions, shows 
many admixtures from the Indian or old Sanskrit. With the Samoan, 
or Tonga groups of islands which are then reached, commences to be 
heard both a distinct language and a new order of traditions. Physical 
development has also been progressing. The pure Malayan t)pe shows 
a native of small stature; skin a copper brown, with a tint of yellow; 
straight, coarse and dark hair ; long and broad head ; protruding cheek 
bones ; flat nose and large nostrils ; small eyelids, but not as narrow as 
those of the Mongolian ; large mouth, but the lips not puffed up ; black, 
but not brilliant eyes. Progressing eastward the body increases both in 
height and muscularit)' ; the javr, cheek-bones, mouth and nose are 
;shaded more toward the European cast, and the hair does not tend toward 
the Papuan ^■ariety (which grows in tufts) but is inclined to be curb'. 
We are now among the Polynesians — those tall athletic cannibals, and 

igi 



192 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Christians, who are regarded as the purest remnants of the. race which 
was crowded out of Asia by the more vigorous Aryans, and which, in 
turn, pushed the Papuans out into the broad Pacific and hemmed them 
round about in their island prisons. The Polynesian languages, there- 
fore, are among the most primitive forms of speech. As those gigantic 
" South Sea Islanders," the Polynesians, come up before us all, with their 
black skins and their bluish black hair, divided from them by thou- 
sands of miles, their geographical as well as personal extremes are the 
Madagascans, who are a branch of the Malayans proper. 





THE MADAGASCAR MALAYANS. 




NLY two hundred and fifty miles from the African coast, oppo- 
site Mozambique, is a great island which it is natural to 
suppose would be peopled by the tribes of Africa; but with a 
few unimportant exceptions on their western coasts, the Afri- 
cans have never been navigators. Not even to escape the 
persecutions of war or the pressure of population, do they 
seem ever to have ventured far from the coast, but rather to 
have trusted themselves to the great unknown interior of their 
continent, when circumstances have forced them to "move 
on." So that the two hundred and fifty miles lying between 
the continent of Africa and the great island of Madagascar have barred 
out the Ethiopians, and left the way open for an influx of population 
via the Indian Ocean. In what way and when the adventurous Malay 
found his home in this far-distant island, has been one of the problems 
which has most puzzled the ethnologist ; but find him. we do, with the 
speech, eyes, hair and features of his brethren so far to the east. 

THE TWO TRIBES. 



The Madagascans are divided into two distinct races, the black 
tribes inhabiting the western or African slope, and the olive-colored 
natives the eastern. Since the country came into view as a historic 
land, the great conflict has been between representative people from 
these races. Though the texture of their lana^uao^es — ■ even the names of 
towns, mountains and rivers, east and west— makes itclearly evident that 
they were originally united, their animosity has been implacable since 
the world has known anything of them. During the last century a 
black tribe called the Sakalavas held the fairer natives in subjection. 
They now hold the western and northern portions of the island, wher&, 
with their tall and robust frames, black crisped hair and dark eyes, they 
look with disdain upon the diminutive Hovas, with their soft ' hair afttl 
their hazel eyes. They call them "vagabonds." and are perpetual^j' 

1.3 iq3 



194 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

showing their contempt by carrying off their cattle and plundering their 
homesteads. But their fair-haired enemies, "vagabonds" though they 
be, have become the dominant race of the island by trusting to their 
'intellectual force, combined with European weapons and tactics, instead 
of to personal bravery and physical strength. They respond to the 
Sakalavas by dubbing them "the tall cats," both on account of their 
fierceness and great stature. The Hovas occupy only a central prov- 
ince of Madagascar, and the Sakalavas with other tribes of less strength 
are independent of their actual dominion. Their kingdom is called 
Imerina, and is united and powerful ; all outside is confusion and disor- 
ganization. So that it has been customary to consider their government 
as that of the whole island. 

ANCIENT HISTORY. 

The Hovas are the only people of Madagascar who possess any 
traditions in regard to the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, whose 
ancestors they claim to be. It is from them that the supposition is 
drawn of a far more primitive people than they whom the ancient 
Hovas found dwelling in their present territory, about eight hundred 
years ago. This tribe they call Vazimba. The two tribes united to 
produce the Hovas of the present. Their traditions pictured the 
Vazimbas as of so heroic and godlike a cast that, when the Hovas were 
pagans, their ancestors were worshiped as gods, and even now, as Chris- 
tians, their tombs are among the most sacred objects in the country. 
After they had lived together for over a century, a quarrel arose, how- 
ever, which resulted in the Vazimbas being driven out of the country 
with the iron spears of the Hovas, which their wooden weapons were 
not able to resist. Their traditions have it that for five hundred years 
thereafter the Hovas continued to flourish. They built fortified towns. 
They had their tribal governments, their orators and their heroes, and 
neither Arab nor Portuguese knew of their continued growth into a 
united and powerful people. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century one of their great chiefs 
(" Andriamasinavalona") by the power of his name and arms, brought 
every town under his sway. He also built embankments along the 
river Ikopa, which watered his province, to prevent the annual flooding 
of the great rice plain along its borders, which was, withal, a source of 
much wealth to the kingdom. The cultivation of rice was extended, 
the smelting of iron and the manufacture of cloths were encouraged, 
and, later, the thin spear and round hide shield gave way to the musket 
and cannon. The ruder tribes became subject to the Hovas. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 1 95 

A king ascended the throne who was a Madagascan of the old 
school; who sat on the floor and ate with his hands out of a silver dish, 
who worshiped idols and who believed in divination with the help of 
beans, rice, straw and sand; but this king abolished the slave trade in 
liis dominions, in return for the privilege of being supplied with British 
.arms and British ofificers, and became master of the island. The native 
language was reduced to writing and thousands of the people learned to 
read and write. European blacksmiths instructed those of Madagascar, 
Infanticide was abolished, and other cruel customs of paganism. 

A pagan queen ruled over the Hovas, and destroyed all the good 
Avork which had been accomplished. Persecutions of the Christians and 
of civilization followed ; thousands of persons were massacred, and sub- 
jected to most horrible forms of death. Other rulers came, some good 
and some bad, but the advance was sure, until with the accession of the 
present ruler, an enlightened woman, the firm foundation of a progress- 
ve state seems to be laid. 

MADAGASCAN SLAVERY. 

Although slavery has been abolished in so far as that the natives 
are not sold and exported, it still exists in various forms under the 
generally intelligent reign of the queen. The descendants of prisoners 
of war are still slaves. There are slaves who have placed themselves in 
■servitude on account of debts ; and in Madagascar slavery is not only 
imposed upon the criminal, but extends to his wives and children. In 
the service of the queen, as of her predecessors, are also a class of 
workmen who are slaves, to all intents and purposes,, although not so in 
name. In the great forests are hundreds of woodcutters, felling timber 
■for government purposes, who receive no pay, and yet toil there all 
their lives and rear their families in darkness and privation. Their 
toys follow in their footsteps and their girls are given in marriage to 
•other woodcutters, who drag out the same monotonous existence, their 
only privilege being to cultivate enough land to keep body and soul 
together. A certain quota of artisans, such as workers in iron, gun- 
■smiths, spearmakers and carpenters are also bound in perpetual serfdom 
to the government. Such arrangements as these bring the expendi- 
tures of the government down to a very low figure. 

THE GOVERNMENT. 

The queen's advisers in the government are a prime minister, 
commander-in-chief, and a chief secretary of state. The offices of 



196 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

prime minister and commander-in-chief are sometimes held by the same 
individual. A certain noble family called Rainiharo has for several 
generations retained the confidence of both the queen and her prede- 
cessors. Its members have invariably thrown their great influence 
against heathenism, in favor of a constitutional monarchy, and have 
placed several rulers upon the throne. Measures of state are discussed 
by the queen with her immediate council, old and honored officers of 
the army, and a unique domestic cabinet called the " Twelve Wives." 
Every king is authorized to have that number of mates, because twelve 
is a cabalistic number with the Madagascan. He has his twelve sacred 
cities, and what better evidence of its power is required ? This inner 
council is not supposed to have much influence, since all these ancient 
superstitions are on the wane, but the relic may be retained as a conven- 
ient method of keeping the first ladies of the land in good humon 
There are several noteworthy instances, however, which go to show that 
the queen is a believer in the political and civil ability of her sex. 
Female chiefs have frequently been greatly honored by her, being 
entitled to the highest rank in the government, and on the east coast a 
Betsimasaraka princess was, for many years, one of her most trusted 
counsellors. 

THE TRIBES AND THEIR CHIEFS. 

Although the Hovas and their subject tribes acknowledge a central 
government in the queen and her cabinet, they are still a federation. 
At the head of each tribe are the nobility, who are descended from the 
great chiefs of former ages, and the common people are enrolled as their 
•followers rather than the subjects of the queen. Taxes are levied by 
these chiefs, but they are paid in service or in rice, sugar-cane, lambas,, 
fire-wood, beams for building, bundles of thatch, stones, pork, beef, etc. 
If the Malagassy had a currency this awkward form of payment would 
not be necessary. In their larger towns the French five-franc piece is 
used and chopped up into smaller pieces, as required, every household 
as well as shop having its weights and measures. 

Upon a message from the queen asking for some special service, 
the tribes meet and decide upon the details. When any great question 
agitates the kingdom, the tribes meet and express themselves freely^, 
before the queen renders her judgment. 

DEGRADING THE COURT. 

The judges are chosen from, the nobility, and hear complaints and 
examine criminals in open market or close to some public road. The 



THE TRIBES AND THEIR CHIEFS. IQ/ 

Strange custom of thus exposing the judicial dignity to the gaze of the 
masses is reported to have originated from the fact that once upon a 
time, not many years ago, a great king of the Hovas passed a house 
wherein the judges were assembled, and they neglected to arise and pay 
him the usual homage. It was thereupon decreed that the house should 
be razed, and the judges thereafter hold their court in the open air, 
where they could see and be seen. So now they sit upon a bank of 
earth, or a pile of stone, with principals, witnesses and spectators crowd- 
ing around. They write their depositions upon the knee ; but their 
duties are lightened in other respects, for no advocates are employed, 
the principals being their own lawyers. In difficult cases the judges 
retire to deliberate ; but the bulk of their business is transacted accord- 
ing to the royal mandate. 

Formerly the poison ordeal was employed in criminal cases to 
determine the verdict, or, in minor cases, two fowls or dogs representing 
plaintiff and defendant were pitted against each other. Trial by a jury 
of twelve is a provision of the constitution, but seems a dead letter. 

Under the judges are the revenue officials of the country, who 
collect the rice and other productions which fall to the queen in place 
of taxes and government fines, besides taking charge of all the revenues 
which are covered into the royal treasury for the running expenses of 
the state. Another class of civil officers are the royal couriers, who send 
messages from the government to the head men of the villages on public 
business, and form a sort of constabulary in the preservation of the 
peace. Below them are the centurions, who have immediate oversight 
over '' one hundred," who actually deliver the messages to the head men, 
or proclaim them to the people after the subjects have been brought to 
the great markets by the firing of a gun. The head men are appointed 
by the sovereign to preserve order in their residence villages, and to act 
as district representatives. 

The punishments inflicted for crimes seem to be the worst relic of 
barbarism allowed to exist under the Hovas' government. For political 
offenses, as for the non-payment of debts, not only is the person's 
property confiscated, but himself and family are sold into slavery. Many 
crimes are punishable by death. The criminal may be thrown upon the 
ground, and spears be driven through his back, or he may be stoned, 
flogged or burned to death, crucified or thrown over a precipice. If he 
is a noble, it is deemed unlawful to shed his blood, and he may take his 
choice of being smothered, starved or burned. 

In actual rank, the nobles or judges, come next to the royal family. 
Then come the officers of the army, who are divided into thirteen 



igS PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

grades, the field marshal being the highest. The policy pursued by- 
many of the sovereigns of obtaining the most modern of military ideas 
has borne fruit in a large and well-disciplined army, but has had the evil 
effect of inclining the ruler of the kingdom much more to autocracy. 

THE QUEEN'S CAPITAL. 

In fact, situated as her kingdom and capital are, on a high table- 
land backed by noble hills and dense forests, with a large army at her 
command, she may well feel herself secure not only from domestic dis- 
turbance, but from an invasion of foreign enemies or outside tribes. 
Antananarivo is her capital, as it was the city of the Vazimbos. It is 
built upon a high ridge of land, having three elevations. Between two 
of them is the plain where the sovereigns have been crowned. On the 
highest point stands the palace of the queen. Upon a level piece of 
ground on another hill the laws of the kingdom are promulgated. 
Lower elevations than those upon which the capital is built are utilized 
as picturesque suburbs of the great city. 

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTIONS. 

A church now and then comes into view, while near it may be steep 
and frowning cliffs, over which the martyrs were thrown when the 
heathen monarchs raged against the Christian missionaries, thinking 
that these foreigners not only came to destroy their gods, but to put in the 
places of their sacred ancestors the names of God and Jesus Christ. 
The proud memories resting upon the twelve sacred cities in which once 
resided the twelve revered king's of the ancient Vazimbos were to be 
obliterated ; and they were to no more cast their eyes from their lofty 
portals and with one sweep of their royal heads witness those ruins by 
which they swore, and which kept alive in their minds great and ambi- 
tious resolves. The rude mounds of earth and stone, in which were laid 
the bones of some Vazimba demigod, were no more to be used as altars 
by their subjects, but were to be looked upon as so many common heaps- 
of refuse. Those sacred obelisks of stone, set up as memorials of the. 
great chiefs of ancient times, were to be unhallowed. The three hills 
upon which dwelt three of their most famous idols, through whose 
agencies they were to reach the Prince of Heaven, were to be leveled,, 
figuratively speaking, and the kingdom torn from their embraces. 

A dozen miles to the north upon a bold ridge of rock, which rose 
from a great plain, their ancient capital, with the ancestral tombs and 
royal houses, appealed to these heathen monarchs to stamp out this new 




AUSTRALIA 



MM LAV/, 11 



CHRISTIAN PERSECUTIONS. 



199 



force which threatened to tear up their hoary superstitions by the roots; 
and with the uprooting- of the old would be destroyed much of the sanc- 
tity which hedged their own persons about. And horribly did they 
acquit themselves. Those of the nobility who had joined the new order 
of things were burned to death at the summit of the northern ridofe of 
the capital hill, as it begins to slope toward the plain. 

A precipice frowns from the western side of the city. Toward this 
awful descent fifteen persons were carried, bound and gagged ; a rope 
was firmly tied around the body of each, Avhich was lowered a short 
distance down the cliff. Within a stone's throw was the royal palace. 
A great multitude gathered on the adjacent elevations, with various 
emotions, awaiting to see the officer give the executioner the word of 
command to cut the rope with the knife which he held raised over it, 
and to witness the awful plunge and the sickening wreckage of 
humanity. 

But though the Christians were killed by hundreds, and banished by 
thousands, and driven to worship in rice pits or in those very tombs which 
they had been taught to believe were deified, the spark was kept alive 
which kindled into a flame under more auspicious reigns ; and from the 
tolerance of one pagan queen sprang the fostering care of a Christian 
sovereign. So that to-day the spectacle is presented of a ruler who has 
cut away from the ancient superstitions of her people, has herself done 
most to eradicate the religion of her forefathers, and yet who seems 
firmly planted in the public confidence. 

BURNING OF THE IDOLS. . 

The Sakalavas, and other tribes which have not embraced Chris- 
tianity, have as many strange superstitions and customs as the negroes 
of Africa. They have a supreme god, whom they call the Prince of 
Heaven, and various tutelary gods. Their two great idols were lodged 
in common huts, there being no temples, and there were no priests 
except the men who had charge of them. The queen ordered these 
hideous monsters to be destroyed, when the pagans of the kingdom 
demanded that she return to her native faith. 

The long cane which preceded the chief idol, Rakelimalaza, in the 
heathen processions was first cast into the fire ; then the twelve bullocks' 
horns which were used as sprinkling vessels ; the three scarlet umbrellas, 
the lamba which concealed the idol when its keeper was travelling with 
it, and the idol's case made of the trunk of a hollow tree — all these 
follovv^ed, the people standing around, awe-struck but quite silent until 



200 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the idol itself was revealed ! Upon which they exclaimed to the officer 
and his soldiers : " You cannot burn him; he is a god ! " Astounding it 
is that the idol-worshipers did not all abandon their faith when their eyes 
beheld what they had been revering as the Great Unknown ; for it con- 
sisted merely of a piece of wood, about four inches long, wrapped in two 
thicknesses of scarlet silk some three feet long and three inches wide. 
The other great idol which was made of three round pieces of wood, of 
about the same length, and bound together with a silver chain, suc- 
ceeded Rakelimalaza. He was called Ratsimahalahy — the names were 
enough to frighten any one. 

It is well that the idols were kept under cover ; for the Madagascans 
have no talent as sculptors, their very idols prove their deficiency. With 
the Africans and races of the East, the reverse is the case, their hideous 
representations of powers which are only known to be quite awful and 
mysterious, serving to keep alive the most degarded of superstitions. 
Sometimes the pagan of Madagascar wears the rude figure of a bullock 
as a charm against evil, but that is the extent to which native art goes. 
This fortunate deficiency in the artistic nature of the Madagascan may 
account, in part, for his lack of cruelty in the manner of making his 
offerings. He comes as near being the worshiper of ideas, hideous and 
ridiculous though they may be, as an idolator possibly can. 

So far as the habits of the people are known, the natives of Mada- 
gascar, with one minor exception, have never practiced human sacrifice. 
The " sampy " or household god has greater influence over the average 
Madagascan than his larger or national god. Even this is usually 
a mere piece of wood, stone or glass, kept in a straw basket, and 
hung from the north wall of the house, near the bedstead. When the 
people wish to make an offering to the village god, it is brought from its 
house in the middle of the town, snugly laid away in its box, and the 
ceremonies are gone through with upon sacred stones, or the grave of a 
Vazimba, under the direction of the priest. Sometimes the keeper calls 
the people together and they wait around the idol-house until he has 
offered prayers and anointed the god with the oil of the castor-oil plant ; 
after which the audience is considered to be blessed. 

Fortunes are told and fortunate days are foretold by observing the 
phases of the moon. If a child should be born on an unlucky day, it is 
at once killed. Trial by ordeal, by taking a nauseating drink, is also 
practiced, as we have seen it among the negro tribes of Western Africa. 
Among the Hovas, however, the savage custom has disappeared. The 
step may be considered in the light of a measure taken to preserve the 
kingdom itself ; for it was computed that by the ravages of the so-called 



BURNING OF THE IDOLS. . 20I 

"'tangena" a fiftieth part of its population had been killed ; that three 
thousand people were annually sacrified upon the altar of this all-pervad- 
ing superstition. 

THE BENEFIT OF "NO ROADS." 

There probably never was a state whose natural defenses were so 
impregnable as this one of the Hovas. From the sea coast to their 
very capital, whether you advance from the north, south, east or west, 
the country consists of lofty terraces or natural fortifications. Dense 
forests also cover the land, and as if to make their position more secure, 
with all their advance in modern civilization, the}' have persistently refused 
to build passable roads from the coast to the interior. Mere paths run 
around noble hills, through valleys and woods, and skirt great rice 
swamps to the queen's province ; yet they are wide enough to accomo- 
date the Tankays, who inhabit a plain which occupies the second ridge 
of terraces (when they are at home) ; but they have been conquered by 
the Hovas and brought into the service of transporting government 
goods to all points of the kingdom. 

The universal mode of personal conveyance is by the palanquin, 
which is a frame work borne on the shoulders of men, fixed up with 
various conveniences proportionate to the length of journey to be under- 
taken. The traveller is carried over the country at a brisk dog-trot, the 
tearers shifting their burden from one shoulder to the other without 
stopping, or taking an extra breath. As for horses in such a country, 
they would be useless, and with the exception of a few employed by the 
military at the capital upon the occasion of a review of troops, they 
may be said not to exist in Madagascar. A wheeled vehicle of any de- 
scription is also unknown. 

Thus Imerina is intrenched, suffering only an occasional attack of 
the Sakalavas upon her cattle who are in charge of the domestic slaves 
of the nobility, who pasture them in the rich valleys, lower hills and open 
plains below. 

WONDERFUL EMBANKMENTS. 

But the great bulwark of the Hovas, as a people, is their rice. Its 
tall green reeds cover hundreds of square miles along the rivers and 
streams, and from the broad fields spring countless pretty hamlets 
and villages. In many of the most fertile rice districts the land is 
divided into "hetia" or holdings, and the villages are perched thickh' on 
the terraces of the hills above. 

A remarkable geological formation has been the means of retaining 



202 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the waters of the rivers which, 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, fer- 
tilize these vast tracts of country and sustain the lives of over a million 
people. If some barrier were not interposed they would rush with resist- 
less force toward the ocean, ploughing up the red clay hills into deep 
valleys and making level plains, loamy soil and vast fields of rice an 
impossibility. This natural dam is formed by a reef of hard gneiss, on 
the western side of Imerina, where the Ikopa river would otherwise leap 
unimpeded to the terraces and the ocean far below. Its waters are 
retained at a certain height, fertilizing the plains on either side, which 
were formed and held in their mountain fastnesses by the interposition 
of these adamant barriers. 

A similar reef of rocks stays the waters of two other streams which 
overlook the richest rice fields of Madagascar. This natural protection, 
in addition to the artificial embankments of the river Ikopa, constructed 
nearly 200 years ago by one of the* energetic kings of Madagascar, has 
made the plain of Imerina what it is. Each side of the stream for many 
miles is skillfully inclosed, and through innumerable sluices its waters 
are conducted by canals to thousands of rice fields. The works would 
be creditable to a civil engineer of modern times, but so rapid is the cur- 
rent of the river during the rainy season that the greatest care is taken 
to detect any weakness in the embankments. The whole population of 
the plain are sometimes summoned at a moment's notice to assist in 
stopping a gap and preserving their rice fields from inundation. 

RICE CULTURE. ^^ 

But it should not be imasrined for a moment that all the agfricultu- 
rist has to do is to flood his field from the river and then turn upon the 
rich soil his herd of cattle, driving them round and round to mash it into 
soft mud — a very lazy kind of plowing for the benefit of the prolific 
rice plant. These terraces which we have seen descending in all direc- 
tions, from the kingdom of Imerina to the sea, although not watered 
directly by the streams and rivers, are clothed by the ingenuity of an 
industrious people with the fresh green of the young rice plant and the 
golden harvest of maturity ; the streams and rivers are tapped, the 
waters are drawn from one level to another through long channels and 
spread upon hundreds of fields which would otherwise be mere pasture 
land over which herds of cattle would wander at will. The rice is usu- 
ally sown inthe valleys, which run down to the plains, a series of ter- 
races being formed and so protected that the earth and seed will not be 
washed away. 




AUbTRALlA 



RICE CULTURE. ■ 203;, 

When the plants are about six inches high, the business of trans- 
planting- begins. All are engaged in this work — the slaves, male and 
female, in preparing the ground and bringing the plants, and the owner 
and his wife and family in superintending the operations. The young" 
plants are tied in small bundles, and being brought to the rice fields in 
the plain, which have been flooded to the depth of a few inches, they are 
fixed in soft soil, one by one, but with astonishing rapidity. When har- 
vest time comes the plains are yellow with grain, which is still growing in 
water, now kept standing to the depth of a foot or more. The men wade 
into the water and cut the rice with large straight-bladed knives, after 
which they pile it into small canoes and bring it to dry land. There 
the women receive it, lay it out on the ground to dry and then thresh- 
out the grain on large pieces of stone or a surface of prepared clay. 
After being further dried the rice is stored in a round pit dug in the 
hard clay soil. This has been the custom from time immemorial, and. 
the consequence is that it is the height of folly for one not acquainted 
with the ground to commence to build upon a plain anywhere in the 
kingdom without first making a thorough search for concealed rice pits. 
Until the next planting comes round, the long-horned Madagascan cat- 
tle, with their camel-like humps, monopolize the fields. 

MADAGASCAR MARKETS. 

The manufactures, as they are exhibited at the markets, held in 
the towns of the provinces, are somewhat primitive, although in some 
districts cotton and silk are woven into handsome fabrics, and elegant 
carpets are made. As a rule they consist of lambas made of rofia fibre; 
coarse but strong iron spades, spade handles, timber rafters, clumsy- 
window shutters with the hinge pin projecting above and below, wooden 
spoons, leaf plates, grass baskets and earthen plates, hinges, cocks, pin- 
cers, hatchets, choppers, hammers and trowels, all of native work. Boots 
and shoes are neatly made, but the sole-leather is badly tanned. 

A would-be purchaser of food at one of these markets would find 
that about the following scale of prices prevailed : Beef, two cents per 
pound; pineapples, five for a cent; potatoes, twelve cents a bushel; 
eggs, a cent apiece ; a large turkey, eighteen cents ; a fat fowl, three 
cents ; a bushel of maize, five cents, and rice, nothing to speak of. Wages 
also are the same as rice ; so that the cheapness of provisions cuts little 
figure in the poor Madagascan's life. 

This market system is a prominent feature in the social life of the 
Madagascan. The markets are usually held weekly, but in the large 



204 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

towns do not frequently fall upon the same day, so that if the queen or 
governor, or any functionary or personage of lesser degree, has any mat- 
ter which he wishes to bring before the people, he makes proclamation 
in the market place. Here is the rendezvous of merchants, politicians, 
gossip-mongers, buyers and sellers, and it is a good place to see all 
grades of life. In the days of the persecutions those who were convicted 
of Christianity were exposed in chains every market day for months 
together as the surest way of heaping upon them the greatest torrent of 
abuse in the most public manner. At the capital and in the large towns 
the markets are divided into departments. From the timber or wood 
market can be selected every portion of a house from the framework or 
flooring of the more modern, to the rushes or bamboo used in the con- 
struction of huts. Then there are the provision stall and the manufac- 
turing department. 

A CONQUERED RICE PROVINCE. 

One of the rice swamps, which has become so justly celebrated, 
covers an area of over six hundred square miles. This is in the pro- 
vince of Sihanaka, which has become subject to the Hovas, though the 
resistance was brave. It is a vast basin set down in the midst of high 
hills, having a clear lake and this immense rice field in the center. The 
Sihanakas made their last stand on an island in the lake, and though the 
king of the Hovas was armed with cannon and muskets, their defense 
was so determined and the rain fell in such torrents that, for the time, 
he abandoned the assault ; or rather his soldiers fled, and the leader of 
the flight, according to military custom, was burned to death. Evi- 
dence? yet remain, in the shape of old fortresses and the "Prince's 
Town," that the people were at one time warlike and independent. 

Although they have deserted their fortresses for the fertile plains, 
and enjoy their rice and gravy in security, one of their first inquiries of 
astrano-er is in regard to the cannon which guards the stockade of the 
towns occupied by their Hova rulers. This people belong to the great 
tribe of Betsimasarakas, who inhabit the eastern portions of the island, 
and next to the Hovas are the fairest natives of Madagascar; but they 
are sadly addicted to rum, made from the sugar cane which they grow, 
and little sheds containing their stills are conspicuous deformities of the 
landscape. The larger towns of the people are laid out with great reg- 
ularity ; the houses, however, being built mostly of light wood and reeds, 
so that destructive fires are of frequent occurrence. Outside of many 
of them are larcre enclosures for the <jreat cattle herds which abound in 



A CONQUERED RICE PROVINCE. 205; 

the districts. The houses are neat within, and are usually built on the 
same plan as are those of the Hovas, The Hova house has one post 
at each end and one in the center. It has a door and a window on the 
west side, and the bedstead is fixed in the northeast corner. In the 
northwest corner is the hearth, with a two-storied frame for the cookingr 
pots. The house of the Betsimasarakas, on the other hand, has three, 
carved posts in the center and one at each end ; there are two doors on; 
the west side and a window in the northeast ; the bedstead is in the 
southeast corner and the hearth and saucepan frame are fixed, immov- 
able, in the southwest. The fioor also is nicely covered with mats. 

HOUSES AND CLOTHES. 

The majority of houses in the country are made of the bright red 
earth, which constitutes all of the rising ground, and sometimes of the 
blue and ochre-tinted soils found in the level rice plains. Large clay 
houses are often built by the wealthy classes, tinted with various colored 
earths, with verandas around them, windows and doors partly of glass, 
and the inside finished in hard wood, beautifully arranged as to color 
and pattern. The central room is lofty, and often has a light gallery- 
running around it, giving access to the chambers at each end. 

The dwelling houses of the better class of old-school Madagascans 
are built of wood and firmly joined together, although nails are not 
used. They are oblong and invariably placed north and south. They 
have verandas but no chimney places, although in the highlands fires 
are often required in the evening. The owner's rank is indicated by 
ornamented poles at the gables, the roof being covered with rushes and 
rising to a ridiculous height. Little difference is made between the 
size of the window and the door; in fact, in the Malagasy language, the 
word is the same for both door and window. Among the Betsileos, who 
are a tribe to the south of the Hovas, but subject to them, the door 
sill is so high above the ground that a post is erected before it upon 
which the visitor must carefully mount and twist himself over. 

Once inside, he is made to feel at home ; for the Madagascan is 
hospitable if nothing else. Whenever a stranger enters a village every 
one vies in generosity. One will bring him a mess of rice and grease, 
another a boiled fowl or a piece of beef, and still another may appear 
with a dish of cooked locusts or silkworm chrysales. If he is near the 
coast oysters will not even be denied him. But if he has wandered into 
the land of the Sakalavas, the "tall cats," he will have to content him- 
self with such a simple diet as maize, arrowroot, yams, and a few 



2o6 



PAXORAMA OF NATIONS. 



European vegetables. Should he be addicted to tobacco, he will dis- 
cover to his disgust that he will not be offered "a smoke," except he fill 
his reed pipe with hemp ; but he will be invited to take into his mouth 
a disagreeable mixture of tobacco and herbs, which is used as snuff. 

Whether in the street or in the house, he will observe men, women 
and children all wearing the lamba, or mantle. From the queen to the 
herdsman, it is a garment universally worn. It is thrown over the 

shoulders ; with the men 
depending more to the left, 
and with the women to the 
riorht. 

The queen's exclusive 
lamba is of scarlet broad- 
cloth. She alone, also, is 
allowed to sit under a scarlet 
umbrella. This latter seems 
to be a relic of the old days 
of superstition, when the 
Hovas believed that when 
their god, the king, was un- 
der his red umbrella, he was 
feeding upon air, which, in- 
deed, was the chief of his diet. 
The lamba characterizes 
the Madagascan, and its 
quality and dimensions vary 
with his circumstances. It 
may be of cotton, silk or 
broadcloth ; or, if he is a 
slave, it is made from the 
A MADAGASCAN LADY. bark of the banana tree. A 

large straw hat, with a black velvet band, is commonly worn by the 
men. The general style of the lady's head-dress is to divide the hair 
into twenty or twenty-four sections, each of which, m turn, is divided 
into a number of tails which are plaited together and tied with a bow. 
The "court" costume, however, of both sexes has been English for some 
fifteen years, this being a regulation which the queen strongly urged. 

THE QUEEN APPEARS. 
The life of the Madagascan is shown at its best in his intercourse 
with her majesty, of whom he is proud, notwithstanding her large stand- 




THE QUEEN APPEARS. 20/ 

ing army and her handsome palace and residence, for which he is 
obhged to pay. Her city guard are dressed in white and in native cos- 
tume. When she goes forth to visit one of her provinces — Betsileo, to 
the south, for instance — the regular troops are dressed in the red coats 
of the English infantry, with trousers having pink and white stripes, and 
"with " Brown Bess" as their weapon ; the young men are attired in rifle 
green and carry the Snider rifle. Upon her return she is saluted with 
the Armstrong gun. 

Taking her way to the south the queen passes through a region of 
Tillages and pine-apple fields, and in sight of the Ankarat mountains, 
the loftiest in Madagascar. One of its highest peaks, despite the civil- 
izing influence of her reign, is thought by the villagers of the plains to 
be the home of some ruling power, and in times of pestilence and 
peril, they ascend the modest elevations near by and offer up fowls in 
.sacrifice. 

Over hills of granite and gneiss, past the tombs of ancient kings and 
rocky fortresses, now deserted ; along fertile valleys and fields of rice on 
plains and mountain terraces, the queen journeys towards her principal 
province of Betsileo, which is also the home of a distinct people. 

The Betsileos are darker in complexion than the Hovas. They are 
modest and unassuming but hardy in war, as the predecessors of the 
queen found to their cost, and there is yet a little kingdom of a few 
thousand people right in the center of her dominion which still boasts 
Its independence. The stronghold of its chief is a lofty rock upon which 
is a strong fortress, which is accessible only by ropes from above, while 
a short distance away is a massive mountain, which is surrounded with 
such gloom and mystery that it is claimed by some of the natives to be 
the entrance to the Madagascan Hades. Upon its summit is said to be 
a large village of ghostly houses occupied by spirits who celebrate any 
noteworthy event, such as the arrival of the queen at a provincial town, 
by a salvo of ghostly artillery. The matter has been looked into by 
those who are skeptical of the ghost theory ; they report that in the 
mountain is a great cave, and that when the wind is high and blowing 
from certain directions, a booming noise is produced in its vast depths, 
not unlike the report of mufiled, heavy ordnance. 

As the queen, with her body guard, at length approaches the capi- 
tal of the province, the residence of her governor, she is obliged to pass 
over a long wooden bridge, resting on twenty-six stone piers, which spans 
the shallow bed of a wide river. She is in the midst of lofty hills, and 
two broad valleys stretch away on either hand, on whose floor-like bot- 
tom she can count no less than eighty hamlets. Slowly winding over a 



2o8 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Steep ascent she and her retinue look across a deep valley and see her 
provincial capital crowning a solitary hill. The houses are arranged in 
groups, and below them, as walls of fortification, are planted thick 
hedges of the prickly pear. At the very summit of the hill is the gov- 
ernment stockade, while at its very base is the town market. 

When the scarlet tent of the queen is pitched on a picturesque 
knoll near the capital and the scarlet umbrella is elevated over her head, 
denoting that she has appeared in public, the capital is in an uproar. 
She with the officers of government are seated on a platform, while 
clustered around are the tents of her officers and troops and those of 
the Betsileo tribes who have marched from a distance. Those who have 
gathered to welcome her are packed in front of the platform, her guards 
immediately surrounding it. The lambas are of all shades and sizes, 
and the head-dresses of the women range from the huge piles of the 
Hova and Betsileo belles to the plain style of the American or English 
matron. 

When the queen arises to speak, the vast assembly salutes her with 
one accord. And what is the occasion of all this excitement ? The day 
before there has been an examination of the Betsileo schools and the 
queen is about to address the people on the subject of education. When 
this is a topic which is kept before our eyes and dinned into our ears 
from infancy to old age, it is scarcely possible to realize the eagerness 
with which every idea relating to it is seized upon" and digested by this 
intelligent people of Madagascar. 

The introduction is long and circuitous, but the style of her address, 
delivered in a clear and distinct voice, and the earnestness of her plea, 
may be inferred from this short extract : 

" You are a father and mother to me ; having you I have all. And 
if you confide in me, you have a father and a mother in me. Is it not so, 
O ye under heaven ?" To which with a deep voice the people, reply : 
" It is so." The queen continues : " My days in the south are now few, 
for I am about to go up to Imerina; therefore, I will say a word about 
the schools, and I say to you all here in Betsileo, cause your children to 
attend the schools. My desire is that whether high or low, whether 
sons of the nobles, or sons of the judges, or sons of the officers, or sons 
of the centurions, let all your sons and let all your daughters attend the 
schools and become lovers of wisdom." The prime minister then, in the 
queen's name, addresses the assembly on the subject of usury and says : 
" Thus saith the queen; all the usury exacted by the Hovas from the 
Betsileo is remitted, and only the original debt shall remain." Such sen- 
timents as these are promulgated in far-away Madagascar ! For this is 
no fancy sketch. 



THE QUEEN APPEARS. . 209 

The reception of the queen upon her return to the capital is 
attended with much ceremony The roadway approaching it is Hned for 
nearly a mile with double rows of soldiers, and when her majesty enters 
her capital, surrounded by her " red-coats " and officers in gorgeous uni- 
forms, she finds nearly the whole tribe of Hovas there to receive her. As 
the retinue draws near the groups of women and children who are closest 
to her majesty commence a low chant. They are recounting her titles 
and glorious' descent and murmuring in an undertone : " May you live 
long, sovereign lady, not suffering affliction. May you equal in length of 
days the entire people." 

Finally, reaching an open plot of ground, she descends from her 
palanquin and is conducted by her prime minister to a seat placed in the 
center of her "assembly ground." Near the seat is a bare, blue rock — 
the sacred stone upon which she is careful to step and give thanks for 
being allowed to re-enter her city in peace and safety. Within this open 
space are gathered an immense assembly — officers on foot and horse- 
back, ladies of the court in English dress, singing women, servants and 
slaves with loaded palanquins or guarding the baggage of masters and 
mistresses, a band of native musicians, etc., etc., all garlanded and deco- 
rated with brilliant flowers. 

After receiving the congratulations of her people the queen is car- 
ried in another palanquin to the royal palace. This is one of a dozen 
palaces, situated in a great court-yard, in which also are the tombs of all 
the reigning members of her family. The queen's own palace is not as 
large as many, being about the size of a comfortable dwelling house, and 
its body is composed of thick, upright pieces of dark-red tvood. It is in 
the shape of a Greek cross, the north and south sides being filled out 
with a highly-ornamented veranda. 

Like all works done for the sovereign, the building of her palace is 
a species of tax imposed upon her subjects. Material and labor are 
furnished without pay, the only return made in former days being the 
royal grant that for three days previous to the opening of the palace, 
any crime could be committed without meeting with punishment. This 
reward for the people's sacrifice has now been withdrawn, so that they 
not only have to donate the palace, but to behave themselves when it is 
completed, as well as to present their sovereign with substantial tokens 
of their allegiance when their work has been pronounced good. This 
presentation takes place in the palace and is conducted through the 
queen's relatives, the prime minister and the head men of the tribes. So 
we leave the queen of Madagascar safe in her palace, and cross the 

14 



2IO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Indian Ocean to the Eastern islands, which are being possessed by 
Europeans and Asiatics. What native kingdoms remain lack coales- 
cence, being similar to those of Eastern and Western Africa. Although 
the Malayans of the Eastern seas retreat to the interior of their islands, 
they organize no such governments as that over which the Queen of 
Madagascar presides. They invite no European artisans and officers to 
instruct them in the industries and in war. No such Christian revival 
sweeps through their ranks as stormed the Hovas of Madagascar. No 
picturesque towns and fertile rice swamps, supporting tens of thousands 
of people, and imposing works of engineering skill, representing past 
and present ability, present themselves nearly two hundred miles from 
the coast, as they do in Madagascar. 

Instead, the Eastern Malayans are either cannibals who hunt for 
heads as boys do for marbles — simply wild-cats and tigers, who make 
their own weapons — or they are farmers, fishermen and traders, under 
control of stronger people. There are wrecks of powerful native king- 
doms scattered from ocean to ocean and there are many evidences of 
great natural and acquired ability in commerce and government, but the 
kingdom of Madagascar is the most striking living example of high 
development among the Malayans — and the wonderful consideration is 
that it seems the result of self-development. 




BORNEO MALAYANS. 




ORNEO and Celebes form the natural center of the East 
Indian Archipelago and it is easily conceived, as ethnologists 
have been led to believe, that from this locality occurred the 
great emigration of the Polynesians eastward. It may be, as 
has been pointed out by various eastern travelers, that Java, 
Sumatra and Borneo were formerly connected ; that they 
formed, at the time of the emigration, with the Philippines the 
Formosa and Japanese Islands, part of one great continent. 
Their fauna is similar, and ocean soundings have proven that 
the three islands, at least, all stand on a plateau covered by a 
shallow sea, and have determined where the basins of the Pacific and 
the Indian oceans really begin. 

Borneo almost attains the dignity of a continent, its area being 
more than 250,000 square miles. Its surface may be described as a 
central group of mountains, surrounded by an immense forest, which, 
in turn is belted by wide alluvial plains edged with mangrove swamps 
and inundated land, the whole country being cut up by great rivers 
which creep from the moderately elevated interior to the sea. The 
plains are devoted to the cultivation of rice, and the forests and banks 
of the rivers harbor a noteworthy interior tribe known as the Dyaks. 

THE DYAKS. 

A Borneo forest is only equalled in grandeur and beauty by that 
of South America. First comes the bamboo, that o-iorantic erass, which 
the Dyak uses for his house, bridge, drinking vessels, mats, tables, bed. 
steads, mast and sail. The thickets tower above his house and stretch 
far back from the river's bank. Tropical flowers and fruit are massed 
together along its margin. Cinnamon and sugar-cane, palms and the 
great gutta-percha tree are growing in brotherly profusion. The grace- 
ful vases of the pitcher plant hang from every shrub and bush. Orchids 

and ferns, creepers and bushropes interlace affectionately. Aromatic 

211 



212 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS 



odors fill the air, wafted from exuding laurels and blooming flow- 
ers.' One is almost oppressed with this luxuriousness and sighs for 
an unobstructed ray of light and a fresh breath of air. The panther, 
the tiger, the crocodile and the orang-outang, with all the lesser tribe 
of monkeys ; also tropical birds, butterflies, insects — everything which 
can be imagined as grand, beautiful, gorgeous or hideous in animal 
or vegetable life may, generally speaking, be found in a Borneo forest. 
Into all this bewildering mass of diversified life comes the Borneart 
hurricane. Conceive the ruin as the monster strides along. 

The Dyaks seem 
to be an aboriginal peo- 
ple who are neither 
Malayans nor Papuans, 
They are known as- 
"head-hunters," from, 
the fact that the people 
are as proud of the 
number of heads whick 
they cut off as the In- 
dian is of his scalps. A 
young man cannot 
marry until he has pre- 
sented his intended with, 
conclusive proofs that 
he is the hero of at 
least one head. The 
hideous trophy, with, 
tufts of grass in the ears, 
and shells in the eyes is, 
in fact, hung upon the 
"head-house," a hall or 
council chamber (which 
is also used as a guest 
house) which is found 
in every Dyak village in. 
the interior. A sword 
or knife, a shield of hard 
wood and a spear, are the weapons of the small but wiry Dyak, who is 
generally fighting the neighboring tribe. These wars have led to the 
custom of "head-hunting," which has now become a part of the social 
fabric. Members of the same tribe are sociable and peaceable and to 




A HEAD-HUNTER. 



THE DYAKS. 213 

see them engaged in friendly feats of strength and skill, it is hard to 
realize their cruelty. 

The dress differs with the tribe, but the staple article is a wrapper 
of cotton cloth around the loins. Some Dyaks are attired in tiger skins, 
with handsome head-dresses of monkey's skins and pheasant plumes. 
Others are tattooed like a veritable New Zealander. It is customary 
for several families to live together in a large bamboo hut. It is some- 
times two hundred feet in length and proportionately wide, being raised 
on posts. Throughout, it is made of bamboo — walls, roof, floor, par- 
titions. Strips split from large bamboos form the floor, which, when 
covered with a mat makes an elastic and easy bed or seat. The bamboo 
iloor is very easy to the bare feet, also. With constant tramping to and 
fro, and the daily smoking it gets, the interior of a native hut finally 
attains a color and polish wdiich the lover of a meerschaum pipe might 
envy. 

There are mountain Dyaks and sea-coast Dyaks, the former being 
the real head-hunters. Let a birth, a death or a marriage take place in 
this great hut and immediately a man will start out for the head of an 
enemy with which to celebrate. Having slain his foe, the body is 
decapitated and the brains removed. The head is then placed over a 
fire, and in the process of smoking and drying the muscles hideously 
contract. Often the teeth are taken out of the skull and strung on a 
wire which becomes the hero's necklace. Customs similar to these 
prevail among the x'\lfoers, of the Moluccas, the interior Papuan tribes. 

The free Dyaks, or those of the interior, who have not fallen under 
the Malayan yoke, are described as "honest, kindly and reserved," and 
as living a comparatively joyous life. They raise rice, maize, tobacco 
and sago, and with the rattans and oils which they gather they are able 
to obtain brass, glass beads, salt, red cloth and other articles which they 
value more highly than gold. 

Some of the most thickly-peopled districts of Central Borneo lie 
in the upper basins of the great rivers, which are rich in gold deposits. 
When the precious dust is discovered at the bottom of the river a small 
raft supplied with a gate or railing which can be let down into the water, 
is poled to the spot. The gate is then lowered so as to form both an 
anchor and a ladder, and both men and women dive under water with 
wooden platters and proceed to sift out the gold dust. 

MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS. 

Among the Dyaks polygamy is allowed, although it is uncommon. 
They do not intermarry with other people ; or rather, those who do are 



214 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

no longer regarded as Dyaks. The natives are superstitious, and have 
their dancing priestesses, who heal the sick, exorcise evil spirits and con- 
duct the souls of the dead to their abiding place. These are profes- 
sional duties among some of the tribes ; among others they are assumed 
by the wives and daughters of well-to-do natives. Being carried into 
the outer air, the corpse is denuded of flesh, the bones burned and the 
ashes placed in urns which are deposited in " the house of the dead." 
Buffaloes, wild hogs and even human beings are sacrificed at a funeral. 
The case is mentioned of a chief who, upon the occasion of his wife's 
death, deposited in her coffin eight suits of clothing and all her orna- 
ments. Immediately after she expired, he immolated a slave; three 
other slaves when her corpse was removed from his house ; and after 
the body was burned, eight slaves, sixty hogs and two buffaloes were 
put to death. Among the wealthier Dyaks it is customary for the sur- 
vivor, whether widow or widower, to remain seated in the house for a 
certain length of time, the period varying from one or two, to half a 
dozen months. When a tribe has concluded a treaty of peace or alli- 
ance with another, the warriors assemble, human sacrifices are offered, 
and amulets and fetiches are dipped in blood, which is also sprinkled over 
all parts of their bodies. 

OTHER PEOPLE AND KINGDOMS. 

Living with the Dyaks are the Bughis, a commercial people from 
Celebes, who are both traders and pirates. They really control the 
internal trade of Borneo, as do the Malayans, the Dutch and the British 
the export. In the deepest woods and solitudes, in caves and upon 
trees, dwell the naked, savage Negritos or Papuans, who are also found 
in the Philippine Islands. The Chinese immigrants to the number of 
250,000 form an independent commonwealth on the western coast, occu- 
pying themselves with trade and working the gold mines. All around 
the island lying upon the coasts are native kingdoms governed by princes 
and sultans without number. The most important of these is the 
Malayan kingdom of Bruni, whose sultan has many rajahs under him. 
Its capital contains 20,000 people. Part of the houses are built on rafts 
and part on stakes, and canals pass through the town in all directions. 
The kingdom has quite a trade with Singapore. 

The Dutch predominate as a foreign power, except on the western 
coast, where the English are in the ascendant. For 300 miles on the 
northwestern coast stretch the dependencies of Sarawak, a state or col- 
ony which was founded by Sir James Brooke and governed by him for 
many years as chief. For quelling an insurrection of independent 



OTHER PEOPLE AND KINGDOMS, 



215 



Dyaks with his picked English soldiers and sailors he was appointed 
governor of this district by the sultan of Borneo or Bruni. Within his 
territory he found specimens of every tribe and race which inhabit the 
great island, and with that material to work with succeeded in almost 
suppressing piracy in the Indian Archipelago, besides welding the many 
fragments into a compact state. Since his retirement from the govern- 
orship, however, the English government has refused to annex it to the 
British Empire. 




SUMATRA MALAYANS. 




UMATRA is divided between the Dutch and several brisk 
native states, the most important of which are the kingdom 
of Siak, on the eastern coast, and that of Acheen, on the north- 
western. The Dutch possessions are chiefly on the western 
coast. The inhabitants are mostly Malayans of a pronounced 
type, and so wedded to their islands that they scarcely ever 
venture to the continent. To the north the inhabitants seem 
to have much of the nature of the Hindus, and are distin- 
guished for their size and warlike propensities. The Chinese 
are numerous on the eastern coast. This portion of the 
island is level and watered by several large rivers, while the western por- 
tion is mountainous and grandly beautiful. Along the southwestern 
coast the mountains rise abruptly from the shore, the ranges in all parts 
of the island being broken by both lateral and longitudinal valleys. 
The interior has been little explored, notwithstanding which a. beautiful 
valley about a hundred miles in length, stretching up to the foot of a 
mountain has been fixed upon by some as the original home of the Malay- 
an race after it had been driven from the continent by the Aryans or 
emigrated from the now submerged continent of Lemuria, south of Hin- 
dustan. 

A ONCE GREAT KINGDOM. 



The interior, including the once powerful kingdom of Menangka- 
bou is governed by the resident of Upper Pedang, a Dutch official. Two 
miles west of their fort, Van de Capellen, is Pagaruyong, now a small 
village, but in ancient times the capital of that great Malayan kingdom. 
The word Menangkabau signifies in Javanese "the victory of the buf- 
falo," and this, with traditional testimony, seems to point to the kingdom 
as a product of Javanese activity, for it is known that the national sport 
of the natives of Java is to pit a buffalo against a tiger, and it is there- 
fore supposed that they thus commemorated one of their popular insti- 
tutions. 

216 



A ONCE GREAT KINGDOM. 21/ 

A legend represents the founders of the empire to be two of Noah's 
'"forty companions" who escaped with him, the ark resting on the 
•mountain near Palembang. Remains of the ancient skill of the Men- 
anekabaus is still seen in their manufacture of gold and silver ornaments. 
Until forbidden by the Dutch government, they also made sword blades, 
cannon, powder and matchlocks, which they sold to the more Avarlike 
Acheens, at the northern end of the island. The early Portuguese nav- 
igators often mention these cannon in terms of considerable respect. 
Their matchlocks were made by winding a flat bar of iron around a cir- 
cular rod and welding it together. They used native iron which they 
mined, smelted and forged themselves. 

Another- important state of the Menangkabau kingdom was the 
country of the "Thirteen Confederate Towns," which were banded 
together for mutual protection and surrounded by stockades and bam- 
boo hedges ; notwithstanding, which the confederacy was subdued by 
the Dutch and the country parcelled up into districts, as were all other 
portions of the kingdom. 

NATURAL AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS. 

The extreme south and east coasts form the Lampong districts. 
The natives are of middle stature, pleasant and lazy, in striking contrast 
to the Acheenese. Caste prevails, and they are loose Mohammedans. 
The Lampongs are polygamists, and buy their wives from relatives. It 
is also customary for several families to live under the same roof, as with 
the Papuans of New Guinea. 

North of the Lampongs is the residency of Palembang, with the 
kingdom of Djambi, which has been ruled over by a native prince under 
Dutch control. 

Above Palembang, on the eastern coast, are Siak and several other 
minor states. Then comes the most powerful of the native states, 
Acheen, in the north. 

The kingdom of Acheen has an area of over 2,000 square miles, 
with a population variously given at from 450,000 to 2,000,000. The 
natives are not only powerful bodily but intellectually, although they are 
cunning, proud and blood-thirsty. They are simple in their habits but 
slaves to opium. 

VILLAGE AND HOME LIFE. 

The native villages are scattered throughout the island and cast 
much in the same mold. The plank or bamboo houses are raised about 



2l8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



six feet from the ground, with high roofs and overhanging eaves, posts 
quaintly carved, furnished with mats and often surrounded by a lofty 
fence. Cocoa-nut trees give their pleasant green to add variety to the 
scene. Most of the villages, also, have a market building with a cres- 
cent-shaped roof, the horns pointing upward. 

The Dutch government have, in many ways, taken the native cus- 
toms as the ground-work of their own laws ; so that within their domain, 
brides are still purchased as they have been of old. That is, supposing 
a marriage between Malayans takes place, the parents cannot legally 
recover from the groom more that twenty guilders, or eight Mexican 
dollars. The young man may pay as much more as he likes, but it is. 




A VILLAGE MARKET HOUSE. 

said that this is considered so lar^e a sum that most of the females who 
are below par in personal charms are single. Since the same sum must 
be paid for any kind of a bride, the Malayan evidently has determined 
to take his pick. It sometimes happens that the father chooses a. hus- 
band for his daughter and the happy couple are taken with him to live, 
but are considered as servants until the young Malayan can pay a 
specified sum. 

The costume of the women consists of a turban, one end hanging 
down and ornamented with imitations of leaves and fruit, wrought with 
gold thread. The upper portion of the body is clothed in a shawl-like 
garment, over which is wound a piece of calico about a yard long, the 



VILLAGE AND HOME LIFE. 219 

two ends being twisted together at the right hip. They also are in the 
habit of distending the lobe of the ear by inserting in the hole an elastic 
leaf, the tendency of which is to unroll. A saucer-shaped ornament with 
a groove in its rim is then put into the ear, and when the work of exten- 
sion is complete the opening is almost large enough for the wearer to 
pass one of her hands through. The lobe of the ear at last becomes 
nothing but a thin loop of fiesh, barely attached to the head. The men 
are not guilty of such a fashion, although it is observed in all the 
Chinese and Japanese images of Buddha that he himself was addicted 
to the foolish practice. 

When on the hunt, the natives are accustomed to dig pits of the 
exact form of the rhinoceros so that when he falls into them he is unable 
to gain a foothold on their slippery sides. Some of them are bold 
enough to hamstring an elephant by springing up behind him, as he is 
walking and partly sliding down a steep hill, and dealing him a heavy 
blow with a cleaver. 

CANNIBALS AND MECHANICS. 

Partly within and partly without the Dutch possessions are a singu- 
lar people, their tribes united into a kind of confederacy. Those of the 
interior are independent of all foreign rule. The Battas are Malayans, 
but they have invented a language and alphabet of their own. They 
write upon pieces of young bamboo, a couple of inches in diameter and 
six inches long, their pen being often a blunt needle. As spoken by the 
various branches of this tribe the language differs only to the degree of 
dialects, and it may therefore be considered a unit. 

And yet, despite this evidence of civilization, where the Dutch 
orovernment has no dominion the Battas are cannibals. The Dutch 
governor, not long ago, was assured by a native chief that he had eaten 
human flesh between thirty and forty times, and that he had never 
tasted anything that he had relished half as well. The supply of flesh 
is obtained according to law ; for the penalty of being convicted of 
adultery, midnight robbery, or a treacherous attack on any house, 
village or person, is to be cut up alive. To this list of crimes, thus 
punishable, some investigators add that of intermarrying in the same 
tribe. Prisoners of war are cut up, also. 

The chiefs of this fierce people, all of whom were once cannibals, 
present quite a royal appearance, being ornamented with various golden 
devices, which the natives make themselves. The head-dress is a short 
turban, the two ends hanging down in front ; to these are attached cir- 



220 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



cular or diamond-shaped pieces of gold. Their short jackets are trimmed 
with bands of gold or silver and their belts are adorned with flowers and 
scrolls worked with gold thread. 

The tools employed by the Malayan artists to bring out really fine 
effects are a flat stone, a hammer and two or three large blunt awls. 
Flowers, leaves, fruits and even models of houses are brouoht into relief 

by beating the gold out 
into thin sheets of the 
desired form and then mak- 
ing a corresponding groove 
on the opposite or inner 
side. 

Upon a high cliff, which 
rises perpendicularly from 
a stretch of low ground 
bordering the bay of 
Pedang, and which is on 
the ocean declivity of the 
mountains which sweep 
around parallel to the shore, 
is the "Devil's Dwelling" 
— so the natives firmly 
believe. The way to its 
summit lies through the 
territory of the Battas and 
over the rough rocks of 
mountain torrents. Few 
coast Malayans are fool- 
hardy enough to venture a 
visit to the " Devil's Dwell- 
ing;" for stories are told 
of the fiendish character of 
the mountainous tribes 
which make even their cool 
blood run cold. The tales are brought to the outside world by missionaries 
who have braved these horrors, and report that among themselves the Bat- 
tas show the same cruelty as they do toward their enemies. There was a 
Batta, it is said, who had been guilty of stealing an article of small value. 
He was seized, his extended arms fastened to a bamboo, his chin propped 
with a sharpened stick, and bound fast to a tree. The native who had 
lost the article was then ordered by the chief to advance with a knife 




A BATTA. 



CANNIBALS AND MECHANICS. . 22 E 

and cut from the helpless man whatever portion of the body he desired. 
This he did, the chief took next choice and the members of the tribe 
completed the butchery. 

Says an authority: "The parts that are esteemed the greatest 
delicacies are the palms of the hands, and, after them, the eyes. As 
soon as a piece is cut out it is dipped, still warm and steaming, in 
'sambal,'a common condiment composed of red or Chili peppers and 
a few grains of coarse salt, ground up between two flat stones." Canni- 
balism is reported to have originated among these people in this wise. 
One of their chiefs once committed a great crime, for which they agreed, 
he should suffer death, but he was so powerful that no particular person 
would be held responsible for his punishment. Finally, he was killed 
and the responsibility was divided by each one eating a piece of his 
body. Having once tasted of human flesh, like lions, they all became 
man-eaters, agreeing that the next of their number who merited capital 
punishment should go the way of their former rajah. 

The villages of the Battas usually consist of a single street. The 
women wear a garment which falls from the waist to the knee, and the 
young ones have the odd custom of wearing from fifteen to twenty iron 
rings in each ear and as many more on their arms above the wrist. 
Goitre is very common among these mountainous people,, who are 
unaccustomed to the use of salt, which is said to prevent, or at least 
stay the progress of the disease. It is said to seldom or never appear 
among those Malayans who have lived on the sea-coast for several gen- 
erations. 

A Batta grave consists of a rectangular mound with a wooden 
image of a horse's head on one end and part of a horse's tail fastened 
to the other, the mound forming his body. The image of a nude man 
or woman is placed on each of the four corners and over all is a rude 
roof supported on four posts. A fence of sticks, four feet high, from 
which fly small flags of white cloth, surrounds the whole structure. 

•AN ENGINEERING FEAT. 

The ingenuity of the Malayan is forcibly shown in the construction 
of several suspension bridges made of rattan. One of them in the Rau 
Valley, in the country of the Battas, is thrown over a mountain torrent, 
at a height of about 125 feet, having for its middle support the tops of 
some tall trees which grow from a small and rocky island Its total 
length is 375 feet. Three large rattans are first stretched across, the 
narrow strips of board which form the floor being fastened by common 
rattan. The cords of the bridge come from either bank, passing above 



222 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the branches of high camphor trees, and support the structure accora- 
ing to the principles of a suspension bridge. It is not all that it should 
be as to stability ; for the native who crosses upon it is liable to be 
pitched upon the rocks below if he should lose his balance and attempt 
to steady himself by laying his hand upon the sides. If the bridge gets 
to swinging too much, the only thing to do is to stop until the motion 
is stayed. 




<^^p^ 



THE JAVANESE. 




HE natives of Java are among the most industrious and inge- 
nious of the Malayan tribes. As their island has been called 
the Cuba of the East, so the Javanese are superior to any 
other people of Asia, except the Chinese and the Japanese, as 
skillful agriculturists. Their coffee plantations, among the 
finest in the world, are situated at an elevation of 2,000 feet 
and upward, but are conducted principally by the Dutch gov- 
ernment. The 

native modes of m^": \^ ' , - ^^'HM-'j^^ 

obtaining wealth ^p*-- * ;^ 

from the soil are crude 

enough, but the industry 

of the people, their dense 

population and manual 

dexterity, added to the 

energy of the colonial 

government, have en- 
abled them to distance 

all Malayan competitors. 

A Javanese plow is made 

with a single handle, with 

an iron share which only 

cuts into the ground a 

few inches. The buffalo 

is guided with the unoc- 
cupied hand. 

RICE AND SUGAR CANE. 

Rice and sugar cane are the principal products of the Javanese 

agriculturist. When one sees rice districts which stretch away to the 

horizon on either hand, he is filled with wonder at that human patience 

-which supports the native, w^ho according to the dictates of his religion, 

223 




A JAVANESE PLOW. 



224 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



must gather these immense harvests blade by blade. One by one the 
ripened blades are clipped off near the top, the bottom being left to> 
enrich the soil. After the harvest has been gathered the ground is-, 
broken up with a spade, hoe or plow, and harrowed with a rake, water 
being let into the field through artificial dikes. Though ingenious, as; 
we have seen, the Javanese have never invented a water-wheel, or other 
apparatus for flooding their fields. 

The Malayan's field is often assailed by huge flocks of birds. His- 
method of frightening them away is similar to that which we have 




A NATIVE "RIG." 



noticed as beine in vo^ue on the African grain coast. He erects a 
bamboo house, placed on long poles, and from this watch-tower run 
rows of stakes to all parts of the field. These are connected by strings 
in such a way that he can vibrate the sticks and frighten away the pests 
in any particular part of the field which he desires. Land that is 
planted to sugar cane is quickly exhausted, as the Malayan farmer 
never thinks of manuring his field ; consequently two-thirds of a planta- 
tion are devoted to rice, which plan supplies the laborers with food and 



RICE AND SUGAR CANE. 



225 



keeps the ground fresh. When cut the sugar cane is bound into bun- 
dles containing about twenty-five stalks each, which are then hauled to 
the long, low white factory buildings in clumsy, two-wheeled carts. 
After the sugar has been extracted from the cane, a mixture of clay 
and water is poured over it. The water thus impregnated, filters 
through the brown sugar, and washes the crystals white. This process 
is said to have been suggested by the birds, it having been noticed 
that, when they stepped upon the brown sugar with their muddy feet, 
those places which were touched became white. The inference was 
thus drawn that there was some chemical affinity between the sugar 
and the clay. After the sugar has been extracted, the molasses which 
drains off is fermented with rice, palm oil is added, and the result is an 
intoxicating drink called arrak, which is very popular with all the natives 
of the Archipelago. The liquor is even shipped to Sweden and Nor- 
way, where its effects are not so destructive^ as in warmer climates. 

BUFFALO VS. EUROPEAN. 



land, a bamboo 
hut and a buffalo 
and cart "avouM 
be the usual way 
in which a poor 
Javanese would 
list his property. 
In both their 
plows and carts 
the animals are 
led or driven 
singly. The 
reins pass thro' Ir="-J^'°' 
the buffalo's nos- 
trils, and are at- 
tached to his horns. And so the Malayans, with their house-like carts, 
go plodding along, stopping now and then, if it is warm and the jour- 
ney is long, to allow their bovine friend a chance to wallow in one 
of theartificial ponds which are constructed for his benefit by the road- 
side. The Malayan buffalo, thinly covered with hair, is larger than the 
American species and usually so docile with the natives that children 
can drive him ; but for some reason he has an unconquerable aversion 

15 




A JAVANESE HOUSE. 



226 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



to Europeans, which he manifests by breathing heavily throuo-h the 
nose ; and when he so expresses himself it is well for the European to 
get away, since a buffalo is more than a match for a tiger. 

HOUSES AND PEOPLE. 

In some of the interior villages the houses are built with special 
reference to the ravages of the tigers. They are placed on posts twelve 

or fifteen feet high, a ladder leading up to a 
landing which is inclosed by a strong fence and 
a gate. The natives keep hens, and except 
for the tigers, Avould have dogs. The ordi- 
nary dwellings of the people are built of a rough 
frame of timber, thatched with grass or palm 
leaves, and with walls and partitions of split 
bamboo. 

The Malayan uses the oil of the cocoa- 
nut for lighting purposes, and he is a faithful 
illuminator. His common lamp is nothing but 
a glass tumbler, in which floats a small quan- 
tity of oil upon considerable water, and in the 
oil are two small splints that support a piece 
of pith for a wick. 

SPORTS. 

The Javanese seem to be the only tribe 
of Malayans who do not systematically gamble. 
Their passion is cock-fighting, and the vice has 
even taken such a hold upon their language 
that " there is one specific name for cock-fight- 
ing, one for the natural and one for the artificial 
spur of the cock, two names for the comb, 
three for crowing, two for a cock-pit and one 
for a professional cock-fighter." 
Music is a passion with the Malayan, and especially the Javanese, 
who have arrived at really a high degree of perfection in the manufac- 
ture of their instruments. They have their kromo, or series of gongs 
set in some kind of a framework and struck with sticks which are coated 
with gum to deaden the sound ; the gambang, consisting of wooden 
or brass bars placed over a trough and struck with knobbed sticks ; their 
flutes and triangles. The Javanese have about two dozen musical instru- 




A JAVANESE FORK. 



SPORTS. 



227 



ments of various kinds. On the Peninsula of Malacca a bamboo thirty 
or forty feet long has its partitions removed and holes cut in the sides, 
after which it is placed upright in a tree for the breezes to play upon. The 
notes which proceed from this unique instrument vary, of course, with the 
strength of the wind, but they are extremely sweet and weird. 

FEMALE FASHIONS. 
Unmarried females wear silver on their forearms and broad bands 




A JAVANESE LOOM. 

of that metal on their wrists. Large rings made of hollow tubes are 
even worn, so as to cover both arms from the wrists to the elbows, or sil- 
ver chains on the neck and less hideous ear ornaments than those 
above noticed. 



228 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Young girls ofter wear a lace garment bespangled with thin pieces 
of silver, combing their hair back and fastening it in a knot behind ; in 
this are stuck long, flexible pins that rapidly vibrate when they dance or 
are in continual motion. They stain their lips a dull red and some of 
them bang their hair. Their dance consists of slowly twisting the 
body and shifting its weight from heel to toe, and vice versa. The dance 
is accompanied by a song and lightly beating upon a number of small 
gongs. 

REMAINS OF ANCIENT RELIGIONS. 

Near the northern coast of Java is a mount famed in Javanese 
mythology and history. It resembles a native boat or prau turned 
upside down, and is therefore known as Mount Prau. Upon its sum- 
mit was the supposed residence of the gods and demigods. The ruins 
of temples and metal images of their divinities, some of them nearly 
covered with lava, indicate that it was very holy ground. 

Near the very center of the island stands a pyramid loo feet high, 
which has been constructed from a natural hill-top, terraced and adorned 
with many images of Buddha, which are set into niches. At the summit 
of the pyramid, which consisted of quite an area, is a mighty dome- 
shaped building surrounded by seventy-two smaller ones. One of the 
most imposing groups of temples in the East, even in their decay, is that 
of the Thousand Temples. They are really less than a third of this 
number, built on terraces, a large central building overlooking all the 
rest, and the entire group forming a quadrangle 540x510 feet, exactly 
facing the cardinal points. These mighty ruins are less than eighty 
miles apart, and furnish astounding evidences of a great civilization 
which existed before Brahmanism and Buddhism were expelled by 
Mohammedanism. 

The Javanese are as far advanced toward rational worship, perhaps, 
as any branch of the Malayan race. But, even among them, old customs 
and superstitions stubbornly refuse to die and give place to new ones. 
In the southern part of the island is an active volcano which rises 7,500 
feet above the sea and boasts one of the largest craters in the world — 
three and a half by four and a half miles from rim to rim. " Its 
bottom is a level floor of sand, which in some places is drifted by the 
wind like the sea, and is properly named in Malay the Sandy Sea. 
From the sandy floor rise four cones, where the eruptive force has suc- 
cessively found vent for a time, the greatest being evidently the oldest, 
and the smallest the present active Bromo or Brama, from the Sanscrit 
Brama, the god of fire. On these Tenger Mountains (among which 



REMAINS OF ANCIENT RELIGIONS. 229 

is the volcano) live a peculiar people who speak a dialect of the Javan- 
ese, and, despite the zealous efforts of the Mohammedan priests, still 
retain their ancient Hindu religion." 

In the islands of Bali and Lombok, south of Java, the Hindu relig- 
ion also flourishes, with its invariable accompaniment of caste. First 
come the priests, then, in order, the soldiers, merchants and common 
laborers. The women frequently stab themselves as sacrifices to their 
religion, and their bodies are afterwards burned. The princes them- 
selves often require such sacrifices. 

These people and those of adjacent districts make an annual pil- 
orimage to the Sandy Sea. They spread themselves over its barren 
surface, some of them erecting rough stands for the sale of amulets, 
charms, volcanic stones and provisions ; some are eating, singing, laugh- 
ing ; some are praying ; a compact line of young priests have before 
them boxes of myrrh, aloes and other spices which they are selling for 
offerings ; at right angles to them is a line of older priests; old men and 
women, children in arms are there in the sandy basin of the great crater, 
the earth groaning beneath them and the pit in the center sending forth 
its sulphurous smoke and vapors. 

Finalh', the offerings are all laid upon bamboo stands and sprinkled 
by the priests with holy water, prayers are offered up, and the oldest 
rises and exclaims, his companions joining in chorus: "Forward, for- 
ward to the Bromo ! " The whole multitude hasten toward the vol- 
cano, many stopping on the way to pray. Arriving at the summit, with 
the priests in advance, the people again present their offerings to their 
relisfious teachers, who bless the trinkets a second time and then hurl 
them into the brimstone pit. As they disappear down the crater each 
j)erson repeats some prayer or wish — and so both the volcano and the 
people are blessed. After the exercises the participants descend from 
the mountain to engage in games and pastimes, have a grand, good 
time, and depart for their homes. 

THE TIMORESE. 

The Timor Islands are a group which lie southeast of Java and 
stretch toward Australia, They seem to be a bond of union between 
the vegetable and the animal life of the Archipelago, Australia and 
Polynesia. Especially is there found a most perplexing combination of 
humankind. Malayans, Chinese, Papuans, Portuguese, Dutch, Pohne- 
sians and Australians appear in such various degrees of mixture that it 
is hard to tell where )"ou are from an ethnological point of view. 



230 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

In the second island from Java, however, Lombok, the Malay- 
ans have made themselves famous, as they did in Sumatra, for their skill 
in manufacturing guns. The manufacturer establishes his works in 
an open shed, his apparatus consisting of a mud forge, bamboo bellows, 
a piece of iron imbedded in the ground for an anvil, a vise fastened to 
the stump of a tree and a few files and hammers. 

Although but 300 miles in length and in 40 breadth, Timor is 
divided between the Dutch and Portuguese. It is surrounded by rocks 
and coral reefs, and is a great fishing ground for trepang, the fish, or 
sea-cucumbers, which the Chinese so esteem. The natives are assisted 
by the Bughis or Macassars in this industry, the plan being either to 
spear the fish one by one or dive for them. After the fishermen have 
landed their cargoes another squad or company proceed to split open 
the cucumbers and clean them, after which they are plunged into iron 
pans filled with boiling salt water and arranged outside the long smoking 
and drying sheds. This process requires from eight to ten hours, when 
the trepang are taken within, spread on a platform of bamboos running 
through the shed at the height of the eaves. The ground having been 
excavated two or three feet below the outside level, the fire can be 
kindled without danger of ignitinor the bamboo walls. 

The bees of Timor furnish the natives also with employment, the 
wax being an important export. Their honey-combs, which are not 
unlike a bee-hive in shape and three or four feet in diameter, are 
attached to the under side of branches of very lofty trees. The bee 
hunter works his way up the trunk of the tree by means of his feet, 
and a small flexible creeper, which he grasps in each hand and uses as a 
counter-force. He is armed with a torch, a knife tied to a stout creeper 
and a thin cord ; when he has worked his way up so as to be within 
proper distance, he proceeds first to smoke out the swarm and after- 
ward to slice off the honey-comb and lower it to his companions. Not- 
withstanding his body is partially protected, he is sometimes terribly 
stung. 

The Timorese are believers in the system of "tabu." Gardens and 
farms are protected from trespass by a native priest or chief, who per- 
haps sticks a few palm leaves outside to indicate that the ground is sacred 
or guarded by the "pomali." 'The propensity of the natives is toward 
theft, and some play upon their superstitions is said to be necessary for 
the security of any kind of property. One trick of theirs, in this connec- 
tion, is to seize upon the person of an unprotected native, if he is of 
another tribe, and retain him as a slave. 

The Timorese seem to be of mixed Malayan and Papuan blood, 



THE TIMORESE 



231 



and are taller and more striking than those of pure blood. The Malay- 
ans proper show no traits peculiar to this island. Their women dye 
their lips with the betel and dress the same as in the islands further 
north. Their huts are of the common bamboo style, thatched with 
palm leaves, but are level with the ground. 

THE COMMERCIAL TRIBES. 



From Celebes, east of Borneo, go out the most enterprising traders 
and navigators of the seas. Their boats average forty or fifty tons bur- 
den, and some of them are twice as large. In these junk-like praus 
they visit every island of the Archipel- 
ago as far as Australia to barter with 
the natives ; in what manner will be 
told when we come to speak of the 
natives of New Guinea, who are 
among their most profitable 
customers. The Bughis and 
the Macassars of Celebes are 
what the Malayans formerly 
were as a people — restless, 
darincj navirators. The form- 
er have a literature as well as a 
commerce of their own, and 
the latter claim a 
divine origin, hav- ^ 
ing a tradition that 
a goddess came 
down from heaven 
to marry their fore- 
father, a mighty 
chief. From Sumatra or China direct the Macassars were introduced to 
cannon and gunpowder, and with their improved arms and good swords, 
they were able to spread their Mohammedanism over nearly the whole 
of the island. Their attempt to subjugate the Moluccas resulted in 
the defeat of their 700 vessels and 20,000 warriors by the Dutch. The 
Bughis then assumed the lead by becoming tributaries of the Nether- 
lands government, and have since retained it. The other natives of the 
island are the Minahassas, who are a powerfully-built people, sometimes 
approaching the Europeans in complexion. Intellectually they are infe- 
rior to the Bughis and Macassars. 




A MALAYAN PRAU. 



232 



TAXORAMA OF NATIONS. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDERS. 



Of the 4,000,000 natives who inhabit the 1,200 islands which com- 
pose the group, one-quarter are governed by native princes. Luzon, 
the largest of the number, is to the north and has a population of 
2,500,000. The greater part of the island is governed by the Sultan 
of Mindanao, who, with his minor chiefs, can bring an army of 100,000 
men into the field. Far to the south are the Sooloo Islands, which are 

also governed by a 
native sultan. The 
inhabitants are 
brave and extreme- 
ly warlike. Their 
warriors, in fact, are 
considered the 
fiercest and best 
disciplined of all 
of the Malayan 
tribes. Sooloo, 
the capital of the 
kingdom, situated 
on the island by 
that name, extends 
out into the ocean, 
its houses b e in or 
built in rows and 
far enough apart 
to admit the pass- 
ao-e between them 
of a man-of-war. 
The town is also 
defended by two 
strong batteries, 
and is designated 
the Alo^iers of the 
East. The amusements of the Sooloos partake of their warlike dis- 
position, their principal sport being cock-fighting. The natives not only 
build canoes but ships of considerable tonnage. 

The Tagals and Bisayers are the most numerous native races, 
dwelling in the cities and cultivating fields of rice, wheat, maize and 
plantations of sugar-cane, cotton, tobacco and coffee on the \wlands. 




A NATIVE OF LUZON. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDERS. 



■^00 



The industrial occupations of the natives, says an Eastern tourist, 
include a very ingenious method of working- in horn, the manufacture of 
eold and silver chains, of cigar 
cases, and fine hats in various 
vegetable fibres, of beautifully 
colored mats embroidered with 
gold and silver, the dressing 
and varnishing of leather, ship- 
buildino- and coach-buildino-. 
The manufacture of cigars 
gives employment to a large 
number of hands. The cord 
age of the Philippines is held 
in good repute. The textile 
productions are said to be fifty- 
two in number; from the deli-| $, 
cate and costly shawls and 
handkerchiefs made from the 
fibre of pine-apple leaves called 
pinas, and sold at the rate of 
one or two ounces of gold 
apiece, down to coarse cotton 
and stout sackino-, wrought 
from the fibre of the abaca 
and gomuti palms. As seen 
in the illustration, their dress, 
of home manufacture, is de- 
cidedly picturesque and becoming, and worn with a wild sort of coquet- 
tish grace which quite sets off the dusky beauty. 




HOME MANUFACTURES. 






234 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




POLYNESIAN WEAPONS. 



1.— Hawiian Ax. 2.— Carvrd Club from Tahiti. 3, 4.— Hammers from the Friendly Islands. 5. —Knife from Easter 

Island. 6.— Boar's Tusk— A War Ornament. 





THE POLYNESIANS. 

HE Society, Marquesas, Hawaiian, Feejee, Samoa, Friendly 
and Caroline Islands are the best known localities where 
good specimens of this muscular, warlike, cannibalistic 
race may be found. They differ somewhat in personal 
appearance, although as a rule they are above the average 
height, symmetrically built — in fact, superb specimens of 
physical manhood. 

THE FEEJEE CANNIBALS. 



The group takes its name from the island to the windward, and its 
people have acquired a decidedly unenviable reputation as possessing 
all the worst 'characteristics of the blood-thirsty savage. They are 
described as tall, sleek and portly, with stout limbs and short necks, 
with bushy hair joined to a round beard to which mustaches are often 
added. The men dress in a sort of sash of white, brown or figured 
cloth, using generally about six yards, though a wealthy man will wear 
one nearly one hundred yards long. The women usually wear their 
hair short, or done up in little twisted bits, that hang down like pieces 
of string ; occasionally they go to the other extreme and dress the hair 
in huge and grotesque forms. 

The men do not tattoo their bodies but paint them, especially 
their faces, which they ornament with blotches, bars and stripes of red 
and black. Some of them only cover the forehead with a shiny black 
paint. They particularly pride themselves on the huge boar's tusk 
which hangs from the neck and falls over the breast. The Feejeeans 
make a business of catching young boars and knocking out the front 
teeth of the upper jaw so that a free field may be given for the tusks 
to grow. The nearer the tusks approach to a circle the more beautiful 
they are considered. The native man of any standing wears a gauze- 
like turban. 

Both sexes paint their bodies and besmear them with oil, besides 

235 



236 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



wearing enormous ear ornaments. In former times neither sex wore 
any clothing to speak of, but now near the settlements, in addition to 
the garments which extend from the waist to the knees the women are 
attired in a little loose jacket. Women are tattooed, but only on parts 
of the body which are covered. 

HIGH-TONED SOCIETY. 

A native chief squats upon the ground, like a common Feejee, but 
his person is sacred and often believed to be divine. He tills the 
ground and works otherwise with his hands, but he must be addressed 
in a peculiar language which is chanted by his subjects. They must 

approach him crouched or 
creeping and even worm 
their way over the floor 
of his house. It would be 
as -much as one's life is 
worth to cross him from 
behind. When at sea 
the canoe is required to 
pass the chief's boat on 
the inside. If a chief 
stumbles or falls, his at- 
tendants must do the same. 
A dreadfully amus- 
ing story is told of one 
of these grim old chiefs, 
wlio boasted, no doubt, 
of the number of persons 
he had eaten, but did not 
^t-^^^^^^'' '^'^^^^^^p^ relish the idea of bein<y 

A FEEJEE CHIEF. made into meat himself. 

He was out at sea one day with a number of his warriors when their 
great canoe capsized. For some reason they were unable to right it 
and struck out for the shore with the sharks after them. Thereupon 
the chief called upon his two-score of warriors to protect his sacred 
carcass by forming a circle round him. The body of swimmers then 
moved on toward the shore, and as often as one common warrior was 
snapped up by the tigers of the ocean the gap was heroically closed ; 
and so the person of the chief was not reached, although he left 
behind all but half a dozen of his brave body-guard. One should not 




HIGH-TONED SOCIETY. 



237 



recklessly make light of the loss of human life, but surely this strangely 
true occurrence, which is said to have happened only a few years 
ago, is a wonderful combination of humor and pathos. This is but 
illustrative of the value which the people, and particularly the chiefs, 
f)lace upon human life. 

CANNIBALS AND BAKALOS. 



The Feejeeans are, in fact, cannibals from choice, and not from 
motives of revenge. They like the taste of the human body, which 
they call long pig. Europeans, however, who go among them are 
partially reassured when they learn that the native little relishes the 
flesh of a white man, as it is usually tainted with tobacco and other 
distasteful things. They pre- 
fer the flesh of women to 
that of men ; notwithstand- 
ing which, they will not 
allow the female a sino^le 
taste of human flesh. This 
custom seems more horrible 
when one is told that the 
Feejeean, who has not been 
civilized, does not confine 
his appetite to his enemies, 
but will look upon a villager, 
or (if he is a chief) upon a 
member of his tribe, as 
though he were an English- 
man looking over a head of 
beef. Fat widows especially 
are the chief objects of his 
pursuit and of all portions of the human body he considers the thick 
of the arm the choicest. 

The phrase long pig is not a white man's joke, but is an actual 
expression of Feejeean vernacular. Pork, or real pig, is called by 
the natives puaka dina ; a human body puaka balava, or long pig. 
Neither is eaten raw but is stewed in their large earthen pots, with^a 
variety of savory herbs. Some of the skipper's stories are told in 
the past tense, the incidents having occurred in years gone by before 
diese cannibals had been touched by any sort of humanity from the 
outer world — for instance : " If a man was to be cooked whole, they 




A CHIEF'S HOUSE. 



238 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



would paint and decorate his face as though he were ahve, and one of 
the chief persons of the place would stand by the corpse, which was 
placed in a sitting position, and talk in a mocking strain to it for some 
time, when it would be handed over to the cooks, who prepared it and 
placed it in the oven, filling the inside of the body with hot stones, so 
that it would be well cooked all throueh." 










^ 

u 

f m 







A FEEJEE CANNIBAL. 



After a battle the victors would cook and eat miany of the slain at 
once ; others were dragged to their temples and offered to their gods, 
the priests getting a large share of the victims. Occasionally a prisoner 
would be bound and placed in an oven, or be forced to eat a portion of 
his own body. 

The most famous cannibals kept a record of the bakalos they 
had devoured, the number often running into the hundreds ; and even 



CANNIBALS AND BAKALOS. 



239 



at the present time it is not phenomenal to meet a Feejee brave who 
beasts of havincr eaten his man. On one of the islands there used to 
be a regular arena, around which were stone seats for the spectators and 
in the middle of which was a huo^e bowlder. Two stalwart natives 
seized the bound victim, each taking hold of an arm and leg, and rush- 
ing to the bowlder they dashed his brains out, the spectators shouting 
their applause. The time was when "no important business could be 
commenced without slaying one or two human beings as a fitting inau- 
guration. Was a canoe to be built, then a man must be slain for the lay- 
ing of its keel ; and, if possible, were the builder a very great chief, a 
fresh man for every new timber that was added. More were to be used 
at its launching as rollers to aid its passage to the sea, and others were 






POLYNESIAN BEAUTIES. 

slain to wash its deck with blood and to furnish a feast of human flesh 
considered so desirable on such occasions; and after it was afloat, still 
more victims were required at the first taking down of the mast." 

When a chief, or other great man, feels a great craving come over 
him for some plump woman or child, he says that his back tooth aches 
and that only human flesh can cure it. The stories which these old skip- 
pers tell, who have sailed in cannibal waters for years, are enough to make 
one have a continual procession of nightmares. As intimated, the 
natives call the human body to be eaten the bakalo, and the tale goes 
that when the chief gets hold of a particularly choice bakalo he reserves 
it for himself entire, merely cooking the flesh from time to time so that 



240 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



it will not become quite putrid. Those who die a natural death are not 
eaten, but if a luscious native should be killed in one of their many broils 
and be gotten safely under ground, his relatives will have to watch his 




< 



w 



grave closely in order to scare away the ghouls who come after the body. 
There is little doubt but that the Feejeeans, as a people, are still canni- 
bals of an uncompromising nature, but exactly to what extent they; par- 
take of puaka balava cannot be ascertained by living man. 



SOCIETY, HIGH AND LOW. 

SOCIETY, HIGH AND LOW. 



241 



Feejeean society is divided into castes or grades, viz.: (i), kings 
and queens ; (2), chiefs of large districts or islands ; (3), chiefs of 
towns, priests and ambassadors ; (4), distinguished warriors of low birth, 
chiefs of the carpenters, and chiefs of the turtle catchers ; (5), common 
people ; (6), slaves of war. When a chief dies the order of succession 
is his next brother, his eldest son or his eldest nephew. His dignity is 
fixed by the number of wives he has, and his sister's son is even a person 
of greater importance than his nephew on his brother's side ; for he may 
claim anything except the chief's own wives and home, though he reside 
in another district. He is 
sacred, or taboo. A chief 
may protect anything with a 
taboo, from the life of one 
of his great men to a favorite 
boar. The fact that such 
sacredness has been imposed 
upon anything by chief or 
priest is indicated by certain 
marks which the natives un- 
derstand. Cocoa-palms and, 
in fact, whole crops are some- 
times thus protected. Cer- 
tain actions or habits may 
also be tabooed ; forinstance 
women ma)- paint with red 
and other colors, but black 
is strictly taboo to them. 

As with most of the a civilized girl. 

lower grades in savage life, the degree of crime is fixed by the rank o.. 
the offender and of his victim. Offenses against chastity, however, 
witchcraft, incendiarism and infringement of a taboo, are usually visited 
with death, the executing instrument being a musket, noose or club.. 
Disrespect to a chief and treason are inexcusable, although in these 
cases it sometimes happens that father will suffer for son, or friend for 
friend, it seeming to make little difference to these blood-thirsty people 
who dies so long as a life is sacrificed. 

Europeans who have been cured of serious complaints by native doc- 
tors, or old women, have great stories to tell of the wonderful knowledge 

they possess of the uses of herbs. The old women, they say, take you 
i(i 




242 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



ill hand and bring' you decoctions and infusions of leaves, which they 
make you drink, whilst they stand by to see that you save none of the 
leaves and so learn tlieir secrets. If they send you medicines, the leaves 
they consist of are always chewed or pounded out of shape. Their 
knowledge of poisons is great and is extensively used by chiefs for 
political purposes. The operation of some of the poisons is slow though 
fatal, so that the relatives of the deceased do not at the time suspect the 
stranger, who has so ingratiated himself that they have given the health 
of the victim into his care. 

As would be inferred from the disposition of the Feejeean, he is a 
warrior by nature. He usually goes armed with a musket, battle-axe. 




WOMEN OF TONGA. 



club, bow, spear or sling. His club is an Irishman's shillalah, which he 
throws with deadly precision ; and palisades and breastworks adorn his 



mountain strongholds. 



THE TONGESE. 



These people, the natives of the Tonga, or Friend!)' Islands, have 
nearly all been Christianized and civilized to some extent, being 
governed by one chief called King George. They are thus able to con- 
centrate their forces, and have even planted colonies on the Feejee Islands 
in spite of the opposition of their neighbors. In former times the Tonga 
Islands were governed by a spiritual chief, who claimed descent from the 
gods. He was called the " Tui Tonga" — -chief of Tonga. For more 



THE TONGESE. 243 

than half a century the king- has usurped his authority, akhough 
the office and the spiritual chief still exist in a shadowy way. He has 
his house, into which, uninvited, King George cannot enter, and when 
he comes within, as a mark of respect, he must seat himself at once. To 
stand before him would be an insult. The very name of Tonga-tabu, 
which has been given to the Tonga, or Friendly Islands, originated from 
the fact that the principal island was the residence of the Tui-Tonga ; 
hence Tonga-tabu, or sacred Tonga. We commence also to get at 
the sicjnificance of the Enolish word taboo. 

ROYAL REFORMS. 

The Tongese have been enthusiastically described as being blessed 
with a delightful color, very much resembling a cup of good coffee 
with a great deal of rich cream in it. The people, especially the 
women, have dark and lustrous e^'es. Their dress consists of a cloth 
fastened round the waist which hano-s below the knees. Some time aoo 
the king, who has been brought under the influence of missionaries and 
European ideas, attempted to enforce a law that the men should wear 
regular shirts and trousers of fabric, in place of the native "vala,"or 
waist-cloth similar to that worn by the women. This threatened to put 
a stop to the important industry of manufacturing "tappa" (native 
cloth), besides being distaseful to them. The law was therefore repealed. 
Although it was expected that the women would support the dress 
reform, the pinafore in which they often appear when before Europeans 
is cast off upon every possible occasion and pretext. 

In some of the larger towns, where churches have been established 
and European ideas reign supreme, the native women appear in public 
with bonnets and hats trimmed with feathers and flowers. They used 
to go bareheaded, or garlanded with wreaths and natural flowers, as 
many of the Tongese do at the present time. The climate of the 
islands is very hot, and there v^^as nothing immodest in the old fashions; 
the men, however, have carried the day for comfort. It would seem 
that the kino- has a tremendous itching for makingf laws. Both men and 
Avomen smoke. King George conceived that it would be more proper 
that women should eschew the little, fragrant, native cigarette ; a decree 
which was promulgated to that effect caused such a hubbub that the 
royal legislator allowed it,s repeal. King George, furthermore, prohib- 
ited the men of his islands from indulging in the time-honored custom 
of tattooing themselves ; but a lusty young brave — who is a correct judge 
of beauty — is seen occasionally sneaking over to a neighboring island of 



244 



PANOPAMA OF NATIONS 



the Samoan group and undergoing the operation, which sets off his soft, 
brown skin to such advantage. 

HOME MANUFACTURES. 

The Tongese, in common with all the Polynesians, are extremely 
fond of kava, a drink made from the root of a species of pepper. The 
dry root is pounded between two stones, until enough material is ready 
for the large wooden bowl, which is placed before the compounder, 
whose operations have attracted to the house quite a company. The 



Vv^V.N 




TONGESE BRAIDED WORK. 



powder is placed in this vessel and a cocoa-nut shell full of water is 
poured on to it, after which the operator squeezes the mass to a pulp, 
grinding it between his palms until his temples throb, that he may get 
all the good out of it. Water is being added constantly. The stuff is 
then strained through a bundle of fibrous material, and the particles of 
dried root thrown aside, after which the kava is served in half cocoa- 
nut shells. Inexperienced drinkers insist that the liquid tastes more like 
soap-suds than anything else, although constant practice is said to over- 
come the delusion. A native drink, which any one might appreciate, is 



HOME MANUFACTURES. 245 

made by squeezing the juice of partly ripened oranges into a quantity 
of cocoa-nut milk, flavored slightly with capsicum. 

Tonga women are skillful manufacturers of the gnatoo, or cloth 
made from the white mulberry, which goes into the valas of both sexes, 
their blankets and curtains. The outer bark of the tree is useless, the 
white inner bark being rolled up and soaked in water. This is then 
placed upon the squared side of a piece of palm wood, and the women 
beat out the pulpy strips with wooden mallets into a firm piece of cloth. 
Long, narrow pieces are joined with arrowroot and then beaten together, 
so that very large pieces are made, sometimes nearly one hundred feet 
square. After being beaten a week or two the cloth is stretched and 
painted with odd patterns. The stamping process is this: Onto a large 
piece of bark they fasten round thin twigs in the desired pattern, which 
they place under the unpainted cloth and upon which they press in order 
to get a slight marking. This is then painted with darker stamps. The 
colors are fixed by heat. The cheerful dispositions of the women are 
never more clearly brought out than by catching a glimpse of them at 
their work. Sometimes several of them will be working away at one 
log, and, not satisfied with the noise they themselves make, they will get 
boys to come and hammer away at the end of the trunk and beat time 
to their labors. Some of the braided work of these women is also very 
fine. 

THE OLD AND THE NEW. 

The old religion of the Tongese consisted in a belief in good, 
mischievous and evil gods, and in the immortality of the souls of nobles 
and chiefs. Tlieir heaven was on a large island northwest of Tonga, 
called Bolutu. Human virtue consisted in paying respect to the gods, 
nobles and aged persons ; in defending one's rights ; in honor, justice, 
patriotism, friendship, modesty, fidelity, chastity, filial love, patience, and 
religious observances. When the Europeans first came among them 
one of their sayings was, "as selfish as a Papalagi." Their burial grounds 
are carefully tended, being sanded and kept clear of weeds. All 
the tombs are beautified and marked with a layer of small black stones, 
bright shells and coral. In some islands of the group, says a traveller, 
where no stones are found, the mourners of the lately dead repair 
to the volcanoes, Koa or Tofao, where, amidst the very smoke that 
arises from the living fires at the summit, they seek these pebbles for 
their graves. When pagans, the natives were devoted to war. They 
offered human sacrifices, and cut off their little fingers and toes as pro- 
pitiatory offerings to the gods. As stated, the nobles went to heaven 



246 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



on the island of Bolutu, but the poor people remained in the world to 
feed upon ants and lizards. 

There may be some basis of truth in the following regarding the 
royal guard, which is told by an English tourist, for since the islands have 
fallen under the influence of the missionaries, most of the martial spirit 
of the people has disappeared: "On Sundays the old king generally 
goes to church, and it is then one of the occasions upon which the body- 
guard appears. He has two men who are dressed up in some ridiculous 
red uniform, and these, on Sundays, stand at his gate and present arms 
in the most proper manner as the king goes out. But the instant he 
has passed through, the royal guard have to turn and run as fast as ever 
they can, by a back way to the church door, where, breathless but grave, 

they present arms 
again upon his Maj- 
est}'s entrance. 
Some time ago the 
king was out in the 
country, where there 
was some slight dis- 
ffection amongr the 
inhabitants, who had 
not shown their loy- 
alty by moving the 
wooden barriers 
which are erected at 
the entrance of the 
towns to keep out 
. the pigs. At the 
sight of this obstruc- 
tion his Majesty was incensed and forthwith ordered his guard to 
charge the barricade. This they instantly did, with the only result of 
completely doubling up their bayonets and having to come home again 
with their weapons over their shoulders, twisted into semicircles, for 
all the world like a party of reapers." 

It may be added to the above, in all seriousness, that King 
Georo-e himself is a constant preacher, and when in the pulpit is 
impressive and earnest. Under his honest, though often somewhat 
over-zealous rule, the Tongese are making greater improvements than 
any other of the Polynesian islanders. Several printing presses have 
already been put in operation, with his hearty sanction. Many of the 
women can sew, and a great number of the natives have learned to 





NATIVE FASHION. 



THE OLD AND THE NEW. 



247 

A few 



read and write, both in their native tongue and in English, 
have even been taught arithmetic and geography. 

THE SAMOANS. 

The Samoans are a race of warriors who have no such mildly civil- 
ized ideas as the Tongese. For many years the people have engaged in 
civil strife. They were governed by one dynasty for generations untold, 
but finally the islands were invaded by the Tongese and a great warrior 
barely saved them from being overrun by the enemy. His descendants 
and the descendants of the old royal family have been fighting for con- 
trol of the whole group of islands ever since. 

Furthermore, this 
state of affairs suits the 
tribal character. So that 
now and then the adhe- 
rents of the ancient cause 
will surprise a village of 
the new, or the king's 
party, and cutting off as 
many masculine heads as 
they can reach, they will 
rush to their canoes with 
them and paddle back to 
their island, or return to 
their camp and present 
their trophies to their chief. 
If the raid has been more 
successful than usual, and 
besides committingr such 
deviltries they have been 
able to cut down the palms 
and bread-fruit trees of 
the rival village, there is 
great rejoicing; the heads are heaped into the middle of the public square 
and every man of the attacking party has become a hero. It frequently 
happens, however, that these raids are rendered harmless through the 
efforts of the women, who have friends and relatives in both the new and 
the old parties, and who therefore give timely warning of the premeditated 
attacks. The old party is distinguished from the new by a piece of red 
material which is twisted in the long hair of each warrior; his enemies 
wear a white cockade. The king's party seem to have adopted the most 




A SAMOAN GIRL. 



248 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



advanced notions of warfare ana have in their possession not only a 
number of magnificent native canoes, but quite a number of stands of 
modern firearms and a stanch httle schooner which they point to as 




OF THE KING'S PARTY. 

their man of war. They possess a fortress which is deemed almost 
impregnable, and their warriors when on parade are often richly uni- 
formed. 



A TATTOOED WARRIOR. 249 

A TATTOOED WARRIOR. 

The Samoan warrior is a sight to behold, as a tattooed being. Both 
front and back are covered with the most intricate designs, so that the 
man looks as if he were clothed in a delicate garment of red, blue and 
brown. It takes several months for the whole process to be completed 
— and months of torture they must be. At about the age of seventeen 
the young men are taken in hand by the professional artist who first 
lightly traces the designs upon the skin. He then takes a bone instru- 
ment with very fine teeth which are covered with coloring matter, places 
it upon the body and drives the teeth through the skin with a mallet. 
The tattooer has instruments of different degrees of fineness and the 
precision of his work is simply marvelous. The decorations begin below 
the knee and completely cover the thighs, back and front. All the 
designs are connected by narrow stripes running from the spine around 
the sides. The hair is done 
up in large knots, pitched at 
many different angles, or may • 
be shaved from the head so 
as to leave a narrow ridgfe 
down the center or a simple 
tuft in front. 

The women mostly cut c/ y "*" 
their hair short, although it " ''" '"^ 
is sometimes left to erow in a "^^° protector, 

bushy mat. It is curly and elastic, and generally decorated with flowers. 
Both sexes, in fact, appear to be passionately fond of flowers. Hair, 
neck, waist and every conceivable portion of the female body is liable 
to be ornamented with separate gems or wreaths ; while the men often 
stick a flower jauntily behind the ear or fasten the petals to the cheek. 
This simple love of flowers is also noticed among other Polynesians. 

The dress is much the same as the Tongese. The men average 
about five feet in height, are erect and proud in their bearing and have 
straight and well rounded limbs ; the women are generally slight in 
figure, symmetrical, and easy and graceful in their movements. The 
nose is usually straight and the mouth large with full lips. 

HOUSES AND MATS. 

A Samoan house is a picture set in a wreath of flowers. The 
bread-fruit tree is used in its construction and the thatchinor is of wild 
sugar cane. The house is as clean as a white sheet of paper, with its 




250 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

floor of loose pebbles and its surrounding pavement of stones. Air is 
allowed to freely enter, but the sunlight is excluded, as the roof comes 
down to within a few feet of the ground at the eaves. Many mats upon 
the floor, curtains of native cloth, wooden pillows and a chest, with a 
specially large mat which is kept among the rafters for the visitor, about 
include the furnishings. The cooking for the household is done outside, 
which is another source of comfort in the hot weather. Samoa is a land 
of freshness — houses, flowers, people are all fresh, or happy, hospitable 
and clean. One is apt to sink into a sort of stupor during the hot sea- 
son, however, or be taken with what the native calls "mat fever" — be 
unable to leave your mat — for it is like one continuous Turkish bath. 

Speaking of the mat — it plays a most important part in the life of 
a Somoan, though not always fresh. When a tribe goes to war the 
first thing to be done is to place the mats in safety, and they are always 
considered the most valuable portion of the booty ; and some of them 
are truly superb. Like wine, also, age enhances their value. Mats 
which have been used by chiefs or have been in royal families for a cen- 
tury or two are necessarily somewhat soiled but are priceless treasures. 
A bride's dower would be considered scandalously incomplete without 
a number of ancient family mats. 

Polygamy is practiced, but two wives seldom live in the same house. 
Women also are considered the equals of men, and both sexes join in 
the family labors. 

In the ancient religion of the Samoan, less homage was paid to 
their one great god than to their minor gods of war. They had also 
gods of earthquakes, lightning, rain and hurricanes, and they worshiped 
carved blocks of wood erected to the memory of deceased chiefs and 
warriors. Christianity is now dominant, aad most of the adult popula- 
tion can read and write. 

TIHITIAN IDOLS. 

The natives of the Society Islands have adopted European habits 
and costumes. They are above middle height, vigorous and graceful 
in bearing, with a bold and open expression of countenance. They 
were formerly great worshipers of idols. Below are some of the objects 
of their former adoration, these particular idols being idols of the 
Tihitians. 

WAR CHARMS. 

The Marquesans are among the least civilized of all the Polyne- 




NEW ZEALAND. 



WAR CHARMS. 



251 



sians. They fight each other like wild beasts, having neither govern- 
ment nor acknowledged leaders. They have no religion, but are grossly 
superstitious, being firm believers in amulets and charms and fetiches, 
relying upon them particularly as protections and good influences in 
war. These superstitions and the system of tabu seem to be about 
all that lifts them above animal life. The tabooed or privileged classes 
are the "atnas," who are considered as superior beings; soothsayers, or 




i:^^--- „ ^-^- 



NATIVE IDOLS. 

fetich men ; priests and surgeons ; secular rulers and war chiefs. Serv- 
ants, dancers and workmen are not tabooed. Women choose their 
husbands and divorce them at will. They appear almost white, and, like 
the men, are easy in their bearing; their complexion is in reality a light 
copper color, but they rub themselves with the root of the papaw tree 
and produce the desired effect. 

The Marquesans are cannibals only when they wish to revenge 



252 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



themselves upon the body of an enemy. Their habitual food is vege- 
tables, with a highly intoxicating native drink, which is made by chewing 
up a kind of root and spewing the pulp, with the accompanying saliva, 
into a vessel where the mess is allowed to ferment. They make a coarse 
cloth out of the bark of the mulberry tree with which they scantily cover 
themselves, and live in small thatched huts erected on stone platforms. 
In similar houses they bury the dead. ■ . 

THE HAWAIIANS. 



The Hawaiian (or Sandwich) Islands are the most northerly group 
of Polynesia, and the twelve islands constitute a kingdom governed by 
a native. The framework of the constitution was prepared by Chief 
Justice Lee, of the United States, and many Americans hold govern- 
~ ment positions. 

The great wealth 
of the islands is 
in sugar, much of 
which is exported 
to Australia. 
The Hawaiians 
are noblyformed, 
are good fisher- 
men, horsemen 
and sailors and 
are capable of 
considerable in- 
tellectual elevation. The government, as somewhat modified from its 
original republicanism, consists of a king, a privy council (composed of 
four governors of the large islands and four ministers), and a parliament, 
which is formed by a house of fourteen nobles (of whom six are whites) 
and twenty-eight representatives (of whom seven are whites). Then there 
is the judicial department, police and the other officials. The king's 
salary is $22,500. A voter must read and write, pay his taxes and have an 
income of $75 a year. It is said that comparatively few adults are disquali- 
fied, and that some of the natives show considerable proficiency in arith- 
metic, geometry and music. The English language is not taught to any 
great extent. The natives are very liberal in their support of churches, 
being naturally yielding and good-natured, though it is asserted that there 
is a tendency to subside into the habits of barbarism, and that native 
superstitions are with difficulty kept in check. But life and property 




WAR AMULETS. 



THE HAWAIIANS. 



253 



are as secure as anywhere in the world and capital offences are extremely 
rare. But the people are rapidly decreasing ; for the diseases which 
the whites brought among them are especially fatal. The introduc- 
tion of clothes, with their utter carelessness about dampness and 
ventilation, their discontinuance of native and athletic sports — in 
short, the wonderfully rapid transformation from savage to civilized 
habits has had a lamentable effect in thinning out the population. The 
half-caste population, however, is increasing rapidly, m.arriages between 
Chinese, Americans and the native women becoming more and more the 
fashion. 

THE NEW ZEALANDERS. 



The Maoris, the primitive inhabitants of New Zealand, are doomed 
to early extinction. Before the introduction of Christianity they were 




TATTOOED MAORIS. 



the most prolific tattooers in the universe, every inch of face and body 
being traced with some line of beauty ; and many who have adopted the 
European dress and customs are still left with the indelible marks of 
their heathen life upon them. Since the introduction of a new order of 
things the Maoris have abandoned their fortified villages, situated on the 
summits of high hi'lls, and now live in open towns and farm houses, 
having no longer any fear of being seized and eaten by some fierce rival 
tribe. 



254 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Nearly every superstition, passion ancl vice which attach to the most 
dense savagery were formerly traits of the Maoris. Caste, the tabu, 
sorcery, revenge, license except to the married, cruelty to the wife, etc., 
etc., were established among them. A revengeful spirit was considered 
the basis of an admirable character ; so much so that after the priest had 
baptized the month-old infant he forced little pebbles down its throat to 
make its heart hard. 

Now all these things are changed. The natives have good houses,, 
and good clothes, possess flocks and herds ; the m.ajority of them can 
read and write, and belong to Christian churches ; but, from the same gen- 
eral causes which are thinning out the Hawaiians the Maoris are rapidly 
following in the footsteps of the extinct Tasmanians. Their traditions 
place their original home among the Samoan or Navigator Islands, the 
emigration taking place some time in the fourteenth century, on account 
of civil war. After a voyage of three thousand miles, the eight hundred 
adventurers, in their twenty large canoes, stepped upon the uninhabited 
island which their descendants have since called home, 




THE PAPUANS. 




RACE CHARACTERISTICS. 



HE one peculiarity of tliis race is their hair. It is supposed 
that the Aryans drove the Papuans from the continent, and 
that the refugees formerly occupied the islands of the Pacific 
and Indian oceans; that some strong race forced the Malay- 
ans, also, out of Asia, who in turn crowded the Papuans 
entirely off of certain islands, or awavfrom the coasts into the 
mountainous interior. Even then, the one peculiarity of the 
Papuans was their hair, and they were known by the Malayans 
as the papuvah, or crisp-haired people. The Malayan term 
for crisp hair is "rambut pua-pua," which explains the deriva- 
tion of the name more satisfactorily. 

The hair does not spread over the entire head, but appears in small 
tufts, which, if allowed to grow, form spiral ringlets. The civilized tribes 
are apt to keep the hair cropped, the tufts then appearing in little knobs, 
about the size of peas, distributed over the scalp with ridiculous regular- 
ity. Among the coast tribes of Papua, or New Guinea, the spiral 
ringlets grow to be so long that they are combed out with a pronged 
bamboo stick into a great bushy mop. These tribes are called "mop- 
headed Papuans." The bamboo comb or stick, one end of which is 
forked and the other pointed, is elaborately carved at times and is stuck 
obliquely into the hair. A strip of colored calico is fastened to the 
upper end, which hangs from it like a flag. The women do not wear 
this ornament. 

When the hair has grown to the length of a foot or more the Papu- 
ans also cut it off close to the head, and make a wig of it by inserting 
the ends of the ringlets into skull caps formed of matting. Some of the 
less-known tribes plait the ringlets over the crown of the head, where 
they form a thick ridge. 

The faces of the Papuans are also covered with a crisp, tufted hair. 
The breasts and shoulders of the men are liberally supplied, the tufts 

growing further apart, however, than those on the head and face. 

255 



256 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Otherwise the Papuans are rather of the negro type, with long and thin 
legs, large hands and feet, wide nostrils and thick lips, receding fore- 
heads and a turbid color to the white of the eye. Their general color is 
a chocolate, sometimes closely approaching to black. A disease of a 
leprous nature is very prevalent among all the coast tribes of the Archi- 
pelago, especially of Papua. It gives the skin a white tint which 
by some has been considered the natural color. The color is more 
noticeable from the fact that the prevailing shade is this dark brown. 

As to stature, it varies greatly with different tribes. ^ ^ 

Within the space of a hundred miles on the south- ^--"^^^^(^ 
western coast of New Guinea are found tribes ^'^^'^ 

whose people average as large as Europeans, -^' "" 
and others who are generally pigmies. The 
Papuan has been described, however, as 
one who excels the Malayan and equals 
the European. The men are, as a rule, 
more comely than the women, although 
the latter, when young, have some 
times beautiful eyes, clear, white 
and regular teeth, happy-look- 
ing, laughing faces, and 
round well-formed limbs. 
Those who come in con- 
tact with Europeans 
soon lose their bashful- 
ness, but retain their 
modesty. The more 
diminutive Papuans 
have usually come un- 
der the notice of the 
outside world, as they 
have been brought to 
many of the trading 

settlements of the wigs and head ornaments. 

Archipelago to serve as domestics and slaves. They are kindly treated, 
well fed, and soon counteract the impression that ugliness is a rule 
which the race never violates. 

The larger types of Papuans, both men and women, are more apt 
to be disproportionately large above the waist, with the characteristics 
of the negro below. Where the people have been brought up in the 
families of European settlers on the Archipelago, and have escaped the 




THE PAPUANS. 257 

exposure of savage life, their skin acquires a delicate tint or glow. As 
with the negroes, their skin is naturally thinner than that of the Euro- 
peans, and when it is not burned or weather-beaten the red of the blood 
faintly glows through the transparent covering. The sight is so charm- 
ino- that even the undemonstrative Malayan speaks of it as sweet 
black, it being also not uncommon among that brown-skinned people. 

MENTAL CONTRASTS. 

The contrast between the Malayan, with his lithe, smooth-skinned 
body and his long face, and the Papuan is further heightened when one 
becomes acquainted with his mental traits. " The Malayan is cold, quiet, 
undemonstrative and bashful ; the Papuan, impetuous, excitable, warm- 
tempered and noisy. The former, grave and dignified, seldom laughs ; 
the latter is merry and laughter-loving ; the one conceals, the other dis- 
plays his emotions." The Papuan is impatient of restraint, independent 
and stubborn, but lacks that cool power of organization which has 
enabled the Malayans to dispossess him of the choicest spots of the 
Archipelago. In mental character and physical structure, he much 
resembles the Polynesian. 

Toward any who attempt to settle in their territory the Papuans 
evince the most implacable hatred, which fact, with their lack of organiz- 
ing and executive force, has led to their virtual extermination in those 
islands which had no mountains to shelter them after they had been 
driven from the coast. This ferocity of character disappears, in a great 
measure, when they even become slaves to the Malayans; for then they 
appear cheerful and obedient and display the side of their dispositions 
which is generally seen in their particular home. New Guinea. 

DRESS AND ORNAMENTS. 

The Papuans, as a race, are not in love with clothing. It usually 
consists of a girdle of bark, leaves or coarse cloth around the loins ; with 
a large shell which covers the stomach ; but they profusely decorate and 
ornament their bodies. They cut the skin of the shoulders, breasts and 
thighs in long strips, rubbing into the wound white clay so that the flesh 
below heals in the form of high ridges. Careful investigators into this 
matter of bodily mutilation have concluded that cautery is often employed 
by these savage tribes as a cure for rheumatism, with which they are 
much afflicted, and that the huge cuts on the arms and breasts are 
made to prove the native's bravery under physical pain. 

The nose is bored and a roll of plantain leaf placed in the hole. The 

17 



258 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



leaf is elastic and the orifice is gradually enlarged, so that when any 
important day comes round the Papuan can place therein the thigh bone 
of a large bird or some other ornament. Filing the front teeth to 
points; dyeing the hair a red or flaxen color by burnt coral mixed 

. _ _ _^ with sea-water; 

bindingthearms 
tightly with 
plaited rattans; 
breast fringes 
and necklaces 
of twisted cord ; 
ear-rings of rat- 
tan, worn in one 
ear; smearing 
the forehead, 
and the face un- 
der the nose and 
around the chin 
with red clay 
and mud, are 
some of their 
many customs 
which they im- 
agine beautify 
their ungainly- 
bodies. There 
is no accounting 
for- taste, for 
some Papuans, 
who perhaps 
find nothing else 
at hand, orna- 
ment the neck, 
arms and waist 
with bangles of 
hog's teeth. 




'^'fi^m 



A PAPUAN WARRIOR. 

The Papuans who have been in communication with the Europeans 
of the Indian Archipelago and with the civilized Malayans are, however, 
well housed and decently clothed ; have good boats, some knowledge of 
iron and agriculture, and have domesticated the hog and the dog. The 
native forge consists of "two large bamboos, about four feet long, from 



DRESS AND ORNAMENTS. 



259 



which the air is expelled by means of two pistons, with bunches of 
feathers at the end, which are worked like those of hand pumps ; and by 
raising each alternately, a constant current of air is expelled through the 
orifices at the bottom, from which small tubes lead to the fireplace. 
This instrument is identical with the bellows in use amono^ the brown 
races of the Archipelago, from whom it may have been borrowed. A 
stone serves for an anvil ; but the natives often have in their possession 
a pig of iron ballast, or a piece of broken anchor, which answers the pur- 
pose much better." 

The chiefs of the northern and more advanced tribes dress in the 
short Malayan drawers and a loose calico coat, with a handkerchief for 




A TEMPLE ON THE COAST. 



a ' turban. Perhaps, however, it should be added that, when not in the 
presence of strangers, the great men fall back upon the costume of the 
common members of their tribe, a waist-cloth of the bark of the fig, or 
the paper of the mulberry tree beaten out like the bark-cloth of the 
Polynesians. These people also, are not in the habit of covering their 
bodies with great ridges or welts, but are satisfied with a modest style 
of tattooing, which is generally performed by young girls with sharp fish- 
bones or needles and soot. This work is often executed with artistic 
skill, the men being favored with figures of crossed swords and knife 
blades. 



26o PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

COAST AND MOUNTAIN TRIBES. 

The natives of New Guinea have been divided by some writers 
into Papuans — those who hve on the coast — and Alfores, the interior 
or mountainous tribes. The habits of the Alfores are little known, as 
it is extremely dangerous to venture into their country. They are only 
seen when they emerge from their mountain and forest retreats bearing 
with them to the coast Masooi bark, nutmegs, birds of paradise and 
crown pigeons, which they barter principally for ornaments. To these 
articles several tribes add sugar cane and tobacco, which they cultivate, 
but they, even, never build their houses at a lower level than looo feet 
from the base of the mountains. A more satisfactory explanation of the 
name is that the Portugese term Alforias signifies freedmen; that the 
root fora means out or outside, and therefore the term Alfores 
became naturally applied to the independent tribes who dwelt beyond 
the influence of their coast settlements." The mountainous tribes have 
never acknowledged any rule but their own, but the coast people are 
governed by "rajahs" and other chiefs appointed by the Dutch govern- 
ment. 

When the Dutch first arrived among the islands of the Archipelago 
they found not only a wild people inhabiting the mountains, living in 
trees, fighting among themselves and eating each other, but a mari- 
time people who showed considerable warlike enterprise. i\t one time a 
number of the sea-coast tribes combined their forces-, and, collecting their 
flotilla of more than a hundred boats, spread terror among the fishermen 
of the Moluccas, who were kidnapped and set upon with particular spite. 
One of the most powerful of the Papuan chiefs was the rajah of Salwatty. 
Seduced, finally, by the bait that he had been fully pardoned for his 
offenses, and also by the present of a bag of Dutch dollars, he fell into 
the toils of the Dutch Governor. This, with other energetic steps 
taken by the government of the Netherlands, seems to have crushed the 
power of the Papuans upon the seas and to have confined it to an occa- 
sional expedition by some piratical tribe. 

THE GOVERNMENT. 

Each tribe has its own chief, who acknowledges a nominal alle- 
glance to the sultan of Tidore, a native chief who has been given that 
title and an empty fame by the government of the Netherlands ; but the 
actual control of a tribe is with a council of elders, the chief merely 
being a leader in war. The duties of the elders are also light, for the 



THE GOVERNMENT. 26 1 

coast tribes are noted for their honesty and chastity. They have no 
locks to their doors, and, until the Europeans traders appeared, ardent 
spirits were unknown to them. 

One of their laws is to the effect that if a man burns down his 
neighbor's house, he becomes a slave. If he wounds another Avil- 
fully he must give him a slave. If he steals, he must restore the 
property and add a bonus. The chiefs seem to be quite democratic, for 
they often marry into inferior families of their own tribe, paying- for the 
wife ten slaves or a just equivalent. The slave is, in fact, the standard 
of value in the western parts of New Guinea, as salt is in Abyssinia, or 
the cow amonor the Caffres of South Africa. 

The mode in which the chieftainship is conferred is thus described : 
"When one of the native chiefs dies information of the event is conveyed 
to the sultan by one of the relatives of the deceased, who, at the same 
time, takes with him a present of slaves and birds of paradise as a token 
of fealty. This person is generally named as the successor of the 
deceased and is presented with a yellow kaba)'a (calico coat), drawers 
and handkerchief. He is bound to pay a yearly tax to the sultan of a 
slave; to reinforce the hongi (the sultan's tax-collecting flotilla) with 
three vessels and to furnish it with provisions." 

THEIR IDOL AND FETICHES. 

The Papuans of Dory (a Dutch station on the northwestern coast) 
consult, but do not worship, an idol, with a very large head covered with 
a handkerchief, and its body clad in calico ; with a long, sharp nose and 
fierce-looking teeth. If they can squat before this figure, whom they 
call Karwar, and place the matter in mind before him, with placid 
feelings, the omen is considered propitious ; but should they be seized 
with trepidation, Karwar has decided against their proposed course 
of action. The marriage ceremony consists in appearing before Kar- 
war, or sitting down in front of him ; in the presentation by the female 
to the man of her choice, of some tobacco and betel-leaf, and a simple 
joining of hands. Unimpressive though the marriage cermonies are 
among the Papuans, there are no people in the world, in the savage or 
semi-civilized catalogue, with Avhom the contract is more binding. 

The Papuans generally are fetich worshipers, and have their fetich 
men or soothsayers, as do the Africans. Reptiles are most com- 
monly represented, their figures dangl: ng from the roofs of the houses or 
standing out from the posts as ornamental carvings. Bits of bone, 
stones, calico or wood serve as charms to ward off evil influences and 
bring luck. 



262 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



e^s 



THE DUK-DUK DANCERS. 

Their ignorance is often used by the chiefs as a means by which to 
establish themselves in authority and extract valuables from the people. 
One of these overawing and tyrannical institutions is found in New 
Britain, east of Papua, which is called Duk-Duk dancing. By the 
payment of a small sum to the chief, certain men are allowed to attire 
themselves in all sorts of fantastic costumes, impersonating devils, and 
going from village to village to frighten the inhabitants into submission 

to their master's laws, 
or punish those charged 
with misconduct dis- 
pleasing to him, by ex- 
torting money from 
them or o-ivinof them 
bodily chastisements. 
The institution is also 
useful in subjecting the 
women and children to 
the rule of the hus- 
bands, as to be threat- 
ened with the Duk-Duk 
dancers is next to a 
death of terror. So, 
upon their approach, 
men, women and 
children flee to their huts and await their cominof with bated breath. 

FEEDING THE DEAD. 

With some of the tribes in the islands of the Archipelago it is 
customary, three or four days after a man dies, for his relatives to 
assemble and beat to pieces his gongs, porcelain ware and all his other 
property, which are looked upon as sacred things, not to be polluted by 
the hands of the living. They then proceed to the corpse, which has 
been lying on a mat, its decomposing parts covered with lime, and offer 
it food. When it refuses to partake, its mouth is filled with eatables 
and wine, until the liquor runs from the body and spreads over the floor. 
These ceremonies are accompanied with violent ravings on the part of 
those assembled, Avho also drink quantities of arrak as well as native 
liquors, and beat the gongs which they have brought Avith them. After 
the body has been placed upon the bier and pieces of cloth laid upon it. 




DANCING FIENDS. 



FEEDING THE DEAD. 



263 



indicative of the wealth and standing" of the deceased, the porcelain 
dishes are placed beneath in order that the precious drippings from the 
body may be retained and treasured. Soon afterwards, the corpse is 
brought before the house, and, being supported against a post, attempts 
are made to make it smoke as well as eat, lighted cigars being placed in 
the mouth. At length, when the relatives are convinced that the body 
is really a corpse, they adorn the bier with flags and carry it to the forest. 
The coffin, which is often shaped like a boat, is placed, with the mortal 
remains, upon the top of four posts ; this course being taken as a 
precaution against the ravenous appetites of the wild hogs. It is said 
that the final ceremony consists in the planting of a tree near the last rest- 
resting place of the deceased, which is taken part in by the women alone. 
Bodies of the deceased are sometimes wrapped in white calico and 





A BOAT-SHAPED COFFIN. 

deposited in graves four or five feet deep, porcelain dishes being placed 
under the ears. These dishes are obtained from the Chinese and Cera- 
mese traders, and the prices given for them are sometimes exorbitant. 
With the dishes are also placed arms and ornaments, and if the deceased 
is the head of a family, the idol Karwar, who represents the being that 
brings life and causes death, is brought to the grave, where the most 
awful reproaches are heaped upon it. A roof is then erected over it 
and the wooden image, less than two feet in height, is left to neglect 
and decay. 

WEAPONS AND BOATS. 



The people of Ceram, an island which lies to the northwest of New 



264 -PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Guinea, are the commercial people of the race. To them come the 
products of both mountain and coast Papuans, such as pearls, tortoise 
shells, ebony, resin and slaves. Establishing themselves on the islands 
of the southwestern coast, they give in exchange hatchets, rice, ele- 
phants' tusks, beads, cotton, knives, earthen and porcelain ware, iron 
pans, brass gongs, copper, tobacco, sago, etc. They remain upon the 
islands or coast four or five months upon the occasion of each visit, as 
the produce is brought in very slowly by the mountaineers, whom they 
consider very valuable customers. The barks which these Papuans 
bring are used both as cosmetics and medicine by the islanders of the 
Archipelago, more particularly those of Java; while many of the live 
cuckatoos and pigeons eventually reach China, India and Europe. 

The natives also obtain from the traders the klewang, or razor 
shaped sword, and the perang, or chopping-knife, whose blade is similar 
in form. The latter may be used either as a domestic instrument or as 
a weapon, and is always worn in a sheath at the waist. The arrows 
which are used in war are furnished with iron heads, but are never 
poisoned. They wield a club, of home make, about four feet in length 
thin and narrow except at one end, which is covered with suggestive 
knobs and corners. The Papuans also have a long gun of bamboo, but 
it is merely used to blow dust into the air, as a signal when they are 
hunting or on the war-path. 

They have their bows and arrows, and harpoons for fishing, and an 
ingenious rattan trap so constructed that the victim can get his bait only 
by swimming through an opening of the elastic sticks which close 
behind him. The bows are often made of bamboo, or betel wood, with 
a string of twisted rattan. A species of flint or sharp pebble, lashed to 
a stick, is the native axe, and it is said that with it they can fell the 
largest trees. 

Their boats are called prahus, or praus, and some of them are 
as long as sixty feet. They are narrow, both ends being flat and broad 
above. The Papuans show their love of ornamentation in their embel- 
lishment, many of them being handsomely carved or decorated with 
piaster figures. Usually the rowers stand. Their family boats are 
covered with roofs of marsh flags, under which entire families are 
housed. The sail is made of matting fixed to the side and stern. 
Ordinary canoes are small and light, and can be carried by two men. 
Children even may be seen carrying their tiny boats to and from the 
water. As a rule the vessels of the Papuans are very narrow and unsafe 
for long voyages ; being provided with outriggers, however, they are 
safe enough for home use. The result is that their foreign commerce 
is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese. 



TREPANG AND PEARL FISHING. 

TREPANG AND PEARL FISHING. 



265 



The Arm (or Arrou) Islanders, west of New Guinea, have the 
usual passion for ornaments which marks the Papuan, one of their 
most striking fashions consistinof of twistinor their longr hair into a knob 
at the back of the head and decorating it with strino-s of beads, which 
also extend from both ears and meet over the forehead. They also 







IN FULL DRESS. 

Avear them around the neck and over the breast, brineine a strine or 
two up to the ear from which they sometimes stretch across the fore- 
head. Pieces of copper and tin, or a marine plant, are frequently 
drawn through the lobes of the ears. Above the elbow and under the 
knee they wear bands of fine plaited cane, in which various leaves are 
intertwined, while their waist cloths are made of brass wire, fine 
matting and pieces of calico. 



266 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The Arruans live in villages containing a dozen houses or more. 
They cultivate gardens of yams, sweet potatoes and plantains, and 
shoot fish and wild hogs with iron-pointed arrows. In order to obtain 
from traders the weapons, ornaments and households utensils which 
they cannot themselves manufacture, they spend four or five months of 
the year in fishing for trepang (they are called "sea-cucumbers") and 
diving for pearls. This, in fact, is the occupation of most of the 
Papuan population who live on the islands adjacent to the western 
coast of New Guinea, and a description of how the work progresses 
among one tribe will apply to all the fishermen. 

There is a certain group of small islands, in the midst of which 
are both trepang and oyster banks. At low water, often, canoes are 
not even required to reach the fishing banks, and hundreds of men, 
women and children start from their island homes, wadingf through the 
ocean toward their destination. The baskets which they carry on 
their backs, and the iron-pointed sticks in their hands, tell the whole 
story of the manner in which they capture the sluggish trepang, which 
lie buried in the sand, their feathered tentacles floating above and 
revealing their whereabouts. The cucumber-shaped fish vary from 
eight inches to two feet in length. In deep water they are often dived 
for, but the larger ones are speared in shallow places. 

Both Malayans and Papuans scour the coasts and coral reefs of 
the Archipelago and Northeastern Australia to satisfy the insatiable 
appetite of the Chinese for this luxury. The fish are afterwards split 
down one side, boiled, pressed, dried and smoked. When the natives 
design to fish at a certain distance they load their families upon their 
praus, which have great beams ; planks which project forward from 
the bows for the use of the sailors; high, curved sterns ; rush sails, which 
fold up like fans and are set upon bamboo masts, each boat being pro- 
vided with two rudders and several palm-leaf huts. 

Before the pearl divers start out on their dangerous trips they first 
receive from the traders an advance of cloth, elephant tusks, brass 
gongs, porcelain dishes, etc., in payment for the oysters which they agree 
to furnish at a certain rate per hundred. Once at the oyster bank, the 
diver proceeds bravely with his part of the contract, despite the possi- 
bilities of ruptured blood-vessels and ravenous sharks, and the trader trusts 
to fortune that the small black oysters which he brings from the depths 
will contain a generous quantity of pearls. 

WAYS OF THE TRADER. 
The tusks mentioned above are used by the natives at their 



WAYS OF THE TRADER. . 267 

funeral ceremonies, while the dishes are placed upon the graves. These 
articles are so used by the natives of Timorlaut, Serwatty and other 
islands between Papua and Australia, and in consequence no enterpris- 
ing trader neglects to lay in a goodly supply when he starts out on his 
usual trips. He also takes with him quantities of palm wine, which is 
an adjunct to not only betrothal and marriage feasts, but to ordinary life. 
Following is a graphic account of the way in which this trading is some- 
times carried on : " When the boats arrive off the coasts they land the 
articles they have for barter, in small quantities at a time, on the beach, 
when the natives immediately come down with the produce they have 
Tor sale and place it opposite these goods, pointing to the articles or 
description of articles they wish to obtain in exchange. The trader 
then makes an offer, generally very small at first, which he increases by 
degrees ; if not accepted, which the native signifies by a shake of the 
head, should the trader hesitate a moment about adding more to his 
offer, it is considered sufficient by the native — he snatches it up and 
darts off with it into the jungle, leaving his own goods ; or should he 
consider it too little, he seizes his own property and flies off with equal 
haste, never returning a second time to the same person." More gen- 
erally the traders remain on their boats, which are anchored close to 
the land and push their goods on shore in a small canoe, to which a line 
is attached for the purpose of hauling it back, when the goods have 
been removed and the articles given in exchange have been deposited. 

SOCIAL REGULATIONS. 

The following interesting details are given by a romantic traveler, 
who was furthermore much impressed with the delicacy of the social 
relations which he witnessed among a Papuan tribe inhabiting an 
island off the coast of New Guinea : " No native can take unto himself 
a wife until he has delivered the marriage present. This is not usually 
all paid at once, but by instalments during several years. A father who 
has many daughters becomes a rich man by these presents Avhich he 
receives on their marriage. If a young man wishes to marry and is 
possessed of nothing, it often occurs that he makes a voyage of a year's 
duration among the other islands. Making known his purpose, he 
demands contributions from those he visits, to enable him to make up 
the instalment of goods which it is necessary to place in the hands of 
the parents. It is not lawful for a man to enter the house of a neighbor 
during his absence, and if anyone offends in this particular, he is obliged 
to pay a piece of cloth or some other goods to the owner of the house. 
The sentence is passed by the elders who openly call upon the offender 



268 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

to pay the fine, which makes him so ashamed that he either does so or 
immediately leaves the village. The fine is called pakul dende by the 
natives. Should any one even touch the wife of another he must make 
a large atonement for the offense. They pride themselves much in the 
possession of a number of elephant's tusks and brass gongs; the value 
of the first being determined according to their length and of the latter 
by their weight and circumference." 

PIRATES AND COAST TRIBES. 

The pirates of the race are the Papuans of the Gulf of Onin, or 
MacCluer's Inlet, on the western coast. They are not in the habit of 
ranging the coast and neighboring islands for the purpose of plundering 
the boats of native traders, but are on the look-out for slaves, whom they 
sell to the Ceramese and Chinese. The pirates sally out in their fleets 
or flotillas, and when the news gets abroad there is a general stampeding 
of the coast tribes to their strongholds and the interior tribes to their 
mountain homes. This creates a total cessation of trade and a season 
of great depression in legitimate traffic. 

It is stated that the country of the Onins has not been exactly 
located ; that they are not cruel by nature, and when they sally out in 
their piratical fleets of a hundred or more vessels, thej^ are moved prin- 
cipally by restlessness and a desire to distinguish, or advertise them- 
selves. They are really considered as among the most numerous and 
powerful of the Papuan tribes, and probably dwell near the headwaters 
of certain streams which are inaccessible to the boats of the traders, 
although navigable by their own light vessels. They erect a number of 
houses on the shores of the inlet which serve as trading stations and to 
which they annually repair to receive elephants' tusks and porcelain 
dishes in exchano^e for their own groods! 

Early travelers to New Guinea, when nothing even was known of 
the habits of the coast tribes, became convinced that they had discovered 
the missing link when they witnessed the great mangrove forests, which 
stretch far out into the ocean, black with human beings, who were dart- 
ing hither and thither among the branches like monkeys. Later, they 
discovered that the coasts were lined with dense forests of these trees, 
whose branches firmly interlaced above, while below their masses of roots 
opposed a breakwater to the tide and gradually new land was formed. 
It is impossible to penetrate this solid band of forest and jungle, grow- 
\n<r out of the sea ; and as the natives were obliged to gret to the water 
in order to obtain their food, they naturally chose the highway over- 
head, which constant travel had made as natural to them as Broadway 



PIRATES AND COAST TRIBES. 



269 



to the New York merchant. Up to date, these Papuans of the coast 
have no other thoroughfare. Since the early Aoyagers were so astounded 
at the sight, European soldiers have been seen, with muskets on their 
shoulders, steadily making their way over these same mangrove swamps 
and forests. 

The people of the southwest coasts seem to combine the most agree- 
able Papuan traits, though even they can number only up to ten, and 
reckon time by the arrival and departure of the traders ; the traders, in 
turn, regulate their journeys by the dry and rainy seasons, so that, 
although crude, the reckoning is not altogether inaccurate. The coasts 




A SEA COAST HOUSE. 

are lined with limestone rocks, containing many natural caverns, which 
serve as repositories for the bones of their dead. The natives also build 
tombs near their huts, where the bones are placed after the body has 
remained underground for a year or two. 

The houses of the coast tribes are generally built on poles or piles, 
and so overhang the river or ocean that the water can be seen through 
the bamboo canes which form the floor. The bodies of the houses are 
low, but they have very high roofs, are sometimes over one hundred feet 
long and so divided into apartments as to accommodate many families, 
or an entire tribe. Each family who resides in the building has its own 
door and its cooking-place, at which plantains, fish and turtle-eggs are 



270 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

prepared. Bananas, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit and oranges also add materi- 
ally to the bill of fare. Many of these houses extend, on their pile 
foundations, out into the sea, and during the high tides the water rises up 
to their floors. The end nearest to the sea is left open on three sides 
and here the male inhabitants are generally to be found, when at home, 
making and repairing their implements and fishing gear, or lying down 
smoking tobacco. Light boxes of palm leaves, ornamented with shells, 
from their clothes presses. Then there are the hunting and fishing gear, 
dishes of earthenware, wooden mortars for husking rice and maize, 
sleeping mats and pillows. The pillows consist of round blocks of wood, 
or stools handsomely carved. 

Besides their good houses, which are connected with the shore by a 
bridge, many villages have an octagonal temple, ornamented within and 
without with figures of animals and various representations. Nothing 
is known of their religion, if they have one. A few of the Papuan tribes 
have the idea that life and death are in the hands of some Supreme 
Being, but nothing in the nature of worship has been discovered. One 
of the largest of these'heathen temples has a Dutch flag flying from its 
spire, which was presented to the natives by the authorities of the 
Netherlands, who thus, unknown to the simple Papuans, have received 
a formal acknowledgment of foreign rule. 

THE PHILIPPINE NEGRITOS. 

A tribe of Papuan pigmies scarcely more than four feet in height, 
but well-formed and sprightly, inhabit the mountainous regions of the 
Philippine Islands, especially the ranges of Luzon, the largest of the 
group. They are a shade or two lighter than the true negro, and are 
known as the Ahetas by the Malayans of the villages and coasts. 
The Spaniards gave them the name which has most closely clung to 
them. There are no people of the Papuan race, not even the Alfores 
of New Guinea, who evince such fierce and implacable hatred toward 
their ancient enemies, the Malayans, and the world generally. Yet, 
strange to say, when the Negrito is once captured and domesticated, 
taken fairly away from his mountain and forest home and subjected to 
ofood food and kind treatment, he becomes cheerful and docile, and, 
unlike the Australian, his attacks of homesickness are rare. But Avhile 
a savage his disposition is everything which that name implies. 

REVENGE UPON THE MALAYANS. 

When a warrior of a tribe dies. It is customary for one of his com- 



REVENGE UPON THE MALAYANS. 2']\ 

panions to present himself to his friends and the parents of the 
deceased, with his palm-wood bow in his hand and his quiver filled with 
arrows at his back, and swear that he will not return until he has his 
revenge upon a Malayan, for the witchcraft of that race brought death 
upon their hero. He promptly starts out on his mission, his first step 
beinof to climb some hicrh tree, or lurk in some thicket, in order to dis- 
cover where his enemies bathe, or the brook from which they collect 
the golden sand. His arrows are poisoned, so that a wound is almost 
instantly fatal. It first produces a violent thirst, and when the victim 
attempts to satisfy his longing for water he dies at once. So the 
Negrito lurks, waiting for his victim, and when he has shot his deadly 
arrow to its mark he flies back to his mountain friends, and the death 
of their warrior is celebrated in songs, dances and rejoicings over the 
fall of another of the hated race. 

HOMELESS VAGABONDS. 

Although the habits of the Negritos have been hidden, not only 
by their unfriendly dispositions, but by the thick forests of their moun- 
tain country, two or three Frenchmen, with the finesse of that 
people, have penetrated to their haunts and some of their secrets. 
Homes they have none, but wander about in search of roots, fruits, 
feathered game, deer, wild pigs and buffalo. They use the same 
poisoned arrows upon wild beasts as upon the Malayans, cutting away 
the flesh around the wound and just scorching the meat before it is 
eaten. The game is usually devoured on the spot, as they do not 
desire to be burdened with any unnecessary weight in their wanderings. 
They live together in tribes of fifty or sixty members. During the 
day, the aged and infirm and the children gather round a large fire, 
while the able-bodied are huntinsj in the woods. If the hunters return 
with sufificient game the party encamp either among the branches of the 
trees or upon the grass ; if it is cold, a huge fire is built, and men, women 
and children roll themselves in the warm ashes preparatory to sleep. 
Such an exposed and irregular life has the effect of soon destroying 
the naturally fair outlines of their bodies, so that the young grow old 
very rapidly and the old are hideous. They take no pains even with 
their hair, merely twisting it into a sort of crown or round mat. Their 
clothing is a belt of bark about eicrht or ten inches wide. The feature 
of the Negrito which is most striking is his eye, it being as keen as an 
eagle's, and from it continually shoots a yellow glitter. When he 
speaks he chatters like an ape or chirrups like a bird — so these Frenchmen 
say who have heard him talk. His language consists of but a few words. 



272 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The Negritos, in fact, possess little to boast of, their accomplish- 
ments being their skill in climbing and with their weapons. They seize 
the trunk with both hands, and, using the feet as a lever, they shoot up 
like monkeys. They are as swift of foot as their arrows in the air. 
Even the children of both sexes, while their parents are in the woods, 
are practicing with their tiny bows and arrows. Neither is their sport 
entirely useless, for more than one diminutive Negrito brings to the 
camp-fire a plump fish which he has shot from the bank of a stream. 
These companies of hunters to which we have referred in the mountain 
forests of the Philippines, accompanied by one or two little dogs of a 
singular breed, which aid the hunters in pursuing the prey after it has 
been wounded. 

Should one of the aged persons left behind be taken with a mortal 
illness, it is not a part of their code that he should be buried dead • 
but they put him in his grave as expeditiously as possible, and then 
sally forth, with lance and arrow, to slay — not necessarily a Malayan — 
but anything which may come in their way, whether man, stag, wild 
hog or buffalo. A warrior's death, however, must be avenged with the 
blood of a Malayan. When thus in quest of an expiatory victim, it is 
said, they take the precaution of breaking off the young shoots of the 
shrubs, as they pass by, and leave the broken ends hanging in the 
direction of their roots, for the purpose of warning neighbors and 
travelers to shun the path they are taking ; for if one of their own 
people should come across the avengers, they are bound to kill him. 
Their code demands it. Notwithstanding this apparently heartless 
haste in burying the bodies of the aged before the breath is fairly out 
of them, great respect is shown them while living, the native assemblies 
being always governed by one of the elders. 

The Negritos are most fickle in their manner of worship, bowing 
down to a tree or a rock in which they fancy they see something 
mysterious ; but only for a day, or until they discover something else 
which seems more worthy of their homage. They revere the dead 
and pay them a sort of worship by decorating their graves, for many 
successive years, with offerings of tobacco or betel. The Negritos, 
who inhabit some of the smaller islands of the Philippines, are more 
mild than those of Luzon, and more resemble the Alfores of the 
islands further south, in that they trade with the Malayans of the coast, 
exchanging wax and deer's horns for chopping-knives and tobacco. 

THE EXTINCT TASMANIANS. 
Tasmania, (formerly Van Diemen's land) is about 120 miles south- 



THE EXTINCT TASMANIANS. 2)^3 

east of Australia, and in 1804 was colonized by Great Britain as a con- 
vict station. At this time the inhabitants numbered about three thou- 
sand. The men averaged about five feet in height and the women, of 
course, less. Their eyes were usually dark brown, with jet-black pupils; 
hair crisp or woolly ; forehead high and narrow ; limbs lean and muscular; 
feet flat and turned inward. They seldom even built huts, the women 
being merely beasts of burden as they moved from one part of the island 
to the other, being especially charged with the carrying of fire. In 
summer they went naked ; in winter covered with a kangaroo or opossum 
skin. These animals, with shell fish and a prolific fungus which grows 
near the roots of decayed trees, formed their chief articles of diet. 

They were ignorant, dirty and lazy ; but knew enough to rebel w^ith 
spear and waddy when their women and their hunting grounds were 
seized upon by savage convicts. In many cases their revenge was 
awful, but their spears and short wooden clubs were powerless against 
the improved firearms of the settlers who were now obliged to shoot 
them down in self-defence. For many years the Black War continued, 
until the desperate natives were reduced to a few hundred, when an 
attempt was made by means of a cordon extending across the island, 
and gradually closing in toward the southeast, to drive them into 
Tasman's peninsula. But the wild and mountainous condition of the 
country rendered the attempt ridiculously futile, and the great expense 
which the colony had already incurred induced it to adopt a pacific 
policy. 

A builder, named Robinson, and a resident of Hobart's Town, who 
was well acquainted with the habits and language of the aborigines, took 
with him a native woman as guide, and, venturing unarmed into their 
very midst, so worked upon their better natures as to peaceably 
bring the 210 men, women and children who then remained into that 
city , this was accomplished only after many months of patience and 
self-denial. This was in 1835. From Hobart's Town, the capital, they 
were removed to Flinder's Island, after Mr. Robinson d labored four 
or five years more in their behalf. 

In 1847 the Tasmanians, who had dwindled to forty-five, were again 
moved, being settled in the vicinity of Hobart's Town, where, notwith- 
standing they continued to be kindly treated, their candle of life flickered 
more and more. No children were born among them for many years. 
In 1865 only six of the tribe remained. 

Soon afterwards at a ball given at Government House, Hobart's 
Town, there were present neatly dressed in evening costume one old 
man and three old women, all that remained of the once-dreaded 
savages of Tasmania. is 



2 74 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




THE LAST OF THE TASMANIANS. 



THE EXTINCT TASMANIANS. 



■7^ 



In 1874 this one old woman of seventy-one years, Lidgiwidgi 
Tancaninni, queen of the Tasmanians, was the last surviving native. 
Five times she had been married, and each time to a king. Living in 
the house of the government inspector, she was known and pitied by all 
the white population of the island, being called Lalla Rookh. She 
received a small pension from the British government. But kindness 
and pity could not keep her poor paralytic frame from the grave, and 
she has followed her people and the great silent majority. 

THE SEMANGS. 



Papuan tribes have been discovered for a certainty in central por- 
tions of the Malayan Peninsula, at about the locality of the island of 




TWO VIEWS OF THE QUEEN. 

Penang, and extending from the mountains to the eastern coast. 

They are becoming more and more timid, as years go by, and more 
difficult of access, hiding as they do in the mountains and jungles 
and only venturing forth to barter with the Malayans for arms, knives, 
tobacco and cloth. Th-ey bring with them elephants' tusks, wax, woods, 
gum and canes, of Avhose value they know little. But while they are 
often imposed upon by the crafty Malayans they, in turn, palm off upon 
their more civilized neighbors certain herbs and shrubs which they 
pretend are sure cures for headaches and other complaints. 



276 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The Malayans have no traditions of the origin of these Papuan 
tribes and designate them according to the locaHties in which they are 
found, as Semangs of the plain, of the hills and of the jungles. The 
native food consists of birds, rats, monkeys, rhinoceri and elephants, 
with occasional supplies of rice or salt from the coast. Small game they 
kill with the sumpit, a blow pipe through which they project poisoned 
darts. Although they occasionally obtain improved weapons they 
still rely upon the bow, the spear and native ingenuity for their principal 
supply of food. They, in turn, seldom suffer from beasts of prey, being 
protected, as much as anything, by their sharp eyes and wonderful 
dexterity in climbing trees. 

Many stories are told of their coolness and ingenuity in the capture 
of the elephant and the rhinoceros, two of which will serve to illustrate: 
A party which seek the elephant finally spy the huge beast upon a hill. 

One of their number follows him, 
being armed with a pointed bamboo 
stick, which has been hardened by 
fire and dipped in poison. As the 
elephant slowly descends the hill, 
lifting his great feet cautiously from 
the ground, the Semang creeps up 
behind and forces his stick into the 
sole with all his strencrth. Con- 
stant practice has made the thrust 
so effectual as usually to lame the 
elephant and cause him to fall. 
The balance of the party, who are 
waiting for this, rush upon the beast 
with their spears and pointed sticks, 
and, dancing around like madmen, 
thrusting here and there, soon des- 
patch him. The natives capture the rhinoceros by approaching him 
while he is peacefully reposing in a bed of soft mud, and, by building 
a fire over him, actually harden it so effectually that he is securely 
imprisoned and despatched at their leisure. His snout horn is carefully 
preserved for the Malayans, who believe possesses medicinal qualities. 
The Semangs share their property in common, being also governed 
by chiefs. They are said to worship the sun. Their plan of naming chil- 
dren is but an evidence of the paucity of their language, curious though 
it is. They are called after particular trees ; if a child is born under or 
near a cocoa-nut, or any tree in the forest, it is named accordingly. 




A NEW IRELAND BOY. 



THE SEMANGS. 



277 




A NEW IRELAXDER. 



It has been asserted by intelligent natives of Anam that woolly- 
haired tribes still exist in the mountains which are situated in the 
eastern part of Cochin China. They are considered the aborigines of 
the country, and have been described as very black and resembling the 
Caffres of Africa in their general features. Toward Central India, to 
the noi^thwest of the Malay Peninsula, no 
one claims to be aware of the existence of 
any natives who could be tortured into the 
semblance of Papuans. 

From the foregoing it is evident that the 
race is found in its greater purity in New 
Guinea and in the Nigritoes of the Philip- 
pines, whose physical and mental character- 
istics are the same as those of the interior 
tribes of Papua, the Moluccas and other '. 
neiohboring islands ; that the blood of the ^ 
race is sprinkled from Polynesia to the Malay 
Peninsula, and from the lower Archipelago 
to the Philippines, although the Papuans 
as a distinctive people have been confined to a comparatively small 
area. They have mixed with the Malayans, with the Polynesians, 
and, to some extent, with the Australians. An example of the 
latter combination may be found in the natives of New Ireland, 
east of Papua. Their villages and their canoes are neat but both 
small. Dogs and pigs are their only large animals, and the turtle 
would near!)' complete the list. Dense forests of huge trees cover 
the lofty hills of the island ; the fancy woods which the natives obtain 
from them and beautiful shells from the tortoises form their chief reli- 
ance in trade. These New Irelanders are chiefly interesting, however, 
as the connecting link between races. In the illustrations of the two 
types which are given, it will be observed that the boy has more of the 
negro blood and the man of the Australian ; in fact the natives of the 
island are often called Australian negroes. 

Tribes, also, so closely related to the Australians as to be classed 
with them are found in the New Hebrides and Solomon's Islands, east 
of Papua, as in New Guinea itself There is every probability that the 
spread of population was from Papua and that there is little Malayan 
blood in the composition of the Australian. The islands in the natural 
line of travel from Papua to Australia are inhabited not only by distinct 
types of both Papuans and Malayans, but by those composite tribes who 
present the most degraded representatives of human kind. They are 



278 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



filthy in the extreme and evince Httle desire or aptitude for improve- 
ment. In fact, they conform to the general law that the best foundations 
upon which to build characters and states are sharply defined race char- 
acteristics. We have Malayan and negro kingdoms, with strong individ- 
ualities, but it is difficult to conceive of a powerful nation of quadroons 
or a mixed Chinese and Enolish race. In the course of acres the giant 
may evolve by the intermixture of the world's families, but the average 
experience has been that the crossing of races results in the production 
of a weaker type than either of the originals. 





THE AUSTRALIANS. 



n T^^!^f§(S!S^ ■■ 




|P TO the present time a large portion of the central regions of 
Australia has not been explored. It is hard to realize that 
from the center of the island continent one could travel a 
thousand miles in anv direction without reachingr the sea 
coast. And yet it is not distance alone which has deterred 
the bold explorers of the world from penetrating every nook 
of the unknown interior. So far as is known, the distressing 
spectacle is presented of over a million square miles of earth 
which is undrained by any system of rivers or lakes. The 
great interior of the continent is a depressed table land, and 
even here, from the minor explorations which have been made, it is 
evident there can be no reservoirs for the supply of rivers, since the 
evaporation and absorption of water are astonishing in their rapidity. All 
the supply of water which the traveler can hope to obtain, except that 
which he takes with him, must be wrested from the wild and emaciated 
native, who has been driven from the coast regions, and guards his 
water pits as jealously as any denizen of the great Sahara desert. 
The first expeditions which penetrated Central Australia, in spite of 
the terrible suffering and often death of their participants, owed their 
partial success to the native wells. They are little more than holes 
sunk in the sand with a slight curve, which both shields them from the 
burning sun and hides them from observation. The instinct which is 
thus shown in striking water goes far beyond all the knowledge and 
experience of the European mind. Colonel Warburton, an English 
traveler, who nearlv lost his life in crossinof the western interior of the 
continent, admits that out of fifty attempts which his party made to 
find water, they were successful in but one case. They were therefore 
obliged to systematically hunt for natives, and if they were fortunate 
enough to capture them and detain them, they were sometimes forced to 
reveal the presence of the treasured wells. In a country where game 
is scarce, and where the native is eneaeed in a constant struggle with 

nature, he is apt to be timid when he comes in contact with man. The 

279 



28o 



PAI^ORAMA OF NATIONS. 



population is sparse, and such of the interior Australians as travelers 
have seen, are as weak, forlorn and cowardly objects as can be found in 
savage life. They have not even been hardened by contact with beasts 
of prey, for such do not exist in Australia. Therefore neither savage 
nor beast willlie in the way of the explorer. Yet he has another fearful 
obstacle to overcome. 

THE GREAT INLAND FLOOD-BREEDER. 

Australia is both the land of drought and the land of floods. The 
cool currents from the Antarctic regions are constantly coming up 

from the south and 
find in or no ereat 
mountain chains to 
bar their course, 
spread over the hot 
land as far inward 
as they can. The 
northwest mon- 
soons from the In- 
dian ocean blow on 
the coast four 
-^ months of the year, 
^^ penetrating far in- 
land, their force 
being seen in 
'ribbed waves of 
sand over five hun- 
dred miles from the 
, seashore. In ex- 
J tr e m e drouo'hts 
' these adverse cur- 
rents of air may 
' meet ; one laden 
with the warm 
vapors of the In- 
dian Ocean, the 
other called also far inland, with its cool breath, to take the place of the 
more rarified atmosphere of the continent. Like two immeasurable seas 
they come together, and the warm vapors of the ocean are condensed 
into resistless floods. They pour clown upon the plain in such torrents 
that the parched land is powerless to evaporate them, even if the cool 




AN AUSTRALIAN SAVAGE. 



THE GREAT INLAND FLOOD-BREEDER. 28 1 

southern bre eze were not at its work of gigantic condensation. There 
are no large rivers to draw off the waters of the plains, and, even when 
the monsoon has ceased to blow, this alternate evaporation and the con- 
densation by the southern currents may go on indefinitely. Then may 
come another year or several }-ears of drought, and a year or years of 
floods. The tremendous overfiow spreads over the plain and surges 
over the country until it even reaches the slight water sheds of the coasts. 
In Western Australia the bed of the Swan River has, perhaps, 
been so long dry that the footprints of explorers who have crossed it 
three years previously may still be seen in the sand ; but with the 
coming of this deluge it is expanded into a seething lagoon or chain 
of lakes, which is again evaporated and absorbed like magic. A 
traveler tells a story which graphicall)^ illustrates the sudden onslaught 
of the waters. With a flock of sheep, he was encamped on the bed 
of a river which was a quarter of a mile wide, but which, by drought, 
had been diminished to a little brook. On a remarkably hot afternoon, 
a distant rushing sound became audible, and on looking up the dry 
reach, his party saw a solid wall of water bearing down upon them. 
There was only just time to get the sheep across before the whole bed 
of the river became a turbid sheet of water. In half an hour it was 
saddle-flap deep, and at daylight, on the following morning, neither 
man nor horse could have crossed without dano^er. This sudden rise was 
occasioned b}' a rain on its tributary several hundred miles away. 
Another peculiarit)- of so-called Australian rivers is that when full of 
water, without apparent warning, they will drop into a marsh or quick- 
sand and entirely disappear. These uncertainties of water supply and 
horrors of sudden floods obviously explain the mystery w^hich surrounds 
the fate of more than one exploring party which has been swallowed 
up in Central and Western Australia. 

INTERIOR SAVAGES. 

The latest explorations into the interior of tne continent dispel 
former delusions either of a great inland sea, or a uniform desert. Por- 
tions of the very central regions are watered by springs, either issuing 
from the surface of the plains or from the tops of curious conical emi- 
nences, evidently of volcanic origin ; these eminences varying from the 
size of a beehive to a considerable hill. Certain districts are found 
thickly grassed and watered by streams. Tracts of country, described 
by previous explorers as sandy wastes, were found clad in verdure ; where 
one party almost perished of thirst, another was almost overwhelmed by." 
a flood. Whether these natural obstacles to colonization will ever be 



282 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

surmounted remains to be seen ; it may be that later investigation will 
prove that there are extensive tracts of country which are permanently 
watered, permanently drained, and which escape the desolations of the 
inland floods. But the picture which is drawn of the natives of Cen- 
tral Australia is sufficiently dreary to deter any but those of the strong- 
est hearts: "Wandering hundreds of miles from one well in the sandhills 
to another, from one dried-up water hole to another, brackish and salt. 
One small party is enough for any one camp, and the camps are too far 
apart for any gathering or increase into what can be called a tribe. They 
are here a miserable, weak race, struggling hard for existence in dry 
seasons and camping listlessly upon the lakes, lagoons and marshes in 
the wet seasons. They eat more rats than kangaroos in the plains, and 
more frogs than fish on the river banks. No equal tract of country in 
almost any climate supports so few men. The so-called deserts of Africa 
are richer in all life, vegetable, animal and human, beyond all compari- 
son." Over this vast table-land, now a desert and now a diversified 
plain, the aborigines wander, entirely naked, their lives so uncertain 
that they do not even build huts but are content with the shelter of 
large boughs or strips of bark. These rude shelters are called "mimis," 
and are usually made of the gum-tree bark. Under them they creep 
at night, their spears and war weapons stuck around, and throw them- 
selves upon the bare ground or upon a few opossum skins sewn together 
with kangaroo sinews. Even rats which they catch are often eaten raw, 
and if they discover a collection of fat grubs in a rotten tree, they have 
found a luxury indeed. The necessities of life have made it more neces 
sary for the people of the interior to harmonize ; therefore there is more 
similarity in their language than in that of the Eastern and coast tribes, 
who are both civilized and quarrelsome. The natives of the interior 
are not even intelligent enough to have any general mythology or super- 
stition. They have some faint idea that some time, somehow, some huge 
animal which their forefathers had faintly remembered to have heard 
about from their forefathers would reappear and destroy the wicked. 

NATIVE SUPERSTITIONS. 

Those tribes Avho have obtained the ghost of ideas from white men 
are said to believe in good and bad spirits and have a notion that the 
white men are the reanimated souls of blacks. This superstition, which, 
prevails among some of the Eastern and Southern tribes, has been the 
means of saving travelers from a great many hardships. One black 
will take you for "his father jumped-up white man ; " or, translated from 



NATIVE SUPERSTITION. 283 

their language not so literally, "his father resurrected as a white man ;" 
while another may cordially receive your companion, suftering- likewise 
Avith hunger and thirst, as his deceased brother. A tale is told which is 
even an improvement on this: A party of convicts once escaped from 
Fort Phillip, Victoria, and, wandering far into the country, all perished 
but one man. In his weary journeyings, nearly dead from exhaustion 
and lack of food and water, he found a grave with the spears of the 
deceased placed thereon. These he took, intending to use them in self- 
defence ; but they answered a far different purpose, for, meeting with 
some members of the tribe who had thus buried their warrior, they 
recognized his weapons, and conceived the stranger to be their " hon- 
ored chief jumped-up white man." The convict was adopted and lived 
with the tribe thirty years. 

If one is not in bodily peril it is often quite inconvenient to be taken 
for the blood relation of a large family of Australians. The natives are 
unmistakably in earnest, and the women are especially demonstrative. 
Tears stream down their cheeks as they advance to meet a father, hus- 
band or brother. The oldest and most filthy of them all throws her 
arms around his body and rests her head upon his breast, then kisses 
him upon each cheek; others kneel crying at his feet. The men encircle 
him with their arms, out their rio^ht hands against his right knee and 
lean their greasy breasts against him. Ev^:n the young children are 
brought to meet their newly-found relative, kicking and screaming with 
fright at the sight of so strange a man. At length they are quieted and 
proceed to put their fingers in their mouths and smear over every ex- 
posed part of his body to see if it is painted. When asked how it is 
that the "jumped-up white man" does not know his relatives, at sight, 
they express the most unbounded surprise themselves, as they pretend 
to recognize their lost one by some similarity of form or expression in 
the person of the stranger. Before the black fellow takes a white body 
unto himself he is said to live in the clouds, with plenty to eat and drink, 
being in charge of a father and three male children. When the black 
fellow so desires he is let down by a rope to visit the world below. Some 
have fixed upon this father as the Creator of the world ; others assert 
that all thingrs were made with one stroke of the tail of a laroe moun-- 
tain serpent. 

The natives thoroughly dread a " devil-devil," or " bunyip," who must 
be a superlative sort of an Evil One, and would not dare to venture 
out after night-fall unless armed with fire-sticks. The Australian native 
sees the "boyl-yas," or bad spirits sitting astride the limbs of trees with 
their crooked legs dangling down, or paddling about in a canoe seek- 



284 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ing human victims. There is also the sprite which gives the black fellow 
bad dreams. All that any of them really want is a light and if they can- 
not get that they will have the black fellow ; so after dark he is always 
provided with a fire stick, which, in case the sprite appears, he twirls 
around his head and throws at him. The water spirits, if not driven 
away, are particularly fond of inoculating the blacks with lingering dis- 
eases. To expel these they have sorcerers who usually work in pairs or 
in threes, one working over the affected part and the other singing and 
dancing. A stone is extracted from the diseased member and hastily 
buried out of sight, after which with much howling and dancing about, 
the sorcerers rush toward the water driving the evil spirit before them. 
Neither are the Australians' theories regarding the heavenly bodies 
and natural phenomena the most advanced. They think the sun and 
moon are thrown up into the sky by certain tribes, and when they come 
down they are caught by other tribes so that they cannot be hurt. The 
moon is a human being whom they meet, sometimes, in their hunting 
excursions. On Mount Elliott, Queensland, is a large space devoid of 
vegetation, which the moon brought to this pass by throwing its boome- 
rang around it. The falling stars are danger signals ; comets are ghosts 
of their tribe. An eclipse is caused by some mischievous member of a 
tribe who places a sheet of bark before the sun to frighten the rest. 
This explanation, no doubt, is sometimes given to ease their own minds 
of terror ; but they try to charm away the darkness by all sorts of incan- 
tations. The rainbow blesses them by pointing to the sheet of water 
into which it is rainincj fish, or to a rich collection of roots or crrubs. It 
is not to be understood that these ideas are uniformly held by the Aus- 
tralians — there is no uniformity in any of their beliefs. 

HOW THEY LOOK. 

The Australian natives are always called "blacks," but when freed 
from the grease, charcoal, ochre and dirt with which they adorn them- 
selves they are often found to be of a purplish-copper hue. Their hair 
is curly, but not crisped like the wool of a negro, while the beards of 
the men are wiry and abundant ; indeed the whole body is often covered 
with hair. These features, with their dark hazel eyes, the white being 
bloodshot and tinged with yellow, give them a peculiarly ferocious ap- 
pearance. Their faces are well developed, and broad at the base ; they 
have high cheek bones, projecting brows, broad depressed noses (so 
fashioned in infancy), large but pleasant mouths, beautiful teeth 
and retreating chins. They are deficient in muscularity, but capable 



HOW THEY LOOK. 



285 



of great endurance. They are seldom corpulent, although the 
natural deficiency is counterbalanced by the artificial oils which 
they rub over their bodies. A peculiar mode of greasing themselves, 
which is also suggestive of their indolent natures, is to stand 
in the scorching sun with the head covered with the entrails of a fish. 




AUSTRALIAN BOOMERANGS. 



286 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

If they are very civilized they are wrapped around with opossum 
skins, or with blankets made by beating out the inner bark of the tea 
tree ; if they are near a settlement they wear sheepskins or blankets, 
distributed by the townsmen. The warrior marks every rib in his body 
with a stripe of white ochre, so that in the dusk or by the light of the- 
moon he looks like an animated skeleton. On festive occasions the 
hair is plastered with bright red ochre, and decorated with feathers. 
Some tribes wear a lono- kano-aroo bone thrust throucrh a hole in the 
cartilage of the nose ; or carry their clay pipes in this fashion. Both 
sexes gash the flesh of their bodies with shells and stuff the cuts with 
clay, so that they will heal in ridges, which are considered the height of 
fashion. 

But decorated, or undecorated, the poor "gin," or wife, who per- 
haps has merely been carried away bodily when her lord considered it 
time to marry her, has now to stand all the burdens of the day, 
besides being rapped by her husband's waddy (or club) upon every 
possible occasion. The waddy, in fact, seems to be used, indiscrimi- 
nately to brain a wild dog, or maim a refractory "gin." 

AUSTRALIAN WEAPONS. 

The other principal weapons of the Australian are the spear and 
the boomerang. The former weapon they will fling to a distance of 
eighty yards with the greatest precision. Its construction depends 
upon whether it is to be cast from the wimmera (throwing stick) or 
launched from the hand ; if it is cast from the former it is generally 
made of reed, tipped with hard wood, ending in a huge shark's tooth. 
The boomerang is one of the most puzzling and effective weapons 
ever invented by a savage. It is indigenous to Australia, and it is 
one of the mysteries of the world how such a people ever conceived 
it. A very hard piece of wood, about two feet long, two and a half inches 
wide and one-eighth of an inch thick, is bent to a slight curve. Its ends 
are rounded, one side being convex and the other flat. The native takes 
hold of one end, with the convex edge forward and the flat side up, 
rapidly recedes a few paces, wheels half round and dashes the boom- 
erang downward, so that it meets the ground at a few yards' distance 
from the feet. A rotary motion is imparted to the weapon as its 
rounded side strikes the ground, and rising with a loud, whirring sound, 
it performs a circuit of at least one hundred yards and falls behind the 
projector. The boomerang (the name of which is a fair representation 
of the noise it makes when it first rises into the air) is used in war or 



AUSTRALIAN WEAPONS. 287 

in the chase ; although for hunting purposes it is often constructed so 
as not to recoil. Except in the extreme north, the bow is quite 
unknown in Australia. Here the natives, who are very warlike, use 
long clumsy bows made of bamboo. The Northern Australians at one 
time also fashioned a sword out of wood, which was shaped something 
like a cutlass. A wooden sword has not a very warlike ring when 
sounded merely with the mouth, but in reality is no infant's weapon. It 
is made of the hardest wood, five feet long, five inches broad and 
correspondingly thick, with a very small handle. The warrior's shield 
is long and light, and is used as a support for this log of a sword. This 
holds the weapon above his head, from which elevation it descends upon 
the body of the adversary like a bar of iron. Their lance Avas a long, 
straight pole, sharp at one end and hardened by heat. When the 
Australian lives near a European settlement, he generally obtains an 
iron hatchet or tomahawk, which he finds of Q-reat use in notchinof the 
trunks of trees so that he may climb them in quest of 'possums. His 
stone hatchet he uses to chop out his canoe from the trunk of a tree or 
in cutting spear shafts. 

AFTER HIS FOOD. 

If he is after a 'possum, he also takes his waddy with him, 
with which he knocks his sleepy game on the head, after he has climbed 
up the big gum-tree and cut him out of the hollow trunk. Wreathing 
his head with grasses and weeds, throwing aside all encumbrances, and 
gliding out into the water, he reaches gently underneath and pulls the 
wild duck down by the legs. Or he captures a snake or a lizard, or the 
larvse of some white ants, or the hucje cream-colored maesfot found in 
the bark of the swamp oak. All will greatly depend upon his mood ; 
whether he is a lazy Australian or not, and also upon his habitat. 
Disgusting as the latter article of food seems, famished European 
explorers who have been forced to that diet pronounce it not unpal- 
atable. 

While searching for his opossum the native hunter is apt to come 
across a little bear, or sloth, not bigger than a kitten, especially if he 
has worked his way up a pretty high tree. The innocent looking little 
beast has a round, bold face, small black eyes and square hairy ears, and 
her ridiculous gravity is made more laughable by the absence of a tail. 
But her flesh is good, though it has all the flavor of bear meat, and if 
the blackfellow does not want to eat his captive with the cubs which 
are clinging to her back, he will take the whole colony in to the nearest 
Avhite settlement and dispose of the animals for pets. The koala has a 



288 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

hide like iron, and as it is always away up in the world, it is almost 
useless to attempt to bring the game down with shot ; it is also nocturnal : 
so that the native has almost a monopoly on the koala. Much more 
exciting than climbing after the sleepy Australian bear is the hunt after 
the kangaroo, who booms over the ground with hops of from fifteen feet 
to twice that distance. Laroe numbers of the natives Qrather with their 
spears and clubs, and then close in upon a lot, having drawn a circle 
around them. If the hunters start up a brush kangaroo, he is more 
quickly brought to a stand. When the awkward marsupial gets his 
back up against a tree, the native is careful not to get too near the 
powerful claws of his hind feet, but while one engages his attention in 
front another steps quietly behind and brains him with a club. The 
capture of a "paddy melon" (a kangaroo not larger than a rabbit) is 
attended with great sport but no danger; and as the blackfellow's 
object is to obtain some tender soup meat from the tail and hams of the 
animal, he usually chooses the easier task. 

Unless very hungry indeed the native does not seek the dingo, 
or native Australian dog, for food. If he is in a sheep country, he may 
bring in a few of the yellow wolfish bodies to the squatter, and claim his 
reward ; they are very destructive to sheep, their bite being to them 
deadly poison. The little brutes will not attack a live man, but are as 
eager as vultures after a dead one. They are supposed to ha^^e origi- 
nated in Asia and followed the black man to Australia. 

One of the most singular ways, however, which the Australian has 
of getting something to eat is to burrow for it, like a mole. This he 
often does in his search after the qq-o- of the iunorle fowl. Down into 
the huge mound he oroes, disfainor with his hands and throwinor the dirt 
between his legs, to the depth of ten feet. The bird has gone through 
with much the same performance, except she stood on one leg and kicked 
the leaves, grass and earth behind her, and after she had deposited the 
egg at the bottom, threw back the diggings, and smoothed and rounded 
over the top of the mound. The native may dive after the egg half a 
dozen times, but if he is not stifled or completely exhausted, he eventually 
brings up the treasure. These mounds are sometimes as large as a 
good-sized hut. They are found mostly in Northern Australia, and 
were at first supposed to be the burial grounds of savages, the existence 
of which in the whole continent is denied. 

Our savage who has been hunting and grubbing may be the head 
warrior or chief of a tribe, in which case he makes all the combinations. 
A long spear and an oval shaped shield, grotesquely stained with red 
and white clay and charcoal are in one hand ; a little dead 'possum and 



_^^v . ^ 



AFTER HIS FOOD. 28q 

a tomahawk swing down in the other ; boomerangs and a Avaddj^ are 
fastened across his shoulders by a broad piece of kangaroo skin and a red- 
tailed macaw's feather is stuck in his matted hair. His beard is white, 
his dark eyes are 
sunk deep in his 
head and notwith- 
standing all, when 
he talks, a pleas- 
ant smile l^ickers 
over his face, his 
white teeth gleam 
and he is not so 
very repulsive. 
But he shall be fol- 
lowed a little -r. --.^ 
further. He has W^^^-^ 
carved a rude 
figure upon his 
shield — possibly 
the artistic talents 
of his ancestors 
cropping out in 

his generation. 
In certain cav- 

erns on the west- ^ 

ern coast of the ~"" 

continent an in- 
teresting collec- 
tion of drawino- or 

paintings has been ^^ 

discovered. The ^^^l 

work is done in ^^^^^^\9 

red, blue and yel- *^"'-^*'' ^ 

low, probably " 

painted with the 

same kind of clajs 

which the natives 

use upon their 

bodies, v/ h e t h er 

alive or dead. 




ON THE HUNT. 



The figures represent turtles, porpoises, human hands and gigantic kan- 



290 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



garoos. Some of the figures are draped in a long tunic. Others are dressed 
in robes reaching to the feet, the face covered with a white drapery, 
with holes left for the eyes and a double ring around the head. A 



H 
X 

!?3 

O 
O 

JO 

?o 

o 

a 
O 
50 

w 




variety of characters were also employed, not unlike those used by the 
natives of the Indian Archipelago. Some of the figures seem to have 
head-dresses not unlike helmets. Near one of these caves is the profile of 



AFTER HIS FOOD. 29 1 

a foreign gentleman, cleepl)' cut and well executed. Whether these 
crude works of art were executed b)- the aborigines of the island who, 
undoubted!)', came from the northwest, via the East India islands; or 
whether they are evidences of the early explorations of Chinese and 
Malayan navigators cannot be determined. We are told that in quite 
ancient times the Chinese were acquainted with these shores, and we 
know that the Siamese were as bold navigators as the)'. 

NATIVE DANCES. 

Or is it possible that the ancient Phoenicians extended their name 
to the wild coasts of /-Yustralia, and left there these mementoes, as well 
as a dance which is called the corrobbary or corroboree. The perform- 
ances which take place upon the occasion of this dance are said, in fact, 
to be nearly allied to the ancient religious rites of Assyria and Phoenicia. 
The performers are divided into five distinct classes, the greater body 
comprising about twenty-five young men, including five or six boys, 
whose faces and ribs are traced Avith white paint. Tied to their legs are 
bunches of gum leaves, upon which they beat as they stamp around. 
On each side of the young men stand two groups of girls clad only in 
scant feather skirts, beating time with bunches of lea\'es and by stamp- 
ing their feet. Two characters decorated with fantastic feather head- 
dresses, painted like the dancers, are followed b)' a savage who carries a 
long spear, from the top of which hangs a bunch of feathers. At last 
come two elderlv men beating on rude instruments and singing or o-ab- 
bling in concert. The spearman seems to be the leader or director of 
ceremonies, and the spectators flock around the elderl)' singers and shout 
.their applause as the dance progresses. The music is furnished by the 
singers, by two men who rattle some sticks together, by the young men 
and maidens with their gum leaves, b)' the waving of those grotesque 
head-pieces which are tipped with feathers, and by the regular stamp 
of all those who take part in the performance. When the young men 
have danced before the tv\'o old men and sat down, to rounds of applause, 
the men with the spear and the head-dresses take their turn. All seem 
now and then to respond to encores, and after an intermission, during 
which pipes are lighted and conversation is brisk, the interest centers 
around the spearman. Having gone through with a species of Highland 
fling, he stoops, plants his spear in the ground and stands in a stooping 
position behind it. The dancers go through with the same motions and 
form a circular body around the spear, also grasping it. The men with 
the head-dresses do the same ; one on each side of this spear-bound body; 



292 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

both finally stand still, thrust in their hands and grasp the spear. At 
the same time all sink on their knees and begin to move away in a mass 
from the singers, with a sort of grunting noise, and, giving one long 
semi-grunt or groan (after the manner of the red kangaroo, as they say), 
disperse ; the music and stamping gradually die away, and shouts and 
acclamations rend the air. 

There are dances of minor importance, which have been confounded 
with the corroboree. In detail, even, the latter seems to be uniform 
throughout the continent. A favorite war dance is that which reveals, 
by the light of huge fires, tlie same principals and lookers-on as were 
seen at the corroboree. Round a circle the blacks are o-athered three 

o 

and four deep. The music seem.s, hovewer, to be principally furnished 
by the "gins" who drearily chant to the accompaniment of rude wind 
instruments, tom-toms and Jew's harps ; besides beating opossum skins 
which lie before them, with, sticks and clubs. Now the chant dies into 
a wail, now swells into triumphant volume as the dance progresses. The 
chiefs with the spear and head-dresses are there waving, their arms 
wildly about and uttering discordant cries, A party of young warriors 
now glide into the ring like, cats, stooping, bending, whispering, looking 
cautiously about, their dark eyes gleaming v.ath fiendish purpose. Sud- 
denly they dash upon a group, who are evidently important performers 
In the theatricals, and the party attacked rise up drowsily, as if from 
sleep, but are soon feebly resisting and crying foi mercy. A struggle 
ensues, spears flash toward the unfortunates, clubs are hurled so as to 
barely miss their mark ; warriors, old men and women break the circle, 
and yelling like fiends close in upon the supposed victims of the midnight 
surprise. After an intermission the dance is commenced, the old men 
heap a fresh supply of logs upon the bonfires and bedlam Is worse con- 
founded. The flames leap up, fierce and high, and light up the gloomy 
bush for a long distance around ; the dancers writhe and distort themselves 
into a state of partial delirium ; their teeth gleam like the tusks of wild 
animals, and their eye-balls roll more wickedly than the fiercest monarch 
of an Australian herd of cattle. When the dance is at the helQ;ht of 
deviltry, half a dozen effigies of women, made of saplings and clothed in 
'red blankets, are dragged Into the ring, to the chorus of hideous laugh- 
ter, and cast upon the largest fire. Some such demoniacal exhibition as 
this always accompanies these savage theatricals. 

A dance Is often given by one tribe in honor of another which has 
sent its chief men on a friendly visit. The reception committee, or 
principal warriors, seat themselves on the ground, cross-legged, and 
when the strangers have given an account of themselves the males of 



NATIVE DA^■CES. 



293 




TRAVELING WCMEN 



294 • PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

both tribes salute each other by putting their hands on each others' 
shoulders and bendino' their heads forward so as to touch each others' 
breasts. If the travelers tell of deaths, which touch the feelings of the 
reception committee, there is violent weeping and wailing, the stoutest 
warrior seeming not to deem the exhibition an unmanly one. The war- 
riors from the far country carry all their weapons and the women also 
accompany them, bearing bags and baskets, firesticks, sleeping mats and 
children. These are taken in charge by the women of the receiving- 
tribe, who lead them away to their huts. Then commence the prepara- 
tions for the dance ; the painting of bodies, and the manufacture of all 
sorts of devices from cockatoo and emu feathers, being the principal 
order of the clay and night. The women roll up kangaroo skins which 
they are to beat with their hands ; others bring out flat sticks which they 
will clap together. The dancing of the two tribes shows as much differ- 
ence in manner and style of figures as if they were distinct nationalities. 
The dance commences by the receiving tribe going through with a hunt- 
ing pantomime; imitating the actions of different animals, especially the 
kangaroo. After dancing for some time, the warriors pause suddenly 
with a deep gutteral exclamation and again start off, or drop all at once 
from a standing to a squatting posture and hop away with outstretched 
arms and legs. The women, who are adorned with opossum cloaks, 
bands of white swan clown around the head, and bunches of cockatoo 
feathers in front, dance at the corners, passing behind the body of the 
principal male dancers ; while the females of the other tribe dance in a 
line parallel to that of the men, who carry short sticks on which are tied 
bunches of feathers. Soon the dancers advance in a body, bearing on 
top of a pole the rude figure of a warrior made of grass, reeds, kangaroo 
skins, feathers and paint. This is relegated to the rear, and two poles 
are advanced, having upon them a number of branches decorated with 
feathers and painted bark. After more evolutions the dancers of the 
two tribes meet, prick one another in the shoulders with their spears, and 
the formalities of the occasion are considered over. 

But whether these dances are of a religious or a political nature, 
it is certain that the Bora signifies a ceremony by which the young 
men become warriors and are admitted to all the Drivilesfes of the 
tribe. Previous to the ceremony they are obliged to undergo certain 
tests of their courage and fortitude, as well as to live alone in the bush. 
Wlien the period of their probation is over, they are brought to the 
Bora ground which is usually a retired spot, on a slight elevation, 
level at the top. No white man has learned what there takes place. 
The women are excluded ; no one is allowed upon the ground who has 



NATIVE DANCES. 295 

not been himself initiated. A large circle is scooped out surrounded 
by a wall of earth in which two openings are left, one through which 
the youths enter and the other through which they pass if they are 
found worthy, as kippers or full-fledged warriors. In the center of 
the ground is placed the rough efifigy of an emu, a bird which the Aus- 
tralian seems to view with mysterious reverence, and over whose body, 
when killed, he will usually mumble some sort of an incantation or 
prayer. When the young warriors appear to the world, they are seen 
to have a tooth or two knocked out, or a part of a finger cut off ; but 
why or how 'twas done is a secret which is carried to the grave with 
their spears and boomerangs. To divulge the secrets of the Bora would 
be followed by dire vengeance. As one says who has tried to worm 
out the secret: "At night, over the camp-fire, when the horses have 
been hobbled, the pipes lit, and a pannikin of grog poured out, the 
black boy, drawn " into conversation by the master, for whom he has 
unbounded admiration, will sometimes wax communicative about the 
customs of his tribe ; but any question concerning the Bora only elicits 
a shake of the head and the reply: 'Suppossmine pialla you, black- 
fellow directly mumkull mine'" (If I told you the blacks would kill 
me at once). 

BURIAL CUSTOMS. 

A German missionary states : " At Moreton Bay, Queensland, a 
lad having died, several men gathered around the body and removed 
the head and the thick outer skin, which was rolled upon a stake, and 
dried over a slow fire. During this horrid ceremony the father and 
mother stood by, loudly weeping and lamenting ; and the thighs were 
then roasted and eaten by the parents. The liver, heart and entrails 
were divided among the warriors, who carried away portions on their 
spears ; and the skin and bones, together with the skull, were rolled up, 
and carried about by the parents in their grass bags or wallets." But 
this species of cannibalism is rather connected with the burial custom 
of the Australians than with their diet. They have nearl)- as many 
ways of disposing of their dead as there are tribes in the island. Some 
bury them in a crouching position, as do certain tribes in Southern 
Africa, and raise a small mound upon a platform of sticks placed over 
the mouth of the e^rave. The natives of New South Wales burn the 
body of the warrior after turning the face to the east, spears and 
weapons being arranged beside it. If he was slain in battle a platform 
is erected, upon which the corpse is placed cross-legged, being rubbed 
with a portion of its own fat mixed with ochre. Fires being kindled, 



296 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the friends and relatives gather around and remain for ten days in 
perfect silence, two of their number being armed with boughs of trees, 
with which to drive away flies. At the end of this time the body is 
covered with a kind of mat formed of long reed grass, the face quite 
exposed. After several weeks the corpse is taken down and buried, 
having become smoked and dried by the ten days' fire ; the skull is 
converted into a drinking vessel by the nearest relative, and the bones 
are either buried or carried about by members of the tribe as incen- 
tives to courage. Favorite children who have died are sometimes 
eaten, placed in the forks of trees, or carried about in a bag placed 
upon the shoulders of the mother. How long the loathsome load is 
to be borne is not known, but when a weak, half-starved woman 

chooses this part, as she often 
^ does, there is still hope and 
jjS^Bff^B there are possibilities for the 
^Z^S""^ most degraded of Australians. 
In the north of the continent 
"^ there are tribes who fix their 
^^dead warriors in the forks of 
'" trees ; others who place them 
in hollow stumps, smearing 
the skulls and bones 
with red and Avhite clay. 
Sad to relate, the aged and 
^'the weak meet with little 
I sympathy either in life or 
d-"^ death. The strucro-le for 
J^ existence is so terrible that 
infanticide is common, and 
AN AUSTRALIAN GRAVE. the notable absence of lame 

or otherwise incapacitated adults is accounted for on the savage reality 
of the survival of the fittest. The poor old women have their bodies 
crowded into badger holes, while those of the men are placed upon 
frameworks, and left to decay and to the crows ; the bones are after- 
wards collected and buried. 

The most savage of the Australian tribes seem to have some ideas, 
crude though they may be, in regard to punishment for murder. 
Attended by the chief men of the tribe, the culprit is led to a secluded 
spot, the widows or other near relatives of the deceased wailing and 
lacerating their bodies with sharp stones as the company proceeds. Hav- 
ing chosen the ground, the accuser stands behind the criminal who 




Z^-i'W^^^il^^ 



]>i%?^'*%'* 



BURIAL CUSTOMS. 297 

carries the spear with which the deed was done. The latter is oblige to 
hold out his right arm and receive a severe thrust in it at the hands of one 
of the near relatives of the deceased or a head man of the tribe. The 
punishment seems inadequate, but the black who executes it weeps and 
wails as if his sorrow were as much for the criminal as for the widows, 
w^ho are seated on the ground ostensibly racked with uncontrollable 
grief. Their appearance, however, is rendered ludicrous by the caps of 
pipeclay which are upon their heads, these being the chief features of 
a widow's mourning habit. 

These extreme manifestations of grief do not touch the tender spots 
in many hearts, when it is remembered how depressed the woman is 
among the aborigines ; that although delicately molded she does all the 
hard work, such as preparing the food, bringing the wood for the fire and 
carrying the burdens ; that she shivers beyond the radius of the fire in 
cold weather, and in the heat of the day she toils on, her only relief 
beincr a bunch of wet orrass on the head ; that her choice in the matter 
of marriage is not consulted, but that she is promised in infanc)' and 
Tvhen the proper time comes is borne away and considered a wife, or 
gin ; that her body, if it is comely, is covered with the scars of spear 
Avounds made by former wooers and those inflicted by her husband ; 
and now that she is a widow, she descends as so much property to the 
nearest male relative of the deceased. When these things are remem- 
bered, and more abuses also, the poignancy of her grief may be ques- 
tioned ; but it is more than likely that if she acted as she felt, she would 
be suspected as ha\-ing, directly or indirectly, caused the death of the 
brute. So she shrieks and raves, scratching her nose and cheeks and 
tearing her body with shells and pieces of flint, while the deceased is 
being buried, and as if still fearful that the tribe will look upon her man- 
ifestations as luke-warm, she returns to the crrave alone to lacerate her- 
self afresh. 

AUSTRALIAN COW-BOYS. 

If the Australian has an occupation in the line of civilized life, it 
is in tending stock. Blackboys take readily to the saddle, and like 
their cousins the Bushmen, in Africa, have remarkably acute senses. 
Their bump of locality is as wonderful as the cattle they tend, who 
will strike across country for hundreds of miles and bring up with cer- 
tainty at their own station or ranch. The native stockman can track a 
man or beast for days when a white man could see no footmark or trace. 
He is laz\- and fond of tobacco ; with this supplied him and a good 
horse to mount, he is happy — unless he takes it into his head to return 



298 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

to orrease and a kancraroo's skin, which is not an unusual resolve. His 
chief duty is to train the cattle so that they will know the limits within 
which they may graze. If they are new arrivals, before they are 
thoroughly broken in, they may take a notion to start for their former 
camp, seven or eight hundred miles away. They may have been taken 
along circuitous coast roads, 1,000 or 1,200 miles, and upon attempting 
to fix them to a new camp or run, some of them will escape the vigil- 
ance of their keepers. Through the thick forests of the West and over 
its arid plains they head, straight for their old home, two or three hun- 
dred miles inland from the route by which they were driven. The in- 
stinct which draws them unerringly to their far destination is one of na- 
ture's great mysteries. To prevent this breaking away for a deserted 
camp, the herdsman keeps the new arrivals well in eye and daily drives 
them on the run, and when camped they are kept there steadily for some 
hours ; so that after a few weeks the brutes are weaned from their old 
run and wedded to the new. Droughts and floods may now scatter 
them over hundreds of miles of country, but with the return of better 
times the majority of them will surely find their way to their own camp. 
The stragglers will be gathered, if possible, by the native herdsman ; in 
the great inland country where thousands of herds of cattle are pas- 
tured on one immense plain there can be no boundaries to the runs and 
the keepers' duties are increased. His work is not heavy, unless you 
except the time when the owners of the cattle agree upon a general 
muster, for the purpose of separating one man's herd from all the rest. 
Plains and woods are then scoured ; through thickets, alongbelts of shady 
timber, from one pool of water to the next, the cattle are driven by the 
herdsmen ; as the limits of each run are reached they know that most of 
the cattle they find are their own, for their neighbors ha-^/e had due 
warning and started their herds to camp. Finally all of these scattered 
lots are collected and driven rapidly toward the camp whose owner 
makes all this commotion. The Australian cow-boy may now be called 
upon to assist in "drafting" the cattle. First the fat ones are driven 
out of the mob; then the cows and calves to brand, and then the 
"strangers" who, with all possible care, will get mixed in with the drive. 

A DYING RACE. 

Sudden changes of temperature, insufficient food and shelter, with 
filthy habits, have made of the Australians a weak and decreasing race. 
In South Australia more is being done for the natives than in any other 
colony, and yet, as an example of the rapidity with which the tribes are 
dying out, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines states that the Narringerie 



A DYING RACE. 299 

who in 1842 numbered 3,200 persons, are now nearly extinct. Tliis 
diminution cannot be accounted for by wars with other tribes, or with 
whites, for the Narringerie have been affected more b}- civihzation than 
any other tribe, and Hve at peace with the whites. It has been deter- 
mined that tlie laro-est ratio of deaths and tlie smallest of births are to 
be found among those blacks who have definitely settled. 

Consumption is their great scourge ; consumption, intemperance 
and other causes are so thinnincr the ranks of the aborio-ines that 
authorities are slow in allowing 50,000 as the entire native population 
of Australia. Fifty thousand people spread over a continent as large 
as the United States! The race is dying out, and what is most sin- 
gular is that the mortality does not perceptibly diminish when the Aus- 
tralian becomes partially civilized ; the seeds of decay seem to have 
been firmly implanted in the whole race, and in spite of alleviating 
conditions, they persist in bearing continual and bounteous harvests of 
death. It often happens that a tribe which is comparatively strong in 
its native forest adopts many of the habits of the Avhite man, and yet 
retains enough of the old to make the change a positive detriment ; 
such as wearing clothes in the day time and leaving them entirely off 
at night, without much improving the means of shelter. Medicine 
and other assistance are furnished sick natives by the Government, but 
they either refuse to take the medicine or, having taken it, they neglect 
all sanitary precautions. Next to consumption, which carries away 
more than one-half their number, measles and small-pox, which they 
have received from the whites, create the greatest havoc among them. 
Fevers are quite unknown to them. The time is not far distant when 
all the tribes of Australia will follow in the footsteps of the extinct 
Tasmanians and of the fast disappearing Maoris of New Zealand. 

The attempt to reclaim the aborigines from their savage life has 
been only partially successful, partly because of their degraded physical 
condition and partly because of the vast territory through which the 
sparse population is scattered. Both the government and religious 
denominations have established hospitals, poor houses and schools for 
their benefit. But even the most promising of the natives seem quite 
isolated in a civilized community. They cannot marry. They have no 
certam means of subsistence. They have no real companionship. 
When they have become apparently civilized, therefore, many return 
to the bush. A sample case : The officers of a British ship took away 
with them a briirht native who remained with them for several months. 
He was a waiter at the gun-room mess, never tasted spirits, was atten- 
tive, cheerful, and remarkably clean. When the vessel returned to 



300 , PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Swan River, after a voyage along the western coast, the Australian, 
who had seemed quite civilized, deserted the ship, and the next seen 
of him was a savage — greasy, almost naked, painted all over and the 
hero of several murders. The most effective work of reclamation is 
going on among the children of natives as well as those of mixed 
blood. The condition of the latter is particularly hard ; for they are 
outcasts of both blacks and whites. Remembering the exalted opinion 
which the Australian has of the white man, it is probable that his 
custom of sacrificing a half-caste at his corroboree has a religious sig- 
nificance. He would kill and eat the luckless one, just as it is the rule 
in some tribes for fa\-orite children who have died a natural death to 
be devoured by their parents ; by thus eating fiesh in which coursed 
the blood of a white man, he would honor the memory of some one 
of his tribe whose soul was embodied in the jumped-up. 

ON THE WAR-PATH. 

Students of Australian life have never attempted to discover 
whence this Avide-spread notion that the white man is a higher order of 
the native race. Certain it is that when the squatters first commenced 
to establish themselves in the eastern provinces they did not find that 
a universal feeling of awe prevaded the minds of the aborigines. It is 
true that they gazed with fear upon the first mounted stockmen, 
looking upon them as a new kind of animal : — the native cattle are as 
terrified when a herder dismounts in their midst, not knowing what 
manner of beast he is. At first the nati\'es retreated before the whites^ 
spearing a cow and a calf nov/ and then. But as the squatters multi- 
plied and brought, many of them, fat herds of cattle, the Australian's 
taste for beef became more insatiable ; and he was treated often to a 
taste of cold lead, which he did not so much relish. In this great 
country each stockman's hut was leagues distant from any other, 
standing in a clearing, as far as possible from any forest or thicket in 
which the gliding Australian might be concealed. The squatter trusted 
to his good gun, steady hand and keen senses, and the blacks' dread of 
darkness, and hardly barred his doors. The natives commenced to get 
bolder, and once crept down the chimney of a squatter in order to 
batter his skull while he slept. Other murders followed. The squat- 
ters for miles around arose in their wrath, surrounded a camp of the 
enemy, killed some outright and burned others in a huge bonfire — 
destroyed them all, men, women and children. By this time the gov- 
ernment had taken the matter in hand. Supposed murderers of squat- 



ON THE Y\'AR PATH. 



301 



ters were taken to the sea-coast towns and tried, but it was impossible 
to prove the crime. Even if it could have been done in their native 
undress, it was impossible after they had been covered with European 
Snoods. So blacks were discharo^ed and whites were hanoed. Thus 
encouraged the Australian showed his respect for the white man less 
than ever, and murder and depredations were the order of the hour. 
Then the government supplied the country with mounted soldiers, 
policemen, under the command of British officers, who engaged the 
services of the nati\'es as trackers. Afterwards they formed bodies of 
native police who did not seem 
greatly averse to shooting- 
down their kind if they were 
given plenty to eat and drink, f 
A small black boy, but a good !l( 
tracker, who was thus emplayed, ;|i| 
assisted a squad of soldiers 
to surround the camp of a 
tribe which had committed 
some cold blooded murders. 
Penned up in a gorge they 
were fired upon by the police. 
Some leaped over a Avaterfall 
which was the onlv outlet, 
others were shot — and the boy^ || 
what had he been doine? He |i 
had been lost siorht of; but 
after the fra)' was over, he 
appeared with a blood-stained 
sword which he proudly held 
up to the commander, savino- ^'' 
with a laugh : " My word, this 
a good long knife. I've killed my 
woman's head"; — the above being a translation of a lot of Australian 
English which the )-oung fiend had picked up. 

This kind of warfare continued for many years, especially in Queens- 
land and New South Wales, and is one explanation of the terrible thin- 
ning out of the native population. A squatter came to believe that he 
was justified in killing an Australian as he would a dog or a rat ; in fact 
a case is on record in which a squatter, suspecting a premeditated attack 
from some blacks near his hut, called them to his door and told them 
that it was Christmas time, when all should feast ; that therefore they 




HATCHETS OF THE AUSTRALIANS. 

old mother. I took off the old 



\02 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



should eat a pudding of plumbs and flour and every good thing, which 
he would give them. They believed him, and taking the pudding away 
to their camp, distributed the precious stuff to their women and children. 
The pudding was sweetened with arsenic, and a score or more blacks 
were taken away from the fast-decreasing population. 

MISCHIEVOUS FEASTS. 

But thousrh there were atrocities on both sides the strono^er race, of 
course, triumphed. The blacks themselves came to understand that no 
matter how many whites they killed others would come to fill their places. 

As one of their leaders ex- 



2 pressed it in his best English: 
■^ "Suppose blackfellow go 
bong, baal more; but sup- 
R pose blackfellow altogether 
g numkull white, plenty more 
sit down along a Sydney." 
I In other words: "Suppose 
^ a blackfellow is killled, there 
are no more to take his 
place ; but suppose the black- 
fellow kills all the white, 
there are plenty more wait- 
ing in Sydney." At one 
time Sydney was supposed 
to be the grand depot of 
supply of the white man. 
Consequently the blackfel- 
lows who came in contact 
with the whites, became more and more subdued. If the bunya 
season was good, however, they Avere apt to get without their bounds, 
as they still do. The bunya tree, which is of the fir species and 
oTows to a lieiLrht of over one hundred feet, thicklv clothes some of the 
mountain ranges, and when its cones are plentiful, which contain quan- 
tities of rich, resinous nuts, the tribes gather from hundreds of miles 
around to enjoy a feast and a dance. In the bunya forest they camp for 
weeks, gorging themselves with nuts and game, fighting, feasting and 
corroboreeing. They scour every thicket grope into every log, climb 
every tree where they see traces of game ; but after a time animals get 
scarce. They have had enough bunya ; they want meat now. Before 
the white man came with his beef and mutton, they used to fall upon 




AN AUSTRALIAN CA MP. 



WAITING FOR THE RIVER's FALL. 



303 



each other, or to butcher young Avomen fatted for the purpose With 
the advent of the squatter they killed either him or his beasts as an offer- 
ing to the corroboree. When the whites had so increased in numbers 










WAITING FOR THE RIVER'S FALL. 

that there were several "Sydneys" on the continent, and their settle 
ments med_ the eastern and southern coasts, they contented themselves 
generally with spearing a cow or sheep. 



304 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

WAITING FOR THE RIVER'S FALL. 

As great an excitement as a bun)'a feast is caused by the rising of a 
river to any considerable height. Gum trees are stripped of their bark, 
large pieces of which are bound together with kangaroo or opossum ten- 
dons and the ends stopped with clay. These are the boats. The natives 
make their nets of animal tendons and fibres of plants. Tribes from all 
the interior country gather on the banks of the river and, for the time 
being, hunting operations are suspended for miles around ; they have 
witnessed the heavy rains in the mountains and know that the drought 
will be succeeded by a flood. The flood comes, the tribes scatter to 
higher ground and impatiently wait for the falling of the waters. Soon 
all is bustle and confusion. The little stream has become a broad, foam- 
ing river, but still shallow. At convenient places men are stretching 
their nets from bank to bank, squirting water upon them for luck. 
Others who are more modest in their plans have waded out into the stream 
and are sliding their small nets under the fish, which, when secured, they 
bite with their teeth and throw to their wives and children waitine on 
the banks to receive them. Some of the women, however, are enter- 
prising and are using the nets themselves, or are catching the fish with 
their hands. 

Delicious frogs and cray-fish are also captured, the women wading 
for them in the swamps. Rats scamper over the ground, also, being 
driven from their holes by the floods, and are pounced upon by man, 
woman and child. At night the river is illuminated by thousands of 
fires which flame from the canoes of excited fishermen, and its bosom is 
continually pierced and crushed, as showers of long spears are cast into 
it, followed by the bodies of the natives in quest of their prizes. Each 
canoe has two occupants, one to keep up a fire of resinous wood, which 
Is built on a bed of wet bark and mud, and the other to do the spearing, 
land the fish in the boat and continue the good sport the whole night 
through. The women are not left behind, even at night, but sally out 
in large parties, and throw the spear and dive with the most skillful 
of the men. So the slaughter goes' on for weeks, every other day .being 
devoted to general gormandizing. There is no thought of laying up a 
supply for the future, but though they starve in the future, for the pres- 
ent they will gorge themselves like prize pigs. The general custom is 
to throw the fishes upon hot ashes and broil them ; but when the design 
is to serve up a dainty bit to a headman or a warrior, the fish is wrapped 
in a piece of bark, nicely fastened together with grass, and slowly baked 
in the ashes. Teeth and fingers are the most common instruments for 



WAITING FOR THE RIVERS FALL. 305 

dividing the food, although a native of more than average manners will 
cut his food with flints fastened into sticks. 

If a brisk breeze should spring up (which, by the way, the Austra- 
lian believes he can sing into existence) those who have not eaten so 
much fish that they are stupid, arm themselves with long rods, to which 
are attached nooses, and place upon their heads bunches of grass or 
reeds. Thus equipped they go forth in search of wild fowl. Espying 
a flock of wild duck or widgeons, they commence a low whistle and 
slowly advance through the water, leaving nothing exposed but their 
grass clad heads. Pushing their long poles through the water until they 
are underneath the birds, the fishermen cast the nooses in a quiet way 
around the necks of their unsuspecting victims, and pull them under 
water without alarming the rest of the flock. 

At the gathering of tribes upon some festive occasion a kangaroo 
hunt is generally organized, and tons of the meat obtained. The prey 
belongs to him whose spear has first touched it, however slight the 
wound may be ; and if, according to law, he is too young to eat it, it is 
given to his nearest male relative, of proper age. After the hunt comes 
the feast. 

After these many feasts, during which flesh, fish and fowl disappear 
with such tremendous rapidity, it is the rule, as during a great bunya 
season, for the tribes to become very pugilistic. Their long fasts 
followed by these mighty feasts, bring on indigestion and a terrible state 
of ill humor. They become like a lot of quarrelsome children, who 
unfortunately are arm^ed with dangerous weapons. Some of the elderly 
men of the tribes sometimes manage to patch up an armistice until the 
trees are stripped of their nuts, or the waters have returned to the sand, 
or the kangaroos are scarce, and the hot-blooded young men are fairly 
started toward their own countries ; but often tribe falls upon tribe and 
slaughter ensues, with a final feast of human flesh. Frequently, also, 
two members of different tribes are determined to fight out their differ- 
ences with spear and club. If they are evenly matched, after they have 
parried each other's strokes for a time each receives a thrust from the 
other in the thigh ; then each receives a blow from the other's club, until 
one or both fall insensible to the ground. 

It is during these feasts that the natives forget themselves, even in 
these latter days, and commit atrocities upon the whites which need to 
be punished. The native police, therefore, which is still in existence, has 
its uses, and it is owing almost entirely to its members that the country 
is in as good order as it is. Their impedimenta is a blue shirt, forage 
cap with a red band round it, double-barreled carbine and pistols, hand- 



306 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

cuffs, blankets, hobbles and necessaries. When they go into action they 
strip, leaving only their ammunition belts and forage caps, so that they 
will recognize each other. Giving their horses in charge of one man, 
they glide into the scrub and soon the crack of a carbine indicates that 
they have not been idle. If any maidens are members of the families 
whose male defenders they slay, they fall to them, as the rewards of 
valor; they place the dusky maidens on the saddle before them and 
henceforth the fair captives become part of their establishment. It is 
said that at the end of a month their gins will freely give any informa- 
tion that will lead their troopers to other members of the tribe who have 
committed depredations, or who meditate mischief, in return for which 
assistance in the line of duty the poor wives are belabored wath the 
waddy until they are black and blue. Their piccaninnies, however, find 
great favor in their eyes. The fathers will amuse them and even watch 
with interest the various steps of the process by which, with charcoal 
and grease, the little animals are started in the way of their ancestors. 

So that now in the sections of Australia which may be said to be 
inhabited, there is virtual peace between the native and the immigrant. 
Fierce tribes of blacks with pointed beards and more pointed spears still 
bar the passage of explorers through the central and northern countries, 
while the dense forests of the west hide an occasional bevy of skulking 
savages, who venture to make hostile demonstrations. But the intelli- 
gent will of three million immigrants opposed to the ignorance of fifty 
thousand enervated savages is as an Australian flood to a drop of 
water in its path This state of affairs warrants a short review of the 
Australia of the white man. 

CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 

That vast expanse of country known as North and South Aus- 
tralia, and stretchinor throuo^h the continent for two thousand miles, 
from ocean to ocean, is controlled by the government of the latter 
colony. From Port Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south is 
strung the transcontinental telegraph ; despite hostile savages, dense 
forests (rather than plains) of kangaroo grass, deserts of hard, sharp 
plants called spinifex, and drought and flood, England and her colonies 
were thus bound too^ether. Of this slice taken out of the middle of 
the continent — nearly one-third of its body — little need be said, except 
of the southern division, or South Australia proper. Her people are 
among the most vigorous and enterprising of the colonists, and besides 
connecting the central portions of their territory with railroads and 



CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 



307 



telegraphs, have already commenced the construction of an iron line 
northward, which is designed eventuall)' to follow the electric current 
across the continent. All the colonies are connected with each other 
by telegraph, except Western Australia ; immigrants are now coming 
into this colony more thickly than during previous years, and ere long 




7. n.v,.;- ■•¥!} 

•t Vraf 

■;'.'H'S1-' 



A WEST AUSTRALIAN FOREST. 

it will be brought into the community of states, via the telegraph and 
railroad. South Australia is especially interested in bringing this about; 
for in the furtherance of her broad schemes of public improvement, the 
inexhaustible forests of Western Australia are invaluable. The jarrah, 
a tree whose timber is as hard as mahogany, is there found in boundless 
forests, and several lines of railroad have been constructed to the coast 



?o8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 



whence the wood is shipped to India in the form of sleepers or piles for 
her railroads ; there seems to be no limit to the durability of this wood. 
Taking the country as a whole, with its natural advantages and splendid 
harbors, South Australia will compare favorably with any other portion of 
the continent. The territory is particularly favored with several lakes of 
some size, and its soil is fertilized with small rivers and streams. 
Thousands of square miles of land are covered with wheat, which ranks 
among the finest in the world ; and this too when the soil is merely 
turned up by the plow and the seed thrown in, year after year. Nothing 
like a rotation of crops is ever attempted. Its wheat, sheep and copper 
are what has made South Australia a prosperous colony. Its people 

have an occasional gold flurry, but its 
wealth has rested, as a whole, upon the 
basis of wheat and wool. The population 
of- South Australia has never been con- 
taminated by convict blood, which cannot 
be said of any other colony in the coun- 
try ; in fact, one of the principles of its 
charter was that convicts were never to be 
admitted within its domain. 

The smallest, most populous and rich 
est of the Australian colonies is Victoria,' 
which was formerly a penal colony in 
New South Wales. The discovery of 
I gold in 185 1 marks the period of its sep- 
aration from the mother colony, and of its 
first strides towards preemince. As would 
be expected, the railroads of Victoria are 
more complete than those of any other colony, and points which are 
not yet reached by rail are connected by stage lines. It has the me- 
tropolis of the continent (Melbourne), and about a fifth of the 100,000 
Chinamen who are inhabitants of the country. 

New South Wales is the oldest of the colonies, being organized 
just a century ago. Subsequently Victoria and Queensland were split 
from it. The famous Captain Cook brought the land first to the notice 
of Englishmen, naming the country, and bringing back such favorable 
reports that the government established a convict station at Botany 
Bay, a few miles south of Port Jackson. Its mineral resources are great. 
Besides gold and silver, extensive coal deposits have been developed. 
The country is particularly adapted to sheep raising, the salt bush 
which covers so great an extent of land to the west being very fattening. 




A NATIVE VICTORIAN. 



CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 3O9 

but rendering the soil worthless for agricultural purposes. With Sidney 
as a nucleus, New South Wales has of late years made great strides as 
a railroad colony, and in connection with Queensland to the north, is 
fast getting to a point where it may control the system. Its line is 
complete to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, and a road is being 
projected across Queensland to the northern coast, or the Gulf of 
Carpentaria. When this is completed and the connection is made 
between Melbourne and Adelaide, the whole of Eastern Australia, 
as far inland as is necessary, will be tapped with railroads, and the 
northern and southern shores of its most developed colonies will be in 
communication. The central railroad, then, by way of the great trans- 
continental telegraph, would be the prime factor in the development of 
of Central and Western Australia. 

Queensland is divided by the Australian Cordilleras, from north to 
south ; these mountains also constitute a line of division for the chief 
occupations of the colonists. Rich plains and valleys, watered by numer- 
ous streams, lie in the strip of country between the range and the coast. 
In addition to wheat, the farmer cultivates maize and potatoes, sugar 
and cotton, coffee and tobacco ; the horticulturist has from which to 
choose, the fig, peach, plum, lemon, orange, pomegranate, pine-apple, 
banana and a score of other lesser fruits, of both a tropical and temperate 
nature. It is also a fine cattle country. For a thousand miles to the west 
of the mountains the country is found to roll away in vast swells of herbage 
over whose tender roots millions of sheep are nibbling their way into 
usefulness. Queensland alone is an evidence of the tremendous 
increase in this element of Australia's wealth, she having nearly as many 
sheep as the whole continent had twenty-five years ago (16,000,000). 
The advance guard of this wooly population arrived in New South Wales 
less than a century ago, in the shape of a flock of eight merino sheep. 
Wool as an article of export is now closely pressing gold for first 
place. 

It is in Queensland and New South Wales that the Australian 
forest is seen in its greatest beauty and diversity The forests of the 
west and southwest are composed chiefly of gum trees, with their leathery 
leaves and stately trunks, and of different varieties of oak, some of which 
are quite leafless. As a rule the leaves of both tree and shrub are ever- 
green, and of a firm texture, being perfectly adapted to meet the pre- 
vailing dryness of the climate. Toward the north some of the character- 
istics of Asiatic scenery appear, to give more variety and delicacy to 
forest life. All along the coasts are streams of considerable breadth, 
runnino; oarallel with the ocean, alone: whose banks and over whose 



3IO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

waters are matted together the tropical luxuriousness of Southeastern 
Asia ; their head-waters are in the mountains, springing from the juice- 
less vegetation of a dry, rocky country, but as they reach the lowlands 
they flow placidly and warmly through the tropics of Australia. On 
descending from a mountain of the Cordilleras into one of these forests, 
a government surveyor was so struck with the contrast that he exclaimed: 
" We had passed into another climate ; the dry, arid soil of the stringy- 
bark forest, with its stunted vegetation, was exchanged, as if by magic, 
for a damp, humid region, sheltered from the wind by colossal barriers 
of rock, and presenting a wealth of foliage almost inconceivable. The 
graceful cabbage-palm towered to a height of seventy and even a 
hundred feet; the Indian fio- reared its tortuous branches hio;h into the 
air, clothed with rich draperies of curious and spreading parasites, and 
the graceful tree ferns, thirty feet high, flo'jrished in the warm and damp 
atmosphere of these windless dells. In short, nothing can exceed the 
beauty of the scenery as the traveler descends the difficult and winding 
path that leads dowm the mountain to the rich pastures below ; here and 
there a group of palms shoot upwards toward the sky ; and on either 
side the forest is so rank with creepers, ferns and vines as to be quite 
impassable. Here we gathered wild raspberries, and beheld the gigan- 
tic staof-horn fern o-rowinof from the trunks of the loftiest trees." 

Fancy the lofty Cordilleras with hundreds of miles of grassy plains 
stretching away to the west ; numerous streams flowing down the eastern 
watershed, and pushing their way sluggishly through this tangle of wild 
nutmeg trees, huge banyans, fig-trees and palms which skirt the base of 
the range for many miles, finally veering toward the coast, and after 
watering a fertile region of grains and fruits, dropping quietly into the 
sea. This, in miniature, is Queensland and New South Wales. 

But the secret of rapid settlement of ocean colonies is found not 
alone in richness of soil. Good harbors of refuge are a necessity. 
Queensland is rather unfortunate in this respect, since fourteen hundred 
miles, or nearly one-half of her coast line, is made dangerous to naviga- 
tion by a continuous coral reef, called the Great Barrier. It is the largest 
formation of its kind in the world — and that is all the honor which is 
attached to it. 

The only vessels which are seen in the vicinity of the reef are those 
which go nosing around in the nooks and crannies, like some sly 
animals, in the search for huge sea-slugs. These ugly-looking but tender 
animals are about two feet in length, and lie buried in the coral sand, 
their presence only being denoted by their long feathery tentacles, which 
appear above the surface. The Kanakas are a tribe of natives of the 



CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 3II 

northeastern coast regions, who have made themselves remarkably pro- 
ficient either in spearing the slugs when found in shallow water, or 
diving for them down the perpendicular sides of the reefs, underneath 
them, and far under water, fighting the shark and other ocean monsters 
in their search for the repulsive-looking things, and in the interest of 
their masters. The voyage along the great reef may last for years. 
The usual plan is for the owner of a vessel to hire several good native 
divers, and choosing some island as his headquarters, plant a patch of 
eround to vesfetables as a safeo-uard ao-alnst scurvy. As the fish are 
caught they are split open, boiled, pressed flat and dried in the sun. 
They are then smoked over a wood fire and packed for shipment to 
China. The crews work on shares, and if the trip is fortunate they 
may return with their boats heavily laden after a lapse of a few months 
only. 

There are some good ports on the extreme southeastern coast of 
Queensland ; but New South Wales from one extremity of its coast line 
to near the other, boasts not of big coral reefs, but of the finest harbors 
in the world, chief among them being that of Port Jackson, at Sydney. 
Victoria is likewise favored ; and South Australia to the Great Austra- 
lian Bight. The bight, which is lined with steep and rugged cliffs, makes 
useless for purposes of navigation or refuge the southwestern coast of 
South Australia, and half of the southern coast of Western Australia. 
Then comes a passable harbor or two before you reach the southwestern 
extremity of the continent, and not another one along the low and sandy 
western coast and the high and rocky northwestern coast of Western 
Australia. In fact, it is this natural defect more than all else combined 
which has retarded the growth of the colony. The coast of Northern 
Australia, especially along the Gulf of Carpentaria, has some of the best 
harbors of the continent, though they are not so w^ell known as the 
southern ports. They lie principally on the western shore of the gulf, 
the eastern side formed by York Peninsula being low and dangerous. 

The first well authenticated discovery of the continent was made by 
the Dutch during the early portion of the seventeenth century, while 
one of their yachts was out in a voyage of investigation to the coast of 
New Guinea, from the Dutch possessions in Java. The Gulf of Carpen- 
taria was named in honor of Peter Carpenter, the Governor-General of 
the Dutch Colonies in the East Indies. The Dutch discovered Western 
Australia and called it Endrach's Land. The continent, in fact, was 
considered so honestly a Dutch discovery, that it was called New Hol- 
land, Australia being a later christening. New South Wales was the 
discovery of the great Yorkshire navigator, Captain Cook, and from the 



312 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

eastern coast spread the Australia of England. The Dutch never colo- 
nized the island, because they did not first enter its richest fields. Had 
they done so, it would probably be the old story repeated, of Dutch 
pioneering and English grasping and holding. Australia is a land of 
which any people might be proud. Its riches have been intimated. As 
far as the continent has been explored, gold has been discovered in some 
form — mixed with quartz, ironstone or clay. Copper, coal, tin, lead and 
silver, have merely been neglected for the gold. The land is a vast curios- 
ity-shop. Not only are its natives so different from the Papuans and Malay- 
ans and negroes, that they are separately classified, but it has an ani- 
mal kingdom peculiar to itself. 

It is said that nine-tenths of the 8,000 species of plants found in Austra" 
lia are unknown elsewhere, and are entirely unconnected with the forms of 
vegetation of any other division of the world. Here, also, are the bird 
of paradise, the black swan and the lyre bird, the tail feathers of the 
latter being shaped like an ancient harp. The house is being swept of 
its first owners, and is beinor refurnished with a new order of thingrs, 
by a new people, for a future great civilization to enjoy its riches and 
revel in its wonders. 




d^^ia 



THE TARTARS. 







RO!\I the earliest times Turkestan, or the country of the 
]/Turks, has been a battle-ground between the Iranian and 
Turanian races. First attached to Persia, then to Greece, 
then to Turkey, Arabia, the Mongol Empire, finally under 
Timiur, or Tamerlane, it rose to power as an independent 
empire, bringing under its sway the immense territory stretch- 
ing from the Black Sea to China and from Moscow to the 
Ganges. This great Tartar, in his younger days, had passed 
a peaceful life in his native country as a hunter and skillful 
horseman, and his powers were not known even to himself, 
until his uncle, a chief of Mongol blood, retreated before a fierce 
invasion of the Calmucks, leaving his young nephew the alternative 
of fleeing with him or fighting for his country. Tamerlane chose the 
latter course, expelled the invaders, punished various predatory tribes, 
and, although he never assumed the rank of sovereign, became the 
ruling power of the great empire which he founded. He died Avhile 
on the march for the invasion of China, although his favorite wife was 
the daughter of the Chinese Emperor. His tomb is in a mosque of 
Samarkand, his splendid capital. It occupies the exact center of the 
building, the tombstone being a slab of greenish-black stone. In a small 
building near by are the tombs of his wives. After Timur's death his 
empire commenced to fall to pieces, until finally the Uzbecks became 
the ruling tribe of modern Turkestan ; a family of that people being in 
power when Russia snatched away nearly all the country of Independent 
Turkestan not in the hands of the Turkoman robbers. 



THE SETTLED POPULATION. 



The Tartars who have settled within the bounds of Turkestan mav 
be divided into two principal tribes — the Uzbecks and the Tajiks. The 
Turkomans, Kirghiz and other tribes of minor importance are migratory. 
The Uzbecks and Tajiks are representatives of the Turkish and Persian 
tribes, the former succeeding the latter, and in many instances driving 
them into the mountains, where whole villages of them are found. 

313 



314 PAKORAMA OF NATIONS. 

These mountaineers are usually called Galtchas. In Bokhara, Samarkand 
and other cities in the central states the Tajiks form the main element 
of the metropolitan population. 

The word Uzbeck means independent. The Uzbecks, however, 
are under strict Russian rule and their beks, or native rulers, are 
dependent upon the good graces of their conqueror. Some of them 
have joined the fortunes of the invaders, and give the authorities due 
warning of any plots or threatened insurrections ; others are neutral, no 
doubt abiding a tim.e which may never come. According to native 
authority, the Uzbecks are divided into ninety-two clans, or families, 
which are also subject to a subdivision. Many of these people are settle'd 
in the cities north of the Syr river, and in northeastern Turkestan ; many, 
also, under certain restrictions are nomads. The city houses "are in 
general built of sun-dried clay bricks, covered with plaster and washed 
with some light color, and are seldom more than one story high. Owing 
to the scarcity of wood and the dearness of iron, the roofs are very 
peculiar. Between the rafters which compose the ceilings, pieces of 
small willow branches are closely fitted together, the whole is then 
thatched with reeds, and on this is placed a layer of clay and sods, it being 
necessary to put on a new layer of clay each year to render the roof in 
any degree waterproof. During the summer when it does not rain, the 
roofs are excellent and very pretty, as they are often covered with wild 
poppies, capers and other flowers. Furniture and household goods of 
all kinds have to be brought from Russia or Siberia, for there are no 
cabinet-makers or upholsterers in Central Asia. Still the houses are 
comfortable in spite of their fragility, and the great wide divans, the 
profusion of Turkoman carpets, armor and utensils give them an air 
of elegance and luxury." 

'The streets of a native town are rarely straight, and in rambling 
about we go up and down hill, turning to this side and to that, some- 
times between high walls, sometimes beneath the wooden portico of a 
mosque which mounts high in the air, now along the edge of some deep 
ravine, and now crossing some rushing stream on a low wooden bridge. 
Everywhere trees are leaning over the walls, for everewhere there are 
gardens, and we can leave the street and take a by-path up the edge of 
some stream where an old wooden mill-wheel is busily turning, and feel 
ourselves almost in a country nook." 

In many towns the Uzbecks have their own quarters and do not 
deign to venture into the Russian haunts. At Tashkend, where the 
Governor-General has his headquarters, this line of demarkation is 
especially clear. 



THE SETTLED POPULATION. T,l'^ 

-The natives are not manufacturers to any great extent ; silk and cot- 
ton stuffs, sabers, knives and other weapons about covering the ground. 
Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, India and the Chinese Empire, however, 
pour their products into the bazaars of Turkestan. Some of these are 
rented by the Russian government. The bazaar of a large city is really 
a village in itself, divided into streets, each one of which is given up to a 
particular trade or class of manufactures. Whole days may be spent in 
them and the whole not yet be seen : " Here are the silk shops, there the 
jewelers, here the brass-workers, while occasionally a large gateway with 
a court beyond marks the place of a caravanserai for the accommodation 
of guests and the storage of goods. Here and there are open spaces, 
in the center of which are small booths, sheltered for the most part by 
umbrellas and mushroom-like awnings of woven reeds, while all about 
perambulatory venders collect in groups. Here is a small kitchen with 
cabobs and patties cooking over the coal fires, here a tea-shop, there the 
stand of a baker, and next perhaps a man, sitting cross-legged on a high 
platform, deals out spoonfuls of snow and sugary syrup to the boys." 
One street is devoted to dye-stuffs, another to leather goods, another 
to the productions of the Kirghis and Turkomans, others to Chinaware, 
cotton goods, silk goods, etc., etc. 

The home life of the settled populace is Turkish in the extreme. 
The favorite drink is green tea thickened with cream or melted tallow, 
the kumys (liquor made from mare's milk) being also drunk. The 
tobacco which is used is in the form of a fine, dark-green powder. 

Their amusements vary considerably, although the strict Mussul- 
man will tell you that his only enjoyment is in saying his prayers, riding, 
shooting, and dancing at special festivals. The boys have their games, 
one of them being called knuckle-bones, small pieces of bones being 
used in place of marbles. The girls have rough dolls and play ball. 
Chess and even gambling is indulged in by adults. A very common 
gambling game is for a group of men to sit in a circle, each placing 
before him a copper coin, and bets are then made as to whose coin will 
first have a fiy on it. Dancing by boys, wrestling matches and antics 
of comedians, add to the list of amusements enjoyed by the Sart, or town 
native, whether Uzbeck or Tajik. 

Their religious observances and regulations are substantially the 
same as those found in other Mohammedan countries. About the onlv 
native institution which is left intact, even in Russian territory, is the 
court, presided over by the Kazi. This judge has charge of civil suits, 
marriages, divorces and all family matters ; criminal cases of importance 
coming before the Bek, or native ruler. 



3l6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The Uzbecks are tall, muscular, well formed, ruddy in complexion, 
with broad noses flattened at the end, receding foreheads and but little 
beard. When they become agriculturists, their wives not only look 
after household matters, collect fuel, spin and sew, weave, dress, tan and 
dye skins, but plough, reap, carry the sheaves of corn to and from the 
threshing-floor, and winnow them. In these labors the men assist, but 
do not lead. The consequence is that marriages of the young are not 
so frequent among the poor Uzbecks and farmers as among the city 
people. The agriculturists seek in their wives merely patient oxen. 

In some of the tribes the married sons live apart; in others they 
remain with their father for a long time, and have a common cooking-pot 
with him. If this is the arrangement, a household is reckoned as ten sons 
with their families. Good friends or poor men are not obliged to pay 
kalym or marriage money ; or if the man prefers to purchase his wife, 
he can work for her relatives or father and earn the stipulated sum. 
The amount of the kal)'m is determined by the eldest members of 
the two families who desire to become related ; they, unknown to the 
principals, assemble for that purpose, and also to fix the day of the 
wedding. 

THE NOMADS. 

Over the vast steppes and desert tracts east and southeast of the 
Caspian Sea, to the northern frontier of Persia, wander the Turkomans 
and other nomadic tribes. They have retained all the fiercest blood of 
their ancestors and are the scourges of Persia, swooping down upon the 
exposed districts of that country and carrying away women and children 
into slavery. Their raids have always been accompanied with the most 
terrible atrocities, and the Shah has, several times, punished the brigands 
as they deserved. Once, however, he left 15,000 Persians vv'ith them, as 
prisoners, and thirty guns. 

The northern routes of travel from the Caspian Sea to India, via 
Herat, are still in the hands of these Tartars, who may well be the 
descendants of the savage Huns who spread desolation over so great a 
part of the ancient world. They are generally above middle stature, 
powerfully developed, with a white skin, round head, small nose and 
chin and scanty whiskers. Although haughty and irascible, when not 
aroused they are friendly and hospitable. Although considered as a 
nomadic tribe, the Turkomans have several fortified cities which are 
sometimes subject to the ruler of Afghanistan, and raise a revenue by 
taxes on passing caravans. 

The Persians who are captured by the Turkomans are employed in 



THE NOMADS. 



0^7 



their cities, or those of the Uzbecks of Khiva, in the most severe of 
labor. The brand of slavery is effaced only in the third generation. 
Many captives, however, who buy their liberty, remain and become 
influential citizens. There are now forty thousand Persians in Khiva. 
Before the Russians conquered the Khanate of Khiva, it is reported 
that the Khivese, or Uzbecks, with the assistance of the Turkomans 
and Kirghiz, seized their 
countrymen on the 
steppes, and their fisher- 
men on the shores of the 
Caspian Sea, and publicly 
sold them as slaves ; that %, 
at one time there were as § 



many as one thousand ^c:l=^f^ V^k^^A 
Russian captives in Khiva. ^ 

The Turkomans are 
variously divided, and no 
two authorities agree as 
to their number. They 
themselves say that they 
dwell in 350,000 tents, and 
that their souls therefore 
number nearly 1,750,000. 
The Turkoman tribes are 
governed by elders, just 
as long as the elders suit 
them. When their actions 
become distasteful, they 
becom.e "a people without 
a head, which is not 
necessary, for every man 
governs himself." They profess to be devout Mohammeaans, and 
when asked how they can sell fellow-believers into slaver)^ reply: "The 
Koran is a divine book, and consequently nobler than man ; yet it is 
bought for a few crowns. And better still, Joseph, the son of Jacob, 
was a prophet, and yet they sold him — did that hurt him in any way?" 

The Turkomans cultivate a few grains, whose straw will serve also as 
fodder to their few camels, horses and sheep. A felt tent and miserable 
clothes complete the worldly property of the race. They prepare a 
honey from the juice of a huge water-melon, and manufacture jugs and 
powder horns from pumpkins. They make a little butter, they fish a 




A TARTAR. 



3iS 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



little, they manufacture a little bad powder, and cotton and woolen cloths, 
and the only thing they do much of is to rob. 

In the northern and eastern districts of Turkestan are the steppes 
of the Kirghiz, who in Khiva acknowledge the government authorities. 
They with their stunted frames, flattened noses and prominent cheek 
bones much resemble the Calmucks, an ugly-looking tribe to the east. 
The Kirghiz may be called nomadic Uzbecks, changing their quarters 
summer and winter, with their flocks and herds, and usino^ both horses 
and camels in their caravans. They have intermarried considerably 
with the Calmucks, which accounts for their decidedly Mongolian type. 

They eat mutton princi- 
pally, and upon important 
occasions, horse flesh. 
Tea and kumys are their 
drinks. 

T h e i r natures are 
simple and unsuspicious. 
They are generous, curi- 
ous and lazy ; but fond of 
receiving any choice item 
of news which they will 
bear, like lightning, to 
neighboring camps that 
JYi they may enjoy the good 
thing. Though light- 
minded, they respect age 
and authority. They are 
merr}' and devoted to 
music and song. The 
men give their attention 
to their horses, sheep and 
cattle — the women do all 

CAMEL OF TARTAR EMIGRANT. ^J^g j-gg^ . ^hgy ^re nCVer 

known to plunder or fight for the mere love of it, but merely to reim- 
burse or revenge themselves on account of previous losses. 

The Kirghiz are polygamists, but the first wife is mistress of the 
tent, and outranks the others. Marriages and funeral feasts are the 
sicrnals for these sociable wanderers to gather for a hundred miles round- 
about, and eat and drink for days at a time, at the expense of the parents 
or mourners. Before a marriage takes place, the suitor passes into the 
hands of the happy father two or three dozen cattle and some horses, 




THE NOMADS. 



,19 



while with the bride must go a certain dowry, including a kibitka, or 
tent. An agreement is sometimes made between friends that children 
who may be born to them of different sexes and of suitable age shall be 
given to one another in marriage. Such children, if they do marry, are 
exempt from paying the kalym, or marriage price. 

In case the Kirghiz is rich he engages a priest from some town who, 




CALMUCK TARTARS. 

for a stipulated salary in sheep, horses and camels, accompanies him in 
his journeyings as religious and secular teacher and secretary. Every 
Kirghiz, however, whether poor or rich, is aristocratic. The first thing 
he asks when meeting a stranger is, "Who are thy seven fathers?" mean- 
ing your ancestors for seven generations. Even if the question is put to 
a child and not promptly answered, the person is considered to be of 



320 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



vulgar blood. He looks upon the townsman or citizen as an inferior 
being, and has but one word for a " husbandman " and " a poor man." 

The Calmucks are both Turkomans and Kirghiz in many of their 
characteristics. It has been noticed that they answer the exact descrip- 
tion given of the Huns, many centuries ago: short in stature, with broad 
shoulders and a large head; small black eyes, always appearing to be 
half shut, and slanting downward toward the nose, which is fiat with wide 
nostrils; hair black, coarse and straight; complexion deeply swarthy. 
They live in the saddle, restlessly roaming over a great territory in 
Chinese Tartary and Siberia. What religion they have will fall under 
the head of Shamanism, or spirit worship. This immense conglomera- 
tion of superstitions rests upon the tribes of Siberia from Turkestan and 
China to the Arctic Ocean, and will be revealed in succeeding pages in 
all its curious and hideous details. 

The East Mongols, as distinguished from the West Mongols, or 
Calmucks, inhabit Mongolia or Chinese Tartary; another family of Mon- 
gols being the Buriats of Siberia. The Mongolians still retain their 
tribal distinctions and are governed by hereditary princes, many of whom 
claim descent from their great emperor, Genghis Khan. The tribes are 
divided into standards; there is a recognized Mongolian aristocracy; and 
to retain a weak grasp upon the country China gives, materially, as 
much as she receives, in the shape of annual presents to the chiefs and 
priests who constitute the real government. The Mongols are devotees 
of Lamaism, a corrupted Buddhism, and their spiritual ruler is the 
Grand Lama of Thibet. China, therefore, must conciliate not only the 
Mongolian aristocrats but the Lamas, the latter even having more influ- 
ence with the people than the Chinese Government. It is still, however, 
an integral part of the empire, and further dealings with its people 
must be deferred. 






THE ARCTICS. 

TRIP through the frozen regions of the world is a mighty 
journey, but it is to be taken all the way by land, after a pas- 
sao^e of Behringf Strait has been effected. The races and tribes 
of men which are met in this overland trip are of the Mongo- 
lian types, the ugliest of them all being the Calmucks, who 
divide their allegiance between the Russian and Chinese 
Empires and Turkestan, their tribes roving from the Don to 
the western borders of China. They are descendants of the 
Scythians of antiquity, and proudly place themselves among 
the Mongols and Tartars of more modern date. 

THE UGLY CALMUCK AGAIN. 



The Calmucks are generally of a medium height, robust and broad 
in the shoulders, but with bow legs, and feet which turn inward. This 
latter peculiarity may be caused by the fact that they are a nation of 
horsemen and spend most of their lives in the saddle. Their skin is 
naturally quite white, but exposure to all sorts of weather, and to cabin 
smoke and soot in winter, have given it a swarthy tinge. The fine black 
hair of the women, and the white regular teeth of both sexes, are about 
the only claims to beauty which the people have as a race. They have 
the oblique eyes of the Mongolian, black and thin eyebrows, nose flat 
and broad at the point, head and face very round, ears large and promi- 
nent, and lips thick and protruding. Where they have intermarried with 
the Cossacks of Russia some of this ugliness has been shaded down, 
but the pure Calmuck glories in being as ugly as the Scythian of the 
plains or the Hun of Atilla's time. They are the connecting link 
betvv'een the Mongolians of the South and the Mongolians of the North, 
or the frozen regions. Their native home they claim to be the barren 
regions of Eastern Thibet — which, it is true, is cold enough, but cannot 

be considered a frozen country. 

321 



21 



322 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE SAMOYEDS. 

North of the Siberian Calmucks is the bulk of the Samoyeds, once 
a very numerous people who occupied the vast Siberian plain bounded 
by the Altai Mountains, Turkestan, the Ural Mountains and the Arctic 
Ocean. Various tribes of Turks, Tartars and Mongols split and scat- 
tered this great body of people, leaving one portion of it lying on the 
Yenisei and Obi rivers, in Southern Siberia, and the other near the Arc- 
tic Circle in Russia. Fracjments of the tribe are found scattered alone 




CALMUCK DWELLINGS. 

the dreary shores of the Arctic Ocean from Archangel in Europe to the 
Lena River in Eastern Siberia. 

SHAMANISM. 



The Samoyeds have been very little influenced by the civilization 
whose borders the)- touch. Neither Russia nor China have been able to 
wean them from the old manners of their ancestors. In the frozen 
regions of the Arctics they still cling to their ancient religion, which is a 
bewildering combination of beliefs in witchcraft, spiritualism, idolatry . 
and bloody sacrifice. A man or a woman is appointed a priest by the 
soul of a deceased member of the clergy, who appears to the individual 
in a dream, and appoints him or her his successor. The ceremonies are 
not performed at any stated time, but rather upon some such important 
occasion as a death ; the appearance of some wonder in the heavens ; 



SHAMANISM. 323 

the approach of famine or pestilence. Then dressed in a long robe of 
elk-skin, hung" with brass and iron bells, and carrying staves tipped with 
figures of horses' heads, the priest goes leaping along, or performing 
frantic gestures calculated to awe the superstitious. Having arrived at 
the hut where he is to propitiate the evil demon who has brought calam- 
ity upon the communit)-, he finds a reindeer ready for him, as a sacrifi- 
cial offering. After all the persons have assembled the priest commences 
a weird chant, and sprinkles spirits and milk upon the sides of the hut 
and over the fire. He then orders the animal to be killed. It is there- 
upon seized by some of those present, and its heart literally torn from , 
its body, after which the skin is stripped off, and its flesh, with the excep- 
tion of a few pieces which are thrown into the fire, is consumed by the 
persons assembled. 

When the priest is about to commune with the spirits, a great fire 
is sometimes built in the open air, and those who are to take part circle 
around it, shriekinof and beatinsf drums and tom-toms, and twistina^ them- 
selves like snakes possessed with devils. The priest is the most furious 
of them all, his o-reat fur robe, covered Avith bones and the metal images 
of birds and beasts, waving around him, and his stave of ofifice assisting 
him to outdo the best of the common worshipers. After a time he falls 
to the ground, ostensibly seized by some mysterious power, foaming at 
the mouth and writhing in torture. His people then cast a heap of skins 
upon him, having previously slipped a noose around his neck, and when 
they think that he has been in communication with the spirits long 
enough, pull at the cord with all their strength. At this juncture the 
priest is believed by non-devotees to slip his hand or arm in the noose, 
and thus protect his precious neck. He makes a sign, at all events, that 
the spirits have left him and that he is ready to divulge their communi- 
cations. The people tell of instances where the evil spirits have stran- 
gled their priest. 

The antics and tricks of this priest of the so-called Shaman religion 
var)' Avith the people among whom he lives. He will therefore appear 
in many transformation scenes, as he is found among 'nearly all the 
tribes of Siberia. Where the Greek Church even has made converts 
they cling stubbornly to their ancient idols and charms ; but when one 
of these partially Christianized hyperboreans is questioned as to their 
presence he passes them off as household ornaments. In the mind of 
the unadulterated idolater, the idol and the sacred bear or reindeer can 
scarcely be separated ; as witness the following discovery, lately made 
on the shores of the Kara Sea, which indents the coast of both the 
Russias : " Traces of men, some of whom had gone barefoot, and of 



324 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Samoyed sledges were visible on the beach. Close to the shore was 
found a sacrificial altar, consisting of about fifty skulls of the ice-bear, 
walrus and reindeer bones, laid in a heap. In the middle of the heap 




S 

< 
u 

Q 

s 

C/J 



of bones, there stood, raised up, two idols, roughly hewn from drift- 
wood roots, newly besmeared in the eyes and mouth with blood ; also 
two poles, provided with hooks, from which hung bones of the reindeer 



HOW THEY DRESS. 325 

and bear. Close by was a fire-place, and a heap of reindeer bones, the 
latter clearly a remnant of a sacrificial meal." 

HOW THEY DRESS. 

The Samoyeds do not greatly differ from the Calmucks in personal 
appearance. When equipped for hunting or for a long journey, the 
native is not much to be seen ; he seems but a huge bundle of reindeer 
skins, aiid yet the weight of his garments is said to be so scientifically 
distributed as to offer slight impediment to his motions. He has on a 
pair of drawers made of curried reindeer skin, which reach to his knees ; 
soft stockings, made of the pelts of a reindeer fawn, with the hair next 
to the skin ; boots of reindeer hide, with the hair outside, both on leg 
and sole ; a sack-like garment of }-oung deer skins sewn together, open 
in front, with sleeves and gloves, the hair of the blouse being next to 
the skin, and of the gloves invariably outside ; over this garment is 
another reindeer jacket with the hairy side out, so that the body is pro- 
tected by a thick covering, with fur on both sides, which is the beau- 
ideal of a cold-resisting garment. Attached to all this is, of course, the 
close-fitting hood, which leaves the temples, cheek bones and chin exposed. 

The women are distinguished from their lords by wearing a short 
pelisse, or cloak, and also by choosing various colored skins of the 
wolf and fox, leaving the tail to dangle at the back of the dress. Their 
long black hair is braided into a queue and ornamented with pieces of 
metal which tinkle, musicallv, as the vain creatures o-o walking- alono-. 
These metallic ornaments are of brass and iron, and among them may 
occasionally be seen such curiosities and valuables as the old lock of a 
musket. 

When it is remembered that the tame reindeer is the Samoyed's 
means of locomotion as he moves from place to place in search of game, 
and that the wild reindeer forms his chief supply of meat, the sugges- 
tion may be offered that the Samoyed is the product of the reindeer ; 
althoutrh the name Samoved is said to mean salmon-eater and was 
given to him when the most that was known about him was that he was 
much given to eating that fish. His sledge is ornamented with walrus 
tusk and furnished with dolphin-skin traces and seal-skin chairs ; and 
as a salmon-eater, pure and simple, his time is past. In early Rus- 
sian chronicles the word Samoyeds is also translated, "persons who 
devour each other," which points to a time when they were cannibals. 

THE OSTIAKS AND VOGULS. 
The branches of the widely-extended Finnic race in Northwestern 



326 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Siberia, commence to interlock with the shoots of that MongoHan stock 
which are seen in every portion of Asiatic Russia. From the Ural 
Mountains to the Baltic Sea pieces of drift-wood lie scattered along the 
route taken by the great body of Huns, which after it had broken itself 
against the Chinese Empire, moved westward, recruiting- its streno-th as 
It wen^ Four centuries after this emigration, when the empire of the 
Huns was at the height of its power, and wave after wave of barbaric 
warriors swept over Europe, Persia and India, the races of the north 
crushed the center of its power, which was on Russian soil, and the 
mighty fabric, M'ith Atilla's death, went to pieces. 

In the Finns proper, of European Russia, are believed to be 
embodied the purest representatives of that race which made the circuit 
of so large a portion of the civilized world in its career of conquest. 

But that historic ground must be ap- 
proached through the territory of two 
tribes of people, who either were left be- 
hind by the great body of Hunnish 
emigrants, or at a very early day were 
driven up from the South. Reference is 
made to the Ostiaks and the Voguls. 

North of the Ostiaks are the Samoveds, 

and to their west the Voguls. They 

occupy the country between the Obi and 

Yenisei rivers. Their villages consist 

iof four or five tents of felt and the in- 

''f; mates are peaceable, jovial, honest, in- 

[' genious and poor. 

The Ostiaks resemble the Calmucks, 
being short in stature, with flat faces and 
AN osTiAK. reddish hair ; and as men and women dress 

in reindeer skins they seem to be quite a monotonou-s sort of people. 
Some members of the race use the skin of eels for clothing. When 
well rubbed with fat it is said to be more impervious to cold than fur 
itself. Their skins are also used as windows to their square wooden 
huts. 

In the neighborhood of the Obi they have ceased to wear their 
native costume and have partially adopted the Russian dress. Here 
also they possess no reindeer, their wealth consisting of light canoes 
and fishing tackle. A native who has property valued at $ioo would be 
placed among the capitalists of his people. With how much truth it is 
impossible to say. but the report runs that an Ostiak father is not averse 




FISHING AND HUNTING. 



;27 



to selling his daughter to any native in. search of a wife. The average 
prices given are from $ioo to $150 in money ; a horse, a cow or an ox ; 
from seven to ten pieces of clothing ; a measure of meal, a few hops and 
some brandy for the wedding feast. 

FISHING AND HUNTING. 



In their methods of fishing and hunting they show much ingenuity. 
To capture the huge sturgeons- which, during the winter. He in the 
muddy hollows of the rivers, bunched together in huge masses for the 
sake of warmth, he sets a tempting bait, and then cutting a hole in the 
ice, down stream, he drops 
into it red-hot balls of clay. 
When the fish feel the 
water orettingr warm 
around them they bestir 
themselves and, as is their 
habit, commence to swim 
up stream. Thus one or 
more soon falls a victim to 
the Ostiak's ingenuity. 

For buildinof their 
large boats the Ostiaks 
use the Siberian cedar, 
which is firmly grained, 
but free from knots and 
easily worked. Having 
no saws they take a tree 
two or three feet in diam- 
eter, split it in two, and 
of each half make a wide 
thin board, or the side of 
the craft The poplar 
furnishes them with their canoes, which are hollowed from its trunk. 

Their bows, which are taller than themselves, are made by joining 
a flexible slip of birch to a species of hard pine wood, fish-glue being 
used to cement the pieces together. The arrows, which are finely feath- 
ered and four feet in length, have blunt heads of iron so that the 
ermines, sables, squirrels and other animals are killed without injury to 
their skins. The reindeer or elk is brought to earth with an arrow which 




AN OSTIAK FAMILY. 



328 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

has a heavier head made in the form of a lozenge. The bows are very 
powerful and the recoil of the string is so heavy that strong plates of 
horn are worn upon the left forearm as a precaution against bruised 
and bleeding flesh. Wonderful stories are told of their feats of archery, 
as witness : An Ostiak marked an arrow in the middle with a piece of 
charcoal and discharged it into the air, whilst a second man, before it 
reached the ground, shot at the descending shaft and struck it on the 
mark. 

The Ostiak's clock is the constellation of the Great Bear ; his nap- 
kin a broad shaving from the larch, from which tree also he makes laths 
for his hut ; his snuff, of which he is passionately fond, a fungus of the 
birch tree, pounded and mixed with tobacco. The manner of taking his 
nip is the same as that of the Chinese, viz : — pouring a small quantity 
of the snuff" upon the right thumb. The Ostiak plays upon an instru- 
ment of five strings, shaped like a boat and improvises and dramatizes 
his songs as he goes along. Sometimes an exciting local incident, such 
as the eating of a child by a bear, will furnish a community with 
material upon which to exercise their musical and dramatic talents for 
many years, 

THEIR IDOLATRY. 

The Ostiaks are pagans and idolaters of the most uncompromising 
description. They have four gods, who are represented by their idols as 
creatures without legs, one of them having especial charge of the healing 
arts. One of their deities is Ortik, the same Ordog (or Evil One), 
which is found amonor the Hunoarians, who are also a Finnic tribe. 
They also have their great sword dances in honor of one of their gods, 
over which the Shaman presides and who collects the weapons after his 
people have waved them about and screamed long enough. The dance 
takes place near some of the great fair towns, and is enlivened by the 
antics of professional buffoons and posture-makers. Both sexes join in 
the dance and bow themselves periodically before their legless idols. 
The Asiatic Ostiaks and the European Hungarians, or Magyars, have 
another band of union and indication of their common origin in this 
hideous sword dance. It is of such a nature as one imagfines would have 
delighted the Huns who worshiped the god of war, under the symbol 
of a sword set in the ground, and bowed down as to a god before Atilla, 
their leader, who was wont to proclaim to his army of wolves that he 
alone possessed the sword of Mars. 

The Ostiaks maintain that they believe in one Supreme God whose 
likeness cannot be reproduced. As a type of this deity they venerate 



NATIVE HONESTY. . 329 

the black bear, as certain African tribes do the hon ; but the Siberian 
does not go as far as the negro and irresistingly allow his type of 
Omnipotence to make a meal of him. Rather, he kills and eats the 
bear, but shows respect for the carcass in not allowing a woman to taste 
of its head. In a court of justice he swears upon the head of a bear, 
and by a dramatic motion of the jaws intimates that he invites an awful 
fate to overtake him if he does not tell the truth. 

NATIVE HONESTY 

Honesty is a prevailing virtue of the Siberians, and in this connec- 
tion it is a pleasant duty to notice a practice which the merchant of Tob- 
olsk has so lono- followed that it has become a custom. When he goes 
north in the summer to purchase fish he takes with him quantities of 
flour and salt, for the purpose of barter. These articles he places in 
store-houses from which he distributes them to the Samoyeds and Osti- 
aks who flock to him for miles around. Upon having completed his 
tour of stations, if provisions still remain he leaves them unprotected, 
feeling confident that if a hungry Siberian passes that way, and wants 
flour and salt, he will not take them without leaving a due-bill in the 
shape of a notched stick. Sometimes during the coming season its du- 
plicate will be presented to the merchant of Tobolsk by the honest native, 
who comes promptly to liquidate with a finny load. The coming gen- 
eration, if they cling to the occupation of their fathers, will not be 
obliged to fall back upon notched sticks under such circumstances, since 
for a few years past the Russians have been opening schools for the 
natives, one having been in operation in Obdorsk for the Ostiaks and 
Samoyeds since 1879. 

THE VOGUES. 

The Voguls are a much smaller tribe than the Ostiaks, some author- 
ities placing their number as low as five or six thousand. Then" camp- 
ing-ground lies between the Northern Ural Mountains and the Tobol 
River, the northern boundary being the Obi. They are a roving people, 
and from the broken and barren nature of their country they are obliged 
to depend upon the spoils of the chase for their subsistence. Hunting 
regulations are therefore strictly observed. Eike their neighbors, the 
Ostiaks, their encampments are never to exceed five tents each, and no 
encampment is to be pitched within four miles of another, since the great 
clouds of smoke which issue from their huts are as distasteful to the 
game as to the swarms of gnats which are thus kept at a distance. Thft 



330 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



atmosphere of the ulterior of their dwelhng-places would be considered 
by a European as a sure instrument of death; but the Vogul Hves in it 
and thrives; and farther north, where the chmate is more severe and the 
yurt has no hole for the escape of the smoke, the native women spend 
weeks and months in such confinement and live to a good old age. 
The Voguls, who live to the south, near the Bashkirs, are somewhat 
given to agricultural pursuits ; but as a rule their time is divided betweea 
the care of their reindeer, fishing and hunting, and taking their peltry to 
the fair at Obdorsk, to which place also repair many of the Samoyeds 
and Ostiaks. 

THE FINNS. 

The Finns are classed as among the primitive races of the worlds 
their lano^uacre bearing a strong" resemblance to that of the Tartars, Mon- 
gols, Turks, and the Tungooses of Siberia. That their language is of 

a primitive struc- 
ture may be in- 
ferred from the 
fact that many of 
the words and a 
greater part of the 
grammatical 
forms of the in- 
scriptions which 
have been de- 
ciphered from ex- 
cavated Assyrian 
A voGUL ENCAMPMENT. monuments are 

virtually Finnish. Evidences are at hand to prove that the system of 
writing then used (cruciform or cross-shaped) was the invention of a. 
people north of the valley of the Mesopotamia. As the philologists 
would make the Egyptians and the Hottentots one people, it is no more 
strange that Assyria should have been preceded by Finland, when its- 
people were Huns, or Tartars, or Mongols. 

By ancient historians they are noticed in Europe as Fenni and 
Phinnoi, and horrible tales are told of their savage natures and 
actions. Their cousins, the Laplanders, still retain some of the traits 
given to them, but the Finns are mild and peaceable, though possessing 
great bodily strength and a splendid physique. In fact, they are far 
from being Ogres, by which name they were known before the Teu- 
tons, or Slavs, cam^i up fro n the south and drove them toward the Arc- 




THE CLEANLY NATIVE. 33 1 

tics, leaving a numerous body of tlieir race behind in the persons of the 
modern Hungarians. 

THE CLEANLY NATIVE. 

Like most races of Mono^ohan extraction that for centuries have been 
deprived of a mild Asiatic climate and habits of life, the blood has been 
brought to the surface of the body, where through a dark skin it shows 
as a ruddy glow of health. Even the rosy cheeks of the Swede, with 
his fair skin, are of not so rich a tint as those of the hardy Finn, both 
of whom, unlike the stunted Laplander, believe in the religion of soap 
and water. The Finn is much addicted to the use of the vapor bath, 
and, all in all, Avith his high cheek bones, square jaws, low, broad fore- 
head and dark eyes and hair, he is a living illustration of what genera- 
tions of cleanliness might do for the natives of both Asia and Europe, 
who have been pushed north by stronger people. 

The vapor bath may now be said to be a Sclavonic institution, though 
it is found to perfection among the Finns. The bath is heated to the 
height of some i6o degrees, the vapor being produced by pouring boil- 
incr water on red-hot stones. When the bather is heated to an immense 
perspiration, he runs out of the bath and rolls upon the grass or snow, 
according to the season in which he finds himself. 

Intimate contact with the Swedes and Russians, with such diverse 
national characteristics, has been the means of somewhat diluting 
native individuality ; but on the whole, although Finland is a grand- 
duchy of the Empire, its dependency upon Sweden for four centuries 
has had most to do with modifying the native crudeness of its people. 
Russia saw with uneasiness the stronof hold which even the Swedish 
language had upon the people, long after the first part of this century, 
when she snatched the province from Sweden ; but, by imperial dictum, 
since 1883 the Finnish has been the of^cial language, so that now all 
persons intending' to enter the • public service must learn the native 



tongrue. 



SAVING A LANGUAGE. 



The autocrat of the Russias Is sustained in his efforts to rehabilitate 
the native tongue of Finland by the peasantry of the country, who form 
the bulk of the population. They have clung to their musical language 
throughout all the centuries of Swedish and Russian dominion, have had 
their Bibles printed in it, and have prayed in it. From them also the 
beauties of the language flowed out to the world through the pen of one 
of their university professors, Elias Lounrot. For years this scholastic 



332" PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

patriot wandered around the country, living with the peasantry and gath- 
ering from them all their most popular native songs. This, however, 
must have been more of an agreeable task than otherwise, for the Finns 
are poets and musicians by nature. This characteristic of the race has 
already been noticed among the Ostiaks, an allied people whose home is 
across European Russia and beyond the Ural Mountains. 

For generations past the Finns have had their runolainen, or 
song men, who to the sound of their national instrument, a five-string 
harp, poured forth melodies of both a mythological and heroic nature. 
The magic songs were slowly and solemnly recited by the bard, who 
sometimes lived alone in a hut surrounded by forests and marshes. 
Every Finlander, also, was his own poet, and no striking event, public 
or private, but had its delineator. As was the ancient custom, when 
verses are to be recited two poets stand in the midst of a circle, and 
repeat lines alternately, every second line beginning with the last word 
of the preceding. 

The result of this universal aptitude for poesy and song was to 
bring the professor a very large grist from which he could cull the best ; 
the result was 23,000 verses, which contain an epitome of the ancient 
superstitions of the Finnic race, with heroic deeds and legends, love- 
makings and songs. Kalevala, the ancient name of Finland, was the 
title of the poem which is regarded by scholars, generally, as a remarka- 
ble addition to the epic literature of the world. Professor Max Miiller, 
for example, says that Kalevala possesses merits not dissimilar from 
those of the Iliad, and will "claim its place as the fifth national epic of 
the world, side by side with the Ionian songs, with the Mahabarata, the 
Shananich and the Niebelunge." This great heroic poem was published 
fifty years ago. Some time afterwards Professor Loiinrot gave to the 
world 7,000 Finnish proverbs and 2,000 charades, and since then the 
Russian, English, Swedish, French and German scholars have joined 
the Czar and the yeomanry in insisting that the language shall be main- 
tained in its purity. 

Another native professor was the first navigator to pass from the 
Arctic to the Pacific ocean via Behring Strait — the northeast passage 
around Asia prophesied over three hundred years ago. Other native 
Finns have made their marks as poets and scientists, the literary life of 
the country centering around the university at Helsingfors, the capital 
of the Duchy, and of whose faculty both of these professors were mem- 
bers. The university was founded at Abo, with the introduction of 
printing into Finland, two and a half centuries ago. The library was 
subsequently removed to the capital. When founded it contained 



AN ANCIENT CITY. 2)33 

twenty-one books and a globe ; it now numbers over 150,000 volumes. 
Helsingfors is on the Gulf of Finland. It is protected by a huge for- 
tress, built on seven islands and known as the Gibraltar of the North. 
The streets of the capital are broad ; the houses large ; public build- 
ings, cathedrals and opera houses appear to convince the skeptical that 
Finland is not entirely a dreary country lying on the shores of a gulf, 
soaked with bogs and marshes, and covered with a lot of good-natured 
know-nothines on snow shoes. 



& 



AN ANCIENT CITY. 

Before proceeding to more intimately investigate the people, as 
peasants and home people, a glimpse should be taken of Finland's most 
ancient city, Abo by name, and founded near the Gulf of Finland on the 
River Aurijaki, more than seven hundred years ago. In 1827 a destruc- 
tive fire swept away all the old landmarks except a ruined castle on a 
hill, placed there when the authority of Sweden was somewhat unstable. 
At Abo resides the Archbishop of the Lutheran church. 

For miles around the Finns flock on Sunday, some on foot, some 
in two-wheeled rigs, and others in long boats which accommodate parties 
of thirty or forty. The women do the rowing, and the men lounge 
smoking in the stern of the boat. The costumes of the women are gay 
in the extreme, at all times. 

The men make a special effort to appear well on Sunday, but the 
every-day attire of the Finns is about as follows : A coat of coarse 
woolen stuff, made with little regard to shape and tied around the body 
with a band ; a pair of coarse linen trousers, straw shoes, and bits of 
woolen cloth, or ropes of straw around their legs. In Russian Finland 
the natives seem to be more hardy than their conquerors and seldom wear 
the sheep-skin. 

In more important ways the two people are radically different. The 
Finns do not support a nobility ; but they uphold a species of caste in 
that the peasant, though far in the majority, allows the citizen or mer- 
chant to take precedence of him ; and he does this although he is manu- 
facturer as well as aafriculturist. 



*t>' 



THE FARMER. 

In Finland the farmer prepares his own tar, potash and charcoal, 
builds his own boat, makes his own table and chairs, and in his cot- 
tage are woven the coarse woolen and other fabrics of which his dress is 
composed. Much tar, pitch and potash are also exported. But a great 



334 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




■source of wealth is the immense quantities of fir and pine which are cut 
from the forests in the southern part of the country. They are fast dis- 
appearing, however, since not only is an abundance of firewood exported, 
but the peasant, when his land has become impoverished, resorts to the 
-extravagant policy of selecting a finely timbered piece of ground and 
then burning off the trees that the soil may be enriched with the ashes. 
The yeoman's hut contains a single room, warmed by a large stove, 
the smoke of which goes out either at the windows or through a hole in 
the roof. Pine knots furnish him with light, and whether he live 
in the marshy, mossy East, or the mountainous North, he is pretty 
certain to be, both at home and abroad, an affectionate, honest, hospit- 
able sort of a fellow, inclined to be lazy, deliberate in speech, but good 
at heart, and ever verging upon the melancholy. 

The Finns in 
the southwestern 

ince call them- 
selves F"lama- 
laiseth. They 
are breeders of 
cattle as well as 
agriculturists, 
but are poor and 
rude compared 
to the eastern 
tribe of Ka- 
r eli a ns. The 
former number 

600,000 and the latter over 1,000,000 people. From Finland east 
of the Ural Mountains, and as far south as the middle Volga River, 
the branches of the Finnic race interlace with those of the Slavic, so 
that the two people seem often as one. But for the present we must 
'leave these interspersed Finns, who number two million and a half 
of people, and go among a really uncivilized and peculiar people — 
real hyperboreans — Finns, also, and yet not the poetic, musical, hand- 
some Finns of Finland. 

THE LAPPS. 




CAPE WASHINGTON. 



The true Laplanders do not number more than thirty thousand 
people, and inhabit the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. 
Their dreary country of rock, snow and moss will probably remain their 



A MATTER-OF-FACT PEOPLE. 



oo. 



own as long as they exist as a people, and this in spite of a few fertile 
spots and its poetical nights. The climate is extremely cold for nine 
months of the year. July and August are excessively hot, the sun being- 
above the horizon for several weeks. These extremes of heat and cold 
are separated by a rainy spring and autumn of about two weeks. Win- 
ter is night and summer is day, and although the gulf-stream makes 




existence upon the coast more bearable than in the interior, the Lapp is 
a poor, monotonous, ignorant creature of circumstances; driven from the 
south by the Finns and Scandinavians, he barely exists, physically and 
intellectually unfortunate. 

A MATTER-OF-FACT PEOPLE. 

The Lapps are supposed to be the Cynocephali and Pygmies of 






PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Herodotus, and with their squat body and bow legs, yellow skin, and 
head poised on a short round neck, bear a decidedly unfavorable contrast 
to the Finns. They are agile, but quickly exhausted by active work. 
The severity of their climate and the exposure which they undergo test 
their powers of endurance to the utmost ; but everything is taken in the 
most matter-of-fact way. If a Lapp gets overtaken by a snow storm on 
the mountains, such as would appall the heart of the bravest foreigner, 
he simply gets under his sledge, and when the trouble is over commences 
to dig his way to liberty. He will not starve, for he has been filling 
himself full of raw fish, meat and blubber, while he could ; besides he 
has a stock on hand. His reindeer are as fitted to the country as he, 
and will take care of themselves. Ordinarily his steeds are docile and 
make no trouble; but during the fall and winter they sometimes become 
furious to free themselves, and turn upon the little Lapp like wild beasts. 
The driver is powerless to withstand them; so he quietly but expedi- 

tiouslygetsoutof 
1 his snow sledge, 
crawls under it 
and allows the 
reindeer to have 
it out to their 
hearts' content. 
The Lapp shows 
ingenuity, as well 
as coolness, in 
accepting his sit- 
uation and mak- 
ing the best of it. 

The women are very skillful in making garments, and the men cut 
out of wood, with astonishing ingenuity — considering the imperfect tools 
they employ — all the utensils they need. Many still hunt with the bow 
and arrow, but some have gained possession of fire-arms, which they use 
with effect. 

In the Sagas, or national songs of Scandinavia, the Lapps are repre- 
sented as a treacherous, deceitful race and addicted to every heathen 
practice ; these national songs also admit them to have been the original 
inhabitants of the entire peninsula of Scandinavia. Whatever their 
dispositions in ancient times, they seem at least to be honest. Those 
who know them best, however, make a distinction between the Sea 
Lapps and the Mountain Lapps. The Mountain Lapps, or those of the 
interior, best answer Tacitus' description of the Fenni, who, in his 




LAPLAND SLEDGE. 



A RELIGIOUS MIXTURE. 2>2>7 

time, inhabited Finland ; and they seem to still- harbor an animosity 
toward all their ancient enemies of Scandinavia and Russia, being 
haughty and morose. The Lapps who live on the coast, on the other 
hand, are hospitable and light-hearted. 

A RELIGIOUS MIXTURE. 

The superstitions of the Lapp have, to a great extent, been coun- 
teracted by the efforts of the Norwegian Lutherans on one side and the 
Russians, or adherents of the Greek church, on the other. The Bible 
has been translated into their own language. But even with the Christian 
rites which they have adopted, they retain some of their old superstitions,, 
many of them regarding the sacrament as a powerful charm to preserve 
them from evil spirits. 

Others practice a species of necromancy with the Runic drum. This 
is a wooden instrument hung closely round with brass rings. The head 
is covered with mystic figures, and the instruments are esteemed accord- 
ing to their antiquity. If any important matter is to be determined a 
ring is placed upon the drum head, which is repeatedly struck with a 
deer horn, and the omen is considered good or bad according to the 
figures the ring touches. There are private drums and public drums, 
the latter being manipulated by an official soothsayer, who drinks 
enough brandy to make him drunk ; when he comes to himself he tells 
the people how he has been to one of their holy mountains, and what 
explanation one of their deities gave him for the prevalence of the sick- 
ness amonof themselves or their reindeer. 

Those who have not been converted to Christianity worship four 
orders of divinities — celestial, atmospheric, manes and demons. They 
have one Supreme Creator, assisted by his virgin wife and their son. 
There are gods of beasts and fishes ; of the rainbow and lightning ; of 
the air and mountains ; of death and of the souls who are passing to the 
shades below. The immortality of the soul and a future state of rewards 
and punishments are a part of the heathen belief. Several of the gods 
are of Teutonic origin, some of the ancient historians, indeed, placing 
the Lapps among the Teutons. There also seems to be among them 
remains of Druidical institutions. The very name of Lapp signifies a 
wizard, and considering how for centuries their dark minds were filled 
with all manner of gods, evil spirits, charms and omens, and the aversion 
with which they were viewed by both Scandinavians and Russians, it is 
remarkable that they have cast away so much that is useless. Since 
they have become partially Christianized, the Norwegians allow them 



22 



338 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

burial privileges in their villages, but will not let them settle in their 
midst. Many of the Lapps are baptized when young, and their weddings 
take place in Norwegian churches ; but the great, healthy, clean Norwe- 
gian and Swede do not amalgamate with the dwarfish, greasy, smoky 
Lapp. 

SOCIAL PICTURES. 

Polygamy is not prohibited among the Lapps, but the high price 
of a wife virtually confines the practice to those who are the owners of 
many reindeer; it is a question whether polyandry is not more common 
than polygamy. The daughter of a rich man costs sometimes as much as 
a hundred reindeer, while a poor girl is seldom sold for less than twenty. 
This price they consider as a repayment of the expenses incurred in 
bringing up a daughter, and also as a remuneration to the father for 
losing her services. In his turn, the dowry which goes with his daugh- 
ter consists of reindeer proportionate in number to his wealth ; so that 
if he should be the owner of five thousand reindeer, as sometimes 
happens, and should sell his daughter for one hundred, passing her 
dowry over with her, it is difificult to see how he would make much out 
of the transaction. 

A native wedding solemnized in a Norwegian church reveals the 
bride and groom before the altar, each a trifle over four feet tall, and 
nearly as broad, and thus attired : The woman in a dark blue woolen 
tunic, with orange and red trimmings, her boots fastened with a vari- 
colored ribbon which is wound round them, extending half way to the 
knee ; over her shoulders a small, gay-colored shawl ; up.on her head a 
brilliant cap, with a huge bunch of narrow ribbons streaming behind. 
The man is dressed in a similar style, except his tunic is shorter and his 
turban more simple. After the service presents are exchanged, con- 
sisting of rings, silver cups, silk neckerchiefs, and sometimes, if the 
parties are very rich, silver girdles ; then comes the brandy drinking, 
which, with eating and hunting, constitutes all which the Laplander calls 
amusement. 

Men may marry at eighteen and women at fifteen, and divorces 
are unknown. The contracting parties lead in the festivities, seated 
side by side upon a box or rude stool. A great dish stands upon a 
small table, and from this the company take lumps of meat, cut them 
into smaller, pieces with the large knives they wear about their waists, 
and swallow them at a gulp. Friends continue to pour in to offer their 
congratulations, and stay to eat the pieces of meat, and drink the brandy, 
or finkel. The smiling and chatting change to boisterous laughter 



SEA COAST AND MOUNTAIN LAPPS. 339 

and shouts, and the happy couple commence their married Hfe, inva- 
riably, as two unblushing bacchanals. The fact that the young woman 
is rapidly approaching her mother in hideousness will, however, have 
no effect in making the girl treat some other old woman with due 
respect. She may behave decently toward her mother, but the tend- 
ency of the race is to look upon the old as so many useless append- 
ages, and it is not uncommon, when they fall sick upon a journey, to 
provide them with a scanty supply of food and leave them behind in 
the snow. The young people, living so much in the open air and in 
such a temperature, will not at first show the effects of imbibing such 
quantities of finkel — a native brandy distilled from corn, and which has 
been described as a mixture of turpentine, train oil and bad molasses. 
But the life they lead may account for the appearance of the average 
Lapp face which has withstood the rigors of a quarter of a century or 
less. 

The faces of young and old are deeply lined and furrowed, so as to 
resemble rough masks. In a few years the girl's old mother, with her 
deer-skin frock reaching below her knees and patched with gay Scotch 
tartan ; her rough reindeer-skin boots, with fiaps like an oxford tie, well 
turned up at the toes and stuffed with hay ; her high blue woolen cap in 
stovepipe shape, beneath which straggle her shaggy, black locks, and 
peers forth the expressionless mask — this unearthly-looking, dried-up 
being, still clinging to the gaudy tastes of her race, will in a few years 
commence to look more like a sister than a mother to the girl. The 
Swedes are a very imaginative people and quite superstitious, and, by 
looking at these uncanny Lapps, it can well be seen how these Northern 
pygmies should have stood in their minds for the trolls, or dwarfs, who 
are supposed to bring misfortune and gloom to their unusually cheery 
homes. 

SEA COAST AND MOUNTAIN LAPPS. 

The division of the Lapps into those of the sea coast and those of 
the highlands has been incidentally noted ; but after you have witnessed 
a few general characteristics of the people, you will see that to intelli- 
gently reach the particulars you will find yourself making a clearly 
marked distinction. They were originally all nomadic ; but the difficulty 
of finding sufficient food within the area to which they had been restricted 
compelled some of the tribes to settle near the larger rivers and lakes, 
where they hunt and fish regularly to supply the markets of Stockholm. 

The mode of bartering is somewhat peculiar. When the merchant 
arrives who wishes to make purchases, he finds that, as a rule, each Lapp 



340 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



is attended by a bwede. Both stand motionless until he bids them 
advance. The Swede makes the bargain, and, when it is completed, with 
a quick movement each grasps your hand, and with the universal " Tak- 
tak," departs. In making exchanges the Swedish note is generally used ; 
but when the Lapp comes from his fishing and hunting grounds, and 
desires the more direct process of barter, he receives for his skins and 
bird feathers, his fish and reindeer venison, such articles as brandy, gun- 
powder, cloth, coffee, sugar and meal. Hammerfest, the most northerly 



town, is a great mart. 



In summer the wandering Lapps of the interior are driven to the 
coast by swarms of mosquitoes and gad-flies. It is somewhat singular 
that the farther north one goes the more vicious the pests become — 
longer, bigger and bolder ; consequently the poor inland Lapps, with 
their herds of reindeer, emigrate to the western coasts of Norway, occu- 
pying the lofty hills which the Norwegian farmers cannot use, and, pitch- 
ing their encampments in lots of half a dozen tents, turn their herds out 




FISHING IN LAPLAND^ 



to feed upon the moss. It is estimated that more than one hundred 
thousand reindeer annually make these journeys. Summer is therefore 
the only season of the year when the mountain, or reindeer Lapp, and 
the sea coast Lapp, do not strictly observe their respective habitats. 

Much of the produce of the fishing Lapp goes to Northern Russia, 
by way of Archangel, and the northern and northwestern coasts of Nor- 
way swarm with a motley collection of Lapps, Norwegians and Russians. 
In Hammerfest itself the drunken of all these nationalities forget their 
distinctions and go reeling along together. There is great rejoicing 
when the monotony of their lives is broken into by the capture of a 
whale, and when seals and codfish give way to the leviathan. When the 
monscer is sighted chase is at once given, and if the fishermen are so 
fortunate as to fix a harpoon in his body, they break it off and go about 



A LAPP SCHOOL AND CHURCH, 34I 

their regular business. The wound, however, usually proves fatal, and 
in a few days the whale's body is cast upon the shore. But the harpoon 
is marked upon the barb, and though by law the finder of the treasure 
gets one-third of the booty, he must notify the owner of his discovery. 
The dwellings of the maritime Lapps are built of wood, or of 
sods, and sometimes have several apartments. They are roofed with 
birch-bark ; the floors are strewn with branches of trees, and on these 
are spread deer-skins. The Mountain Lapps dwell in tents consisting of 
bent sticks covered with a coarse cloth, or in huts covered with bark 
and turf. Their beds are often birch-leaves covered with seal or rein- 
deer skin. Reindeer horns form their spoons. Children are tied 
securely in leather cradles which swing from hooks in the roof, just be- 
yond the reach of the fox-like dogs who share the couches of the elders 
when the reindeer are safe in the corral, which is fenced off around the 
hut. When the herds are driven to their moss pasturage in the vicinity, 
or to the distant coasts of Norway, or are brought to their nightly shel- 
ter, these shepherd dogs are the mainstay of the Lapp. Upon such 
occasions the deer seem to lose all idea of individual responsibility, and 
merely go where their intelligent guardians drive them. Except to take 
care of their reindeer — two hundred of which are sufficient to support 
an average family ^ — the Lapps consider themselves excused from 
work. They lie around most of the time smoking and chatting, while 
the women and boys make horn spoons or moccasins with which to bar. 
ter for brandy and tobacco, or for bright colored woolen goods, ribbons, 
silver earrings and finger rings. Even in the huts and temporary tents 
of the Mountain Lapp, however, one occasionally meets with books. 

LAPP SCHOOL AND CHURCH. 

Both Norway and Sweden send their missionaries among the Lapps 
and take to them not only the Bible but school-books. A church and 
school combined, in Swedish Lapland, is an unusual sight. The edifice 
is usually built of pine wood and painted red, standing on a knoll of the 
httle clearing in which the village stands. The wooden belfry is apart 
from the rest of the building. The space between the rafters and ceil- 
ing of the church room below the kind-hearted pastor allows to be used 
in summer as a storehouse for sledges, snow shoes, etc. Occasionally a 
missionary, more energetic than usual, squeezes a school-room out of 
this attic, where he patiently teaches reading, writing, arithmetic and 
natural history to a dozen Swedes and Lapps. In this cubby-hole 
he places the desks, ink-pots, maps and globes, with which the educa- 



342 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



tional authorities of Sweden supply him, and proceeds cheerfully to the 
task of pushing a few facts into the benighted minds of half a dozen tall 
young Swedes and perhaps as many more chubby Lapps. 

On Sunday he dresses himself in a gown, and, standing before a 
plain, board altar, faces a congregation of thirty or forty men and women, 
indistinguishable, except that the sexes are separated as in a quaker 
meeting. Strict attention is paid to his ten-minute sermon, and every- 
body joins in the singing whenever he pleases and goes on at his own 
pace. The choir is composed of Lapp youths who are led by an anxious- 
looking man of their nationality, armed with a forest stick which he osten- 
sibly carries for the beating of time. The leader of the choir becomes 
more anxious and alert than ever, when the sermon commences. But 
woe be to the young Lapp who has eaten too much reindeer venison, 

reindeer cheese, rein- 
deer butter, or has 
k drunk too much rein- 
I deer whey, or has 
otherwise had so inti- 
S mate an association 
I with reindeer as to 
j succumb to a fijll 

^^^— = ^ stomach and a heavy 

^^^p^ "=S head, and go to sleep 
in church. The stick 
carried by the leader 
of the choir chucks 
the youth smartly 
under the chin, and 
when he awakes he 
is given a look of 
indigiiant reproof 
These nomadic Lapps wandering over fells and moors in search of 
the white moss or lichen, on which the reindeer depend, a dozen persons 
of both Sexes crowding into tents of half a dozen feet square, aad sharing 
these quarters, with their dogs — these are the true descendants of the 
ancient Lapp. These are they who are so proud, and who, remember- 
ing the extent of their ancient territory, are so callous to civilizing influ- 
ences. 

But the reindeer furnishes them with all that they require in the way 
of locomotion or food. The skin of the animal's legs, which has to with- 
stand the sharp ice and crusts of snow, as he drags his burdens over the 




A LAPLAND CHURCH. 



A LAPP SCHOOL AND CHURCH. 343 

country, is thick and tough ; his hoofs are as if they were shod with 
iron. In Lapland one will readily travel ten miles an hour all day ; and 
it is recorded that a reindeer (now dead) once drew a government mes- 
senger, who was in a great hurry, eight hundred miles in two days. 
The portrait. of the deer is still preserved in a royal palace in Sweden. 

The meat of the dear is cooked fresh and made into soup, when it 
is eaten right from the kettle scalding hot ; it is dried and smoked and 
cut into thin slices, or pounded into a paste and made up into cakes. 
The Lapp drinks the milk fresh, makes it into a rich cheese or butter, 
and extracts from the cheese an oil which prevents bad results from the 
freezing of his limbs. He distils a drink from the whey which is highly 
intoxicating, but not so raw as the vile finkel. The reindeer's skin is 
shelter and clothing, and his tendons are thread. The women prepare 
this by rolling the tendons upon their " cheeks," and the result is a 
thread which is wonderfully strong and durable. And the sale of articles 
which are made from different portions of the deer's anatomy and are 
not wanted at home, is a means of supplying the Lapp with outside 
luxuries such as sugar, coffee and bread. The deer needs no housing 
and does not even require to be fed ; for once driven to a favorable 
locality, the animal seeks the snow line, beyond which he wall find his 
starchy, nutritious food, even if it is six or seven feet beneath the surface. 
Antlers, hoofs and nose all assist him to uncover the fodder, and the 
Lapp's work is merely to direct his dogs to keep the animal in sight. 
The colder the country the more tender and nourishing the moss. Moss, 
reindeer, country and Lapp are adapted to each other, and the mainstay 
of this poor little man can never be transported. But during the winter 
it is sometimes difficult to find moss, even though the Lapp himself does 
not hunt for it; and, with the reindeer, perishes the owner. So that, 
with all, the Laplanders are dying out as a tribe. They have no idea of 
sanitary precautions, either in eating or drinking. They are filthy and: 
lazy. They are dead, though living. 

The Lapps have been crowded into the most dreary portions of 
that rugged European peninsula, which hangs out like a hammer of Thor 
ready to drop into the raging, icy oceans. Between the barriers of ice 
and those of stronger races they are firmly imprisoned in their graves. 
The tribes of Northeastern Siberia were pressed to the Arctics as were 
the Lapps but many found an escape open to them across the strait or 
by way of a chain of islands which is all but a neck of land connecting 
the two hemispheres. Many who find the original country of the Lapps 
in Finland also derive the origin of the name from the Finnish "lappi,"' 
or runaways. Furthermore in the word they discover a fragment of 



344 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

their history, reasoning that the Lapps, at an early day, deserted the 
Finns for their northern homes. But whatever the. cause of their separa- 
tion from the mother country, the Lapps seem to be even purer 
creatures of circumstance than the majority of Arctic peoples. 

Certain learned men who have an intense longing to enunciate 
startling generalties conclude that Lapps, Samoyeds, Esquimaux and 
Greenlanders, who inhabit the same frozen latitudes, were originally the 
same people. They suppose the Lapps to have descended from the 
White Sea toward Norway and Sweden, while the Finns ascended from 
Esthonia. 





TOWARD BEHRING STRAIT. 



THE BURIATS. 

HE central portions of Southern Siberia around Lake Baika 
and toward the Upper Lena River are occupied by the most 
numerous of the MongoHan races outside of the Chinese 
Empire. Though chvided into a number of small tribes, 
collectively they number nearly a quarter of a million of 
souls, and are substantially one people in their customs and 
intellectual peculiarities. They are unflinching adherents of 
Lamaism, and fought like wolves against the Russians, in the 
middle of the seventeenth century, as much to retain their 
religion as their national freedom ; even to this day they are 
uncommunicative and suspicious, seeing in every stranger, especially 
a Russian, some emissary of a religious sect sent out to draw them away 
from the faith of their fathers. How long they have been Buddhists 
(for Lamaism is but a form of Buddhism into which have been grafted 
many Mongolian superstitions) history saith not ; but it is known that 
Buddhism was introduced into Thibet, in the seventh century, by a wise 
prince of that country who had two wives, one from China and one 
from India, and both devotees of that faith. 




A RELIGIOUS CENTER. 



The head of the Lama religion dwells at the capital of Thibet, 
and the head of Siberian Lamaism is found at the holy village of 
Souggira, in the Buriat province of Irkutsch. He is supposed to be 
the incarnation of a former saint of religion, and when he dies the 
infant into which his soul passes is taken to a monastery and educated 
by the " kharpo," or master, in the mysteries of Lamaism. There are 
so many orders of the religion and so many members of these orders 
that fully one-eighth of the population of the Buriats are Lamas. 

With the exception of the begging Lamas (virtue beggars) all are 
monks or nuns, vowed to celibacy. The female Lamas are called 

345 



346 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



sisters-in-law, venerable aunts, etc. The Lama determines when is the 
auspicious day for marriage, and when the body of the deceased is to 
be exposed. Interment of the dead is forbidden. When the coming 
demise of a wealthy or distinguished person is reported to the Lama,, 
his duty is to assist the departure of the soul by making a small hole in 
the scalp. The breath having left the body, the priest says countless 
masses for the departed soul until it has been released by Yama, the 
infernal judge ; after which the corpse is burned. Bodies of the com- 
mon people are either devoured by beasts and birds of prey, or by 
sacred dogs kept for the purpose. The Lamas also make and sell idols^ 
amulets, relics and consecrated pills. 

Fasts and religious festivals are numerous, and in the streets of the 
villages and all along the highways small chapels, wheels for grinding 




NATIVE SIBERIANS. 



out prayers, flags inscribed with prayers and hoisted upon consecrated 
poles, with other like paraphernalia, keep the religion of the country 
constantly before the people. These praying machines consist of a 
sort of hollow barrel, which turns on an axis and in which the prayers, 
written on a great many little scrolls, are turned about. Some are 
colossal and move by wind or water, or are operated by special turners, 
or merely kicked into motion by passers-by ; others are small and carried 
in the hand. 

At sunrise, noon and sunset the Lamas assemble to recite prayers 
and sacred texts, the worship being accompanied by hideous braying of 
horns and trumpets and a beating of drums. The Lamaic temples 
which may be seen throughout the country are square and always face 



THE GOOD OF LAMAISM. 347 

the south. Entering the main hall, with its two parallel rows of col- 
umns, one sees beyond, first the chief idol, then the altar, and lastly the 
Lama on his throne. Gods are not worshiped, but the essence of all 
that is holy is comprised in the three precious jewels, the Buddha, 
the doctrine, and the priesthood. 

Beneath these are the good and evil spirits, the Lamas standing be- 
tween them and the laity. The unpardonable sin is to ridicule the 
Lama and his holy office, and persist in the offense. Impediment of 
speech, giddiness, loss of reason and death is the portion of such in this 
world, and in the next their souls will never know rest. Any offense to 
a Lama annihilates the merit acquired by a thousand generations of holi- 
ness ; but if one sincerely implore, during a whole day, the benediction 
of a Lama, all the sins committed during innumerable generations are 
effaced. Women are regarded as 'unclean, and are not allowed to ap- 
proach the temple altars. 

THE GOOD OF LAMAISM. 

But with all the superstitions attaching to Lamaism it has its good 
parts. In a way it encourages the people to strive after education. 
Every Buriat Avould like to see at least one member of his family enter 
the priesthood, and this wish creates a desire that his children shall learn 
to read and write. It is this desire more than any other cause that has 
lifted the Buriats above their Mongolian-Tartar neighbors ; and though 
there is no literature, several of the natives have acquired considerable 
eminence in science. Neither are the Lamas to be considered of no 
benefit to the country, except in an indirect way. Many of the princi- 
ples of morality and charity inculcated by them are productive of gooc^ 
and their own abstemious habits and precepts are much needed among 
a people who, like all the tribes of Siberia, are given to drunkenness and 
excess. 

Besides the teachers of the faith and the priests who officiate at the 
ceremonials and take charge of the forms of religion, the church sends 
forth among the people a class of Lamas who devote themselves entirely 
to the study and practice of medicine. At the same time that they en- 
deavor to heal the sick they extend an influence over his spiritual nature, 
which is not to be compared to that which is cast over it by the Shaman 
sorcerer ; for Shamanism still has a following even among the Buriats, 

THE LAMA AND SHAMAN. 

The Lama, also, Is an example of industry ever before the Buriat, 
while the Shaman lives purely by the exercise of his wits in throwing a 
spell of terror over the ignorant. In cases of illness the Shaman caters 



348 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 






to the taste of his people, and a quantity of intoxicating liquor, added to 
his incantations and sacrifices, is his principal remedy. If his howlings 
and ceremonials to propitiate the evil spirit who has created the disease 

have no effect, and the man dies, he falls 
back upon the excuse which is always in 
stock with the sorcerers of all lands — that 
the sacrifice was inappropriate. If the Sha- 
man is called in to decide upon the guilt of 
a person, he places his drum, and his leather 
apron, which is covered with metal plates, 
before a fire. The defendant is stood near 
the sacred things, facing the sun, and swears 
to his innocence with the Shaman's sharp 
eyes upon him. Butter is then thrown upon 
the fire by the sorcerer ; the accused steps 
over the drum and the apron, at the same 
time taking great gulps of the smoke as he 
looks up at the sun- to express a hope that 
he shall never more receive from it light or 
heat if he has sworn falsely. As if this were 
not enough,Mr. Shaman produces his official 
bear, which he leads up to the party on trial 
and requests him to bite the head of bruin. 
The bear returns a verdict of not guilty if 
he suffers this indignity in patience ; if he 
resents it the man becomes a criminal. 

BURIAT BEAUTIES. 

In general appearance the Buriats re- 
II semble the Chinese, their complexion, how- 
ever, having more of a ruddy tinge. Attired 
1 1 in close-fitting dresses, their figures tall and 
graceful, with dark, sparkling eyes, the 
women are not beneath the notice of mod- 
ern society beauties. Those of the wealthier 
classes allow their thick hair to fall from the 
temples in two long braids, the forehead 
being bound with a fillet which is studded 
with pearl beads and coral ornaments. The priests are allowed to shave 
their heads; otherwise the men wear the Mongolian queue, cutting the 
Lair short except on the crown of the head. Many of the wealthier 




THE HOLY SEA. 349 

Buriats live in houses, which exhibit a curious mixture of modern civiHza- 
tion and ancient savagery. There is the hole dug in the ground for the 
fireplace, with fine mats and cushions arranged around it for'sleeping, 
and a piece of unique Russian furniture pushed up against the walL 
The huts of the poorer classes are some twen-ty feet in diameter, being 
made of a lieht framework covered with leather in summer and with 
thick felt in winter 

Tn certain lines of work the Buriats are considered by the Russians 
more skillful than the Europeans. They make a tinder bag of velvet, 
to which are attached finely-tempered plates of steel, which is considered 
superior to those imported from Europe. Their riding furniture is also 
beautifully ornamented with inlaid plates of iron, copper and silver ; while 
their silver pipes, adorned with reliefs and inlaid with pink coral, would 
do credit to any workman. 

THE HOLY SEA. 

Lake Baikal, which is the center of the Buriat's country, is called by 
the natives the Holy Sea ; and it no doubt received this appellation 
when Shamanism held a tight rein over them. Many stories are told of 
its wonders : how it has no bottom, and how no one has ever sunk into 
its holy depths, for when a person is drowned his body is always cast 
upon its shores. It abounds in fish, but not of the common sort. There 
is one, called the golomain, which is never caught by man ; but when the 
tempests rage — and Lake Baikal is truly tempestuous — it is thrown 
upon its shores, and at the first approach of the sun's rays it melts into 
oil, leaving only the skeleton and the skin. 

Although Lake Baikal is the largest fresh-water lake in the Eastern 
Continent, in it are found and killed thousands of the ocean seal. Its 
shores in many places are precipitous and wild. Steep cliffs rise from 
the water's edge a thousand feet and pitch another thousand into its 
clear depths. Gaping ravines run down to its shores, filled with great 
masses of lava, and hot springs gush from the mountain sides as if to warm 
its cold bosom. It imprisons many rivers; only one escapes — the An- 
gora — and that with such impetuosity that its outward current is never 
stayed by the icy clutch of the most rigorous Siberian winter ; when the 
lake and all adjacent waters are locked fast in six feet of ice, the wild duck 
is floating upon its rapids. Beyond is a gloomy succession of sandstone 
cliffs and forests of pine, stationed along the river on either side in solid 
phalanx. Soon the valley becomes wider, and the cliffs grow into mount- 
ains, and the forests get blacker, and the waters of the river gather 



350 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

themselves and bound along in mightier torrents. Just as they are 
about to shoot and seethe down a steep incline, four miles in length, 
they are met midway by a mighty mass of rock — the Shaman Kamen, 
or Spirit's Stone. Full half a mile from either shore, with his hands tied 
fast, the victim of Shaman superstition was tossed into the waters which 
foamed around its base, and as his cries were lost in the river's bed, the 
deluded Buriats turned away from its overhanging heights, satisfied that 
the anger of some evil god had been fully appeased. 

THE YAKUTS. 

Along the Lena River from its source to its mouth, and for a great dis- 
tance both east and west, are the Yakuts, most of whom have been made 
members of the Greek church by a ukase of the Czar of Russia. Strange as 
it may seem to thus attempt to adopt a people' into the body of a church 
by autocratic action, the attempt was a success, insomuch as the Yakuts 
as a people abandoned the gross forms of idolatry which had been their 
portion for generations. Human sacrifice had even been common 
among them, and it was also customary for them to bury the favorites 
of a great man, alive with him, that he might have as good service here- 
after as in this life. But these horrors are now abandoned, although a 
belief in Shamanism still exists amonor some of them. A horse-hair 
attached to the bough of a forest tree in the days of the old dispensation, 
was thought to be a sure charm against bad spirits, and these evi- 
dences of the old faith are occasionally seen even now. 

A HORSE-EATING PEOPLE. 

The horse, in fact, is as much their mainstay as the cow is with the 
Caff re of Africa, or the reindeer with many of the Hyperboreans, 
Though they have large herds of cattle, they use them more for riding 
than for food, while the horse is most prized as a meat creature. The 
strongest evidence which can be given a newly-made husband that his 
bride will be acceptable during their future life, is for her to present him at 
the wedding feast with a horse's head, nicely boiled and garnished with 
horse sausage. So fond are they, in fact, of equine flesh, it is an ancient 
saying that four Yakuts will eat a horse ; and yet they have the same 
feelinor for their domesticated beasts as other tribes have for the tame 
reindeer. Not understanding this distinction, a European who was travel- 
ing with a party of them, finding their stock of provisions reduced to a 
few cranberries and nuts, suggested that they kill one of their horses. 



YAKUT MANUFACTURERS. 35 I 

The Yakuts replied that they never so far forgot themselves, until no 
morsel of food had passed their lips for five whole days. They are often 
seen with their arms around their horses' necks, embracing them as if 
they were human beings ; but while journeying they keep them on such 
slender rations as to appear to have no regard for them. They explain 
this treatment on the theory that they are more animated and really 
stronger when given just enough to keep them from starving ; at least, 
that this treatment is far preferable to a generous diet. Should one of 
their horses be injured on the journey so as to become permanently use- 
less, however, they throw aside their girdles and proceed to the feast. 
When unable to obtain the fiour which the Russian merchants barter for 
their furs, they peel the bark from the fir or larch tree, and taking the 
inner portion pound it in a mortar, mixing the "meal " with milkordried 
fish. Melted butter is also drunk in enormous quantities, often prepared 
in such a way as to produce intoxication. Potatoes, turnips and cab- 
bages form about the entire vegetable diet of the Yakut, and the cultiva- 
tion of these articles is almost confined to Yakutsk and vicinity. 

The Yakuts prize the milk they obtain from mares much more 
highly than cow's milk, and, in truth, it is said to be far more nourishing. 
From this milk they make a fermented drink which is highly intoxicat- 
ing. At certain seasons when the milk can be obtained in abundance, 
they indulge in a regular jubilee, draining huge bowls of the stufi^, while 
the weaker sex look jealously on, or smoke themselves into a state of 
semi-consciousness. This drink is called "aruigui," or milk brandy — 
the same word which is in use by the Turkish Tartars. Their words 
for the Deity, for their fishing gear, for iron and many other things, are 
also Turkish, which, in addition to traditions of a southern origin which 
are common among them, make it quite probable that they were driven 
north by their fierce Tartar neighbors. In short, their language has so 
much of the Turkish element in it that it can be generally understood in 
Constantinople. These facts bearing upon their apparent origin, coupled 
to their good-nature and mild disposition, seem to license the Russian to 
take every possible advantage of them and domineer over them to his 
heart's content. 

YAKUT MANUFACTURES. 

Notwithstanding their lack of independence the Yakuts are, 
undoubtedly, the most thrifty and industrious of all the nations of 
Northern Asia. They make beautiful ornamental work out of' deer- 
skins, sewing into them the most intricate and tasteful figures. The 
felt floor-cloths which they make up into mosaic patterns are so skill- 



352 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

fully manufactured that the Russians purchase them to send into Europe. 
They are also noted as workers of iron, and the steel blades which they 
manufacture are so finely tempered that they will cut through copper or 
pewter as easily as the best European blades. The handles of their 
knives are ornamented with figures, which are first cut into the wood 
and then filled with tin. The sheaths are of birch-bark, covered with 
leather on which are also metallic ornaments. It is quite certain that 
these arts were not learned from the Russians, but rather from the 
nomads of the steppes and mountains. 

The Yakuts have the low stature and the complexion common to 
the Mongolian; but, unlike either Mongols or Tartars of pure blood, some 
of their women are quite pretty. 

When riding his ox or horse the Yakut wears a yellow leather robe. 
His water-proof boots are made of horse skin, steeped in sour milk, 
smoked and thoroughly rubbed with fat and fine soot. The sole is made 
from the same leather, and the point of the toe turns upward. These 
boots, which are greatly prized by the Russians, are called " torbosas,'' 
and form a not unimportant source of the Yakut's revenue. When 
the Yakut is at home he lives in a " yurt," with a flat roof through which 
is cut a smoke hole. His fire-hearth, opposite the low door, is made or 
clay raised above the floor. The wooden walls of his hut are also cov- 
ered with a thick layer of clay. Round the sides of the room the floor 
is elevated for a width of six feet or more ; here the Yakut sleeps and 
works at his various occupations. Those who are not employed are sit. 
ting on rude stools before the fire, and although they thoroughly enjoy 
that occupation, they are very hospitable, and are not loth to give up 
their seats to the stranger or friend who comes in from without. The 
furnishings of an average yurt consist of these stools, an iron pot in the 
fire-place, a few skins to sleep on, and any quantity of fishing-gear. A 
half a dozen dogs or more complete the picture. 

The industrious habits of the Yakuts make them more retiring than' 
most of the tribes of Siberia, and they do not rove for the mere love of 
moving about, but only to find pasturage for their horses and cattle. 
Those who live in the reo^ions of the far north have neither of these 
animals to depend upon, and are obliged to hunt and fish in order to 
exist, using their great packs of dogs to drag them to and fro. 

THE YAKUTS' CITY. 

The province of Yakutsk, to which these people give the name, is 
as large as half of Europe, and its capital (which also goes by that name) 



THE YAKUTS CITY, 



353 



they proudly call the city of the Yakuts. In their city are the govern- 
ment buildings, the Avooden houses of the Russians, and their own 
winter huts, which are more metropolitan than those already described. 
The temperature at Yakutsk takes freaks occasionally of dropping to 60 
degrees or 70 degrees below zero, and these are the times when the 
Yakuts' houses of ice come into good service. 

They are thus described by an eye-witness : The winter dwellings 
of the people have doors of rawhides, and log or wicker walls calked with 
manure and flanked with banks of earth to the heieht of the windows. 
The latter are made of sheets of ice, kept in their place from the out- 
side by a slanting pole, the lower end of which is fixed in the ground. 
They are rendered air-tight by pouring on water, which quickly freezes 

round the edges. The flat roof is 
covered with earth, and over the 
door, facing the east, the boards 
project, making a covered place in 
front. Under the same roof are 
the winter shelters for the cows. 
The fire-place consists of a wicker 
frame plastered over with clay,, 
room being left for a man to pass 
between the fire-place and the wall. 
The hearth is made of beaten earth, 
and on it there is at all times a blaz- 
ing fire of larchwoodlogs. Young 
'calves are often brought into the 
-^' house to the fire, while their moth- 
ers cast a contented look throueh 
the open door at the back of the 
fire-place. Behind the fire-place, too, are the sleeping places of 
the people, which in the poorer dwellings consist only of a continuation 
of the straw laid in the cow-house. 

The summer huts of the town natives are formed of poles about 
twenty feet long, which are united at the top into a roomy cone, covered 
with pieces of bright yellow birch-bark, which are not only joined 
together, but handsomely worked along the seams with horse-hair thread. 
Yakutsk has the questionable honor of being the coldest town in 
the universe. In the winter the earth freezes to the depth of fifty feet. 
And yet in what, in a temperate climate, would be considered the sever- 
est weather, the Yakut women will go about the streets with bare arms. 
A tourist says that one day when the thermometer stood at 9 degrees, he 

23 




A YAKUT WOMAN. 



354 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

"found the children of both sexes running about quite naked, not only 
in the houses but in the open air. In fact, the great cold is not thought 
a grievance in Siberia, for a man clothed in furs may sleep at night in 
an open sledge when the mercury freezes in the thermometer ; and, 
wrapped up in his pelisse, he can lie without inconvenience on the snow, 
under a thin tent, when the temperature of the air is thirty degrees 
below zero." 

FALLEN STARS. 

Roaming along the shores of the Arctic Ocean far to the north of 
the metropolitan Yakuts, is a degraded tribe called the Yakughirs. 
They have a legend which says that at one time their hearths on the 
banks of the Kolima River were more numerous than the stars in the 
heavens, but now they are reduced to a few hundred. On the banks of 
other rivers which water their ancient territory are great burial mounds, 
from which have been dug corpses armed with bows, arrows and spears ; 
so that, in contrast with their present weakness, the above hyperbole is 
allowed when dwelling upon their former greatness. During the spring 
and autumn, clouds of gnats and mosquitoes drive the reindeer from the 
woods into the streams of the Yakughirs' country. Now is the time for 
them to issue forth and prove their ancient prowess, as well as to reap a 
harvest of food and clothing. Concealing themselves in their canoes on 
both sides of the stream, they await the approach of the reindeer squads, 
each headed by an antlered chief. When the pestered brutes have fairly 
taken to the water, the Yukaghir warriors unmask their batteries of 
long spears, and, cutting off escape from either shore, slaughter them by 
the hundreds. What portion of the animals they do not use for food, 
clothing and shelter they dispose of to traveling merchants or at district 
fairs for tobacco and brandy. Men, women and children smoke and 
drink, 

THE TUNGOOSES. 

Between the Yenesei and the Lena rivers in the north, and along the 
northern slopes of the Alta Mountains to the Sea of Okhotsk, in the 
south, dwell the Tungooses. They may be said to occupy most of South- 
eastern Siberia. Of the tribes of Siberia they are among the most inde- 
pendent and hardy, and for centuries gave China no end of trouble ; a 
branch of their race, in fact, are rulers of that great empire. A thousand 
years before Christ's time these people, whom the Chinese called Tung- 
hoo (Eastern barbarians), were living in the forests and mountains 
north of the Celestial Empire, feeding and eating their swine ; greasing 



THEIR FOREFATHERS. 355 

their bodies in winter, the better to repel the severe cold ; in summer 
going virtually naked ; covering themselves with hogs' skins when forced 
to wear a little clothing ; dwelling in subterranean caverns, deep or shallow, 
according to the standing of the dweller as a member of the tribe ; 
stamping with their feet upon the meat to make it tender, and sitting 
upon it to thaw it out ; burying their dead at once, and sacrificing a hog 
to the manes ; or using the corpses as a bait for martens, thus gathering 
many soft and beautiful furs — a terror to their savage neighbors, and a 
menace even to the Empire of China. But for more than a millen- 
nium the barbarians and the Celestials had intercourse with each other, 
the Tungooses .sending, now and then, tributes of arrow heads, bows, 
cuirasses and marten skins as evidences of their friendship and depend- 
ency. China was busy gathering into her embrace the Mongols and 
Tartars who surrounded her, and about twelve hundred years ago suc- 
ceeded in unitinof the hordes or tribes of her barbarous neiofhbor into 
one nation. But it afterwards slipped from her control, and as an inde- 
pendent kingdom, extended its sway over part of Corea. Now subject 
to China, now to Kussia now independent, the Tungooses got so that 
they could read, fatten cattle, work in iron, build fortified cities, cultivate 
silk and hemp, and continued industriously in the ways of war. 

THEIR FOREFATHERS. 

The northern tribes, however, from whom most of the Tungooses 
of the present are descended, continued in their savage ways, and never 
were incorporated into the Mantchoos of the Chinese Empire. They were 
ten days to the north of their more civilized brethern, and lived in an 
excessively cold country. In the winter they retired to the caves of the 
mountains. Those who could not raise swine, on account of the severity 
of their climate, lived by fishing and dressed in fish skins. Many of the 
characteristics of these diverse tribes are seen in the Tungooses, as they 
are now found in Southeastern Siberia. 

As we have stated, they are very independent, and although many 
of them have been brought into the pale of the Greek Church and pay 
a willing tribute of furs to the Russian Government, they cannot be 
driven, even by an overbearing Cossack official. They are brave and 
robust, fine archers and excellent horsemen ; of good form and agile, 
with small well-formed noses, thin beard, black hair and an agreeable 
expression of countenance. Their senses are wonderfully acute and 
their memory for the natural objects they meet in their wanderings, is 
truly wonderful. It is said that they will minutely describe these through 
a journey of a hundred miles, so as to point out the road. Like the 



356 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Indian, they follow game by the slightest marks left upon the moss, 
grass or leaves. Over nearly a third of Siberia, they pitch their rein- 
deer tents, both riding the deer and using him as a pack animal ; travel- 
ing over such a vast expanse of country, their memory must constantly 
be in exercise. 

There are settled rearers of cattle among the Tungooses, but as a 
race they are nomads. Some prefer to wander in the forests and sel- 
dom venture upon the treeless wastes ; they are called Forest Tun- 
gooses. Those who choose the opposite life are known as Tungooses 
of the steppes, and are divided, according to the animals of draught 
they employ, into the Reindeer, the Horse and Dog Tungooses. When 
dressed for a journey, they do not differ greatly in appearance from 
other fur-clad Siberians, except that their fur hood, which often hangs 

loose from the neck, is apt to be of quite 
an artistic pattern — made of the legs of 
red, black and silver-grey foxes, sewed 
together in alternate stripes and bordered 
with sable, beaver or otter. They cut 
their hair short, with the excption of a 
lone lock on either side, of which the 
)Oung are very proud. 

THE NATIVE HUNTSMAN. 

When the household provisions are 
exhausted, the Tungoose points out to his 
wife the direction of his journey, and 
their ultimate camping place. This may 
be scores of miles across the dreary steppes. 
But" they have every foot of the country 
mapped in their minds. So shouldering 
his clumsy Siberian rifle, and calling his dog, he leaves his better half to 
pack the tent, the property and the children on the reindeers' back. 
Arriving at the proposed camping place, the wife pitches the tent and 
awaits the return of her husband. The man has donned his birchwood 
snow shoes and entered a forest. Taking his hand for a moment from 
his fur glove, the hunter runs it into a deer track in the snow, and decid- 
ing that the animal has lately passed, proceeds cautiously on his way, 
restraining his too eager and obtrusive dog. Arriving at length to an 
opening in the forest, he cautiously peers through the branches of a 
tree, and sees a noble animal with its head' down, scarping the snow 
from the litchens with its long horn, or tearing up the crust with its feet 




A TUNGOOSE. 



MOUNTING THE REINDEER. 357 

and rooting around in the soft snow, underneath, Hke a pig. It is a 
welcome sight to our Tungoose, and silently breaking two forked sticks 
from the tree, he places his weapon, upon the rest, and waiting until the 
animal presents a fair mark, speeds his tiny bullet to a vital spot. 

Though the wild reindeer is a standard article of food among the 
Tungooses, the tame reindeer is never killed except under the severest 
stress of circumstances. The rule is that the native must go at least 
eight days without food, before he can slaughter his household god. 
And though he should be starving he would long hesitate before he laid 
violent hands upon another's property ; for if the Tungoose be convicted 
of theft or robbery, he is an outcast from the race. 

MOUNTING THE REINDEER. 

When the Tungoose uses his reindeer foi riding, he is obliged to be 
very careful how he mounts his steed, which has very strong shoulders 
and a remarkably weak back. Whether the deer is a pack animal or a 
riding one, the saddle is always placed close to the neck, and girthed 
from the back part just behind the fore-legs of the steed. The saddle 
is nothing but a flat cushion, bent upwards behind so that the rider will 
not slip down upon the Aveak back of the reindeer. The rider takes a 
pole about five feet long, and holding the bridle in his right hand and 
the staff in the other, he places his left foot in the saddle, and vaults 
into it from the right side of the animal. Whether man or womsin, the 
rider is obliged to mount in this fashion, for should an attempt be made 
to get into the saddle by using the shoulder as a support — which is the 
only part of the reindeer capable of bearing a weight — the unavoidable 
jerk Avill displace the whole apparatus. Without doubt, the Tungoose 
has studied the subject in all its bearings, and hit upon the only possible 
way of mounting a reindeer without breaking its back. Once mounted, 
an equilibrium is maintained (to sa)' nothing of grace) by keeping the 
heels in motion, like two trip-hammers, behind the animal's shoulders ; 
the mounting staff also being used as a balancing pole. 

TRAPPING AND EATING. 

When the Tungooses set out upon a trapping excursion, they often 
leave their families hundreds of miles away. Each man harnesses him- 
self to a light sled, upon which he places his provisions, and scant 
baggage. After the company have built a )'urt, each man starts out to 
set his traps, and dig pit-falls in the frozen earth. These are visited 
daily, and within a couple of months, foxes, squirrels, sables, beavers, 



358 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



wolves and bears have all become a prey to their ingenuity. An ingen- 
ious method of capturing the bear is to fasten a wooden platform, 
covered with barbed iron spikes, to a tree, placing at the farther end a 
piece of meat. The trap is placed so high from the ground that the bear is 
obliged to stand on his hind legs to reach even its middle, to say nothing 
of the tempting piece of meat beyond. But the animal is sure to make 
the attempt, and to become so impaled that he is easily killed by the 
huntsman. 

The season being over the party disperses, the provident going to 
one of the numerous town fairs which are being held, and bartering the 
skins for food, weapons of the chase or other necessaries. The improvi- 
dent, who perhaps will be in the majority, end their season of hardship 
and danger by days of carousal and brandy-drinking, and return home as 
empty-handed as when they left, with the exception, it may be, of a 

goodly supply of 
meat which they 
and their families 
immediately pro- 
ceed to devour en 
masse. 

The quantities 
of food which 
these natives will 
devour at a sitting 
is almost incred- 
ible. Equally re- 
markable is the 
^2 length of time 
HUNTERS OF SIBERIA. during which they 

will go without a mouthful. A moderate meal of three healthy 
Tungooses is thus enumerated by a veracious traveler: A gallon 
kettle of hot tea ; a four-quart pailful of boiled fish and soup ; the 
same pail twice filled with boiled beef — all eaten and bones eagerly 
cracked ; the pail again filled with a native mash and also emptied ; 
an unmentionable quantity of dried fish, skin and all. The traveler 
then records the fact that the arrival of others made it necessary for his 
dainty friends to betake themselves to a camp-fire outside his tent, and 
that the last he heard of them they were busy preparing other food, and 
loudly cracking other beef bones to get at the marrow. If they are able 
to keep awake after such a meal, one of their number is likely to bring 
forth a greasy pack of cards, or a chess board — evidences of both 




AMOOR RIVER PEOPLE. 359 

Russian and Chinese civilization — and if they can find sufficient shelter, 
they will play far into the night, their hearty laughter being interspersed 
with strong puffs from their pipes of tobacco. Both men and women 
are passionately fond of the weed. 

AMOOR RIVER PEOPLE. 

Allied to the Tungooses are the Lamuts, Monzhurs and Gilyaks 
of the Amoor River, whose principal prey is the rich salmon and the 
beautiful sable. The most striking feature of their physiognomy are 
their cheek-bones, which sometimes protrude to such an extent as to 
hide the remainder of the face, when viewed in profile. In their excur- 
sions up and down the river in their light, carved canoes, the women 
do the paddling, and, of course, do it gracefully and well. The man 
sits in the stern, guiding the craft and dreamily smoking his long- 
stemmed pipe. Literally speaking, he treats his dog with more tender- 
ness than his wife ; the former he considers a sacred animal, uses him 
with consideration during his lifetime, and knows, after he himself dies, 
that his favorite dog will be sacrificed, and his own soul released from 
the body of the brute. On the other hand, upon his wife he shifts all 
the burdens, and when she is about to give birth to their child, she is 
thrust out of his hut, and left, for months, to herself and her fate. 
Winter's snows or blasts have no effect in relaxing the hideous severity 
of this custom, and it is made the more unpardonable from the fact 
that all are forbidden (by whom, the people do not pretend to know) to 
furnish the unfortunate woman any shelter or assistance. However it 
comes about, it is nevertheless true that both children and adults seem 
weather-proof, and go roaming about barefooted in a temperature which 
would make any other people wrap their furs about them. 

THE KAMTCHATDALES. 

The entire peninsula of Kamtchatka, 100,000 square miles in area, 
was at one time inhabited by this tribe ; but disease, intemperance, Rus- 
sian oppression and suicide are fast placing them in the category of 
extinct races. They have the Mongolian features, with the flat face of 
the Tartar. The climate of the peninsula is quite severe for nine 
months of the year, although the temperature is seldom what could be 
called Arctic, since twenty degrees or twenty-five degrees below zero is 
an unusual fall of the mercury. 

Along the Kamtchatka River the soil is fertile, and the Russian 
settlers here raise oats, barley, rye, potatoes and garden vegetables ; 



360 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

no tea and sugar have been introduced by the Russians. Bread is now- 
made of rye, which the Kamtchatdales raise and grind for themselves ; 
but previous to the settlement of the country by the Russians, the only 
native substitute for bread was a baked dough made from the grated 
tubers of the purple lily. Wild cherries, blueberries and cranberries 
are picked in the fall, and frozen for winter consumption. A dish com- 
posed of sour milk, baked curds and sweet cream, covered with pow- 
dered sugar and cinnamon, is worthy of a place on an American table. 
In every river and lake in the peninsula are myriads of ducks, geese 
and swan, which are driven by organized squads of men into some 
narrow stream, across which is spread a net. Into this they rush, 
helter-skelter, where they are killed with clubs, and cleaned and salted 
for winter use. 

A KAMTCHATDALE VILLAGE. 

Unlike the Koriaks, who live to the north of them, the Kamtchat- 
dales have fixed habitations and live principally b)^ fishing. Their 
villages are few in number and widely scattered, whilst their only means 
of transport are dog-sleds, pack-horses or canoes, the country being 
absolutely without a road throughout its 800 miles of length, and 250 
miles of breadth. These settlements are usually situated on an eleva-, 
tion near some river or stream, surrounded by scattered clumps of poplar 
and yellow birch, and protected by high hills from the cold northern 
Avinds. Here and there, between the log houses are the conical struct- 
ures, elevated out of the reach of the dogs' noses, and used for storing 
the fish ; while sprinkled around indiscriminately are the square frames 
of horizontal poles, in which salmon are piled and drying. Half a 
dozen canoes, turned bottom upward, and covered with fish nets, on the 
beach ; dog sledges leaning against every house, the canines them- 
selves tied to heavy poles and snapping viciously at flies and mosquitoes ; 
a domed and gaudily painted Greek church in the very center of these 
fishy odors and fishy things — this is the general mould into w^hich all the 
native villages of Kamtchatka are run. 

Until recently the inhabitants supported themselves almost entirely 
on the products of the chase, but since animals partially disappeared, 
and the people have declined in vigor, they devote most of their atten- 
tion to the milder amusement of catching herrings, cod and salmon. 
They depend mainly for subsistence upon the salmon, Avhich every sum- 
mer run into the rivers of the North to spawn, when they are speared, 
caught in seines, and trapped in weirs by the millions. These fish, 
which are dried in the open air, are the staple article of food for the 
Kamtchatdale and his dog. 



A KAMTCHATDALE VILLAGE, 



?6i 



The mean annual temperature on the eastern coast of the peninsula 
IS twenty-eight degrees, and on the western forty-three degrees, the 
average temperature of summer on the eastern coast being fifty-live 
degrees, and that of winter .nineteen degrees. As a result of this not 
disagreeable division of summer and winter temperature, the natives 
have changes of clothing and of dwellings. In winter they dress in fur 
and wear nankeen in summer; while in cold weather they live in very low 
or subterranean cabins and in summer raise their huts on poles some 
thirteen feet from the ground. The roofs are covered with a rough 
thatch of long coarse grass, or with overlapping strips of tamarack bark, 
and project at the ends and sides into wide overhanging eaves. The 




SIBERIAN DOG SLEDGE. 

window frames, although occasionally glazed, are more frequently 
covered with an irregular patchwork of translucent fish bladders, sewn 
together with thread made of the dried and pounded sinews of the rein- 
deer. The chimneys are long, straight poles, arranged in a circle and 
plastered over thickly with clay. 

It is the natives of Northern Kamtchatka who have the "zininia," 
or winter settlement, composed of low, sheltered houses away from the 
coast, in which they reside from September to June; and the "letova," 
or summer fishing station, located near the mouth of the river or stream, 
and consisting of the elevated huts to which they remove in June, and 
around which, in the salmon season, the usually inert natives ply their 



362 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

avocations with actual vigor. Here the fish are plump, fat and hard, 
while those who ascend nearer the source of the stream, sometimes 
working their way in water which scarcely covers them, are lean, dry and 
almost colorless ; and further on, propelled* by their destructive instinct 
they choke the streams and rivulets with their decaying bodies. 

As a rule, the natives live a peaceable, lazy life, being nominally 
governed by their own chiefs, who are under the jurisdiction of a Russian 
commissary. The chief duty of this official is to collect the small annual 
tribute of furs which is due the imperial government 

A lofty range of volcanic mountains traverses the country in a 
southwesterly direction, and earthquakes are frequent and violent. The 
Kamtchatdales have reason to stand in dread of these internal forces, 
and therefore sacrifice dogs to the evil spirits of the mountains. They 
believe in the immortality not only of man but of all creatures; that 
crimes punished in this world are passed over in the next ; that in the 
hereafter the rich are to become poor and the poor rich ; that Katchu, 
the Creator, left heaven after he had made the earth, and came to 
Kamtchatka, where his son and daughter married, and became the 
parents of offspring. These Divine children clothed themselves with the 
leaves of trees and fed upon bark. The son of Katchu invented nets, 
and took to fishing to meet the wants of a rapidly increasing family. 
Of all these gods the pagans have idols, although as a people they 
profess to be members of the Greek Church. 

THE TRUE HYPERBOREANS. 

In the Tchuktchis and the Koriaks, who hold the extreme north- 
eastern regions of Siberia against all efforts of the Russians either to 
subdue or dislodge them, we .find the vanguard of that people who are 
scattered alono- the Asiatic and North American coasts for a distance 
of nearly six thousand miles, the most widely extended nation in the 
world. The Asiatic tribes appear to have in their constitutions far more 
of the fierce blood of Tartary than the kindred people across the strait, 
and it requires no great stretch of the imagination to understand how, 
from their ancestors might have sprung the fathers of the North Ameri- 
can savage, who wandered down the coast of the Western Continent 
and spread themselves throughout the vast expanse of their adopted 
country. 

Ethnologists have even attempted to trace a similarity in some of 
their present customs with those of the North American Indian, instanc- 
ing their remarkable proficiency in the use of the bow and arrow (com- 
mon also to the ancient Tungooses); the shaving of the head, punctur- 



EACH MAN HIS 0\VN MASTER. 



363 



ing of the body and the wearing of huge earrings. They are tall, 
vigorous and athletic, and their lower limbs are not so short as those of 
the North American Esquimaux. Impatient of restraint, bold and self- 
reliant, they wander over their country's wilds with their great herds of 
reindeer ; now stopping to give them welcome pasturage and pitching 




WINTER AND SUMMER HUTS. 

their circular tents on the steppes ; now braving the howling storm form 
the Arctic seas, and the famished Arctic wolves who furiously cast their 
shadowy forms into the midst of their terrified herds ; or creeping into 
their tents, covered with reindeer skins fastened together with lono- 
thongs of seal or walrus hide, they crawl into their pologs, or tightly- 
sewed compartments, and breathing the fumes from the flaming moss 
and oil of their wooden lamps and from the large fire which is throwing 
forth as much smoke as heat, they enjoy the howling winds outside, and 
proceed to sleep the hours away. 

EACH MAN HIS OWN MASTER. 

So far as can be learned, these people have no laws, no institutions, 
no acknowledged leaders. They sometimes club together for mutual 
protection and convenience and are temporarily guided, as to their route 
of travel, by an esteemed member of the community, but if they are 
unable to agree, the company breaks up and each man, taking his wives, 



364 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



reindeer and baggages pursues his separate way. Each man among 
them is as good as another. 

Rank or caste is unknown, and the ingenious Shaman is put to his 
best tricks to overawe them. Akhough they sacrifice dogs, they have 
few superstitions compared to the majority of the pagan tribes of Siberia. 
One of their most singular customs, or superstitions — or call it v/hat you 
will — is that which makes it an actual impossibility to obtain from them 
a live reindeer. They .a,Eft passionately ipnd of liquor, especially of that 
produced from a species of toad-stool and called muk-a-mur. The 
natives can not cultivate it themselves, as the growth of the fungus 
requires a greater shade of timber than can be afforded by their barren 
steppes, and as its effects are so shattering to the system that its sale is 
made a penal offense by even Russian law, they find it very difificult to 

obtain the muk-a-mur. But for neither 
this drink nor for quantities of tobacco, 
of which also they are great lovers, was 
a Koriak or a Tchuktchis ever known to 
exchange a live reindeer ; once killed, 
however, the most insignificant trinket will 
tempt him. This feeling is on a par with 
that which is evinced by the Tungoose, 
further south, who would almost starve to 
death rather than kill a tame reindeer for 
food. 

The people who are settled along the 
shores of the ocean support themselves 
chiefly by killing whales, seals and walruses. 
As to their amusements they are 
TCHUKTCHIS CHILDREN. ' narrowcd down to trials of skill with the 

bow and arrow, wrestling bouts and marriages. The young Koriak 
who has soft designs upon a maiden must serve her father a 
number of years, chopping the gnarled cedar from the frozen ground 
and cutting it into firewood, watching his herds of reindeer, making 
sledges, hunting and doing anything to make life more easy and pros- 
perous for the head of the family. Then he is summoned to learn his 
fate and undergo a barbarous ordeal. He and his intended are brought 
to a large tent containing many apartments, or pologs, ranged round it 
inside. In the center is a fire, around which are a number of men and 
women who are busily engaged over such delicacies as marrow, frozen 
tallow, etc., and in a lively discussion of the probable outcome of the 
trial. They cease their eating, drinking and jabbering, at the regular 




EACH MAN HIS OWN MASTER. 365 

beating of a large bass drum, and the tall master of ceremonies enters, 
with an armful of willow switches which he proceeds to distribute in all. 
the pologs. The music continues, it being varied by a wild chant sung 
by the drummer, when the curtains of the pologs are thrown up and 
the women divide their forces so as to guard the entrance of each. 
The musician now redoubles his exertions, and the men, who remain 
around the fire, take up the chant and work themselves into a state of 
wild excitement over whatever is to come. 

The master of ceremonies gives a signal, and the girl, who is the 
center of attraction, raises the curtain of the first polog and passes in ;. 
reappears almost immediately, and raises the curtain of the next, and 
so on around the tent, working in and out like an angleworm. But the 
eager young Koriak does not have so easy a passage around, for the 
women who have been stationed at the curtain of the pologs do every- 
thing they can to impede his progress— tripping him up and smothering 
him in the curtains and beating him with the switches. The drum is 
booming, the men are shouting, and the women screaming, as the dark- 
faced girl dashes round the tent followed by her luckless wio-ht. She 
at last brings up in the last polog and all eyes are strained to see if she 
lifts the curtain and emerges, for if she does, that poor youno- man is. 
a discarded lover. But all is still as he plunges madly on, and aniid 
shouts of laughter and applause rejoins his bride, breathless but happy. 

If, in generations to come, the descendants of this young Koriak 
couple, or the children of those Tchuktchis children should be found in. 
North America, their personal appearance will be found to be similar,, 
although they will have acquired many habits and beliefs which develop- 
from climate, experience, soil, mountains, seas — in fact, from anvthincr 
capable of producing a strong impression upon an ignorant but observino- 
nature. They will retain faint memories of their Asiatic origin, which, 
as they descend from father to son and from mother to dauo-hter and 
become weakened as they spread from tribe to tribe, will be desio-nated 
by the more lofty title of tradition. 

Singular to relate, this is what has actually happened. The tradi- 
tions of all the great American tribes of Indians, such as the Iroquois, 
the Algonquins and the Ghoctaws point to an Asiatic orio-in. Amoncr 
the Hyperboreans of Asia there are several tribes, now nearly extinct, 
which have quite disappeared from history, leaving behind only mounds 
of earth along the banks of Siberian rivers, in which are buried the 
bows, arrows and spears of the lost peoples. Pressed north and east 
by hordes of Tartars and Mongols, who in turn were crowded on by 
more powerful tribes, the Arctics were crushed into the extremity of 



566 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the continent, and there was nothing for them to do but to venture 
across the strait and see what lay beyond. They crossed the Rubicon 
and henceforth were known as Americans, whether Esquimaux or 
Indians. They swarmed over the northern coasts, around Hudson 
Bay, Labrador and the Gulf of St, Lawrence, and down the western 
coast of British America into the interior. Ere long- the two waves 
met; the straight, tall, athletic warriors, with their generally regular 
features, having passed to the south, met the broad-shouldered, massive 
and slow people from the north and drove them back into the icy 
regions. Thus the Algonquins pressed back the Esquimaux and the 
Dakotas, or "men of the salt water." But, as the novelists say, we 
anticipate. We have crossed the strait when we merely should 
have reached it. 








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THE ESQUIMAUX. 

|HE Hyperboreans of the Western Continent were given a 
name by the Algonquins, that great tribe of British-American 
Indians who disputed with them the country around the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence and finally expelled them. By them the 
Esquimaux were known as eaters of raw meat and fish ; hence 
the name Esquimaux, or raw eaters. They call them- 
selves Innuit, or men, and are divided into Greenlanders, 
Labrador Esquimaux, the Iglulik or central, the Western, and 
the Tchuktchis in Asia. The early Scandinavians called them 
Skroellingar, or wretches, and they were reconfirmed in 
their opinion of the Esquimaux Avhen a body of raw-meat eaters came 
over from Labrador, some time in the fourteenth century, and expelled 
the Norwegians from Greenland. 

DOCTORS DISAGREE. 




Nearly every traveler will differ in his description of the Esquimaux. 
If he happens to first see them in a boat, with their long bodies (from 
the waist up) and their broad shoulders, he will always fancy them as above 
the medium height ; whereas if he catches his first glimpse of them on 
the land, done up in their great furs and waddling toward him, or rolling 
along on their short legs, he pronounces them to be, as to size, about on 
a par with the diminutive Lapps. The truth is they are of medium 
height, and might be above it if they did not squat so much in their low 
ice houses, or sit cramped in their long canoes and sledges, and thus 
retard the growth of their legs. 

There are as many disagreements about their color as in regard to 
their size. Some say their skin is brown, others say it is copper-colored, 
others that it is of a bluish tinge, and others still that their bodies are 
dark gray and their faces brown or blue. A close investigation into 
their filthy habits has led more than one authority to insist that the 
Esquimau, when in a state of nature, is nearly white ; that the child is 
as white as others ; but eating and handling grease and living in smok)i 

367 



368 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

huts, without knowing the use of water as a cleansing agent, are calcu- 
lated to give the skin a variety of shades. Notwithstanding this differ- 
ence of opinion as to what is the complexion of the true Esquimaux, 
there are probably no people in the world who have so little intermixed 
with other races and whose features and general physique, as well as 
language, is s,o uniform. One interpreter who can speak the language 
can guide a traveler from Alaska to Labrador, and from Labrador to 
Greenland, holding communication with all the tribes, and always find- 
ing them with broad egg-shaped faces, and arched cheek-bones with few 
angular projections, even though the face is furrowed and weather- 
beaten. 

The other distinctive features of the face have been thus given : " The 
greatest breadth of the face is just below the eyes; the forehead tapers 
upwards ending narrowly but not acutely, and in a like manner the chin 
is a blunt cone ; both the forehead and the chin recede, the egg outline 
showing in profile, though not so strongly as in front view. The nose 
is broad and depressed, but not in all, some individuals having prominent 
noses ; yet almost all have wider nostrils than the Europeans. The 
eyes have small and oblique apertures like the Chinese, and from fre- 
quent attacks of ophthalmia and the effects of camp smoke in their 
winter habitations, adults of both sexes are disfigured by excorated or 
ulcerated eyelids. The sight of these people is, from its constant exer- 
cise, extremely keen, and the habit of bringing the eyelids nearly 
together when looking at distant objects has in all the grown males 
produced a striking cluster of furrows radiating from the outer corner of 
each eye over the temple." 

An Esquimau infant, with its red cheeks and comparatively regu- 
lar features, could easily be mistaken for a European ; but the sooty 
smoke of the winter hut, the atmosphere close and hot, alternating with 
Arctic blasts when the family move off on a hunting or fishing excursion,, 
and the blinding rays of a spring sun, soon spoil the red cheeks and the 
presentable complexion, and as youth or maiden the Esquimaux face 
and figure are early fixed. If it is a boy his constant exercise in hunt- 
ing the seal and walrus give him when quite young a powerful set of 
arm, back and shoulder muscles. 

AN ESQUIMAUX COSTUME. 

The outer dress of the natives, both male and female, consists of 
breeches which come below the knees with a long-sleeved jacket, and a. 
hood with a hole in the middle, but no side openings. The winter gar- 
ments are usually of seal-skin, the summer ones of reindeer — although 



AN ESQUIMAUX COSTUME. 



369 



all kinds of fur are used. Sometimes even the skins of birds and fishes 
furnish the material, and the Polar hare skins are employed for orna- 
ments. The white fur of the deer may even border the hood, so that 
when it it drawn up over the head the contrast makes the native look 
like a very unangelic figure going around with a halo. Both sexes also 
wear boots which come up over the hips and are water tight. 

The distinction to be made in the costumes of male and female is 




'^H'^'-'^^- 



AN ESQUIMAUX GROUP. 

one purely of quantity. The woman's hood is large, because she uses 

it for her infant's cradle ; while her boots are so constructed, with pockets 

and pouches, and a large sack near the thigh in which her child may also be 

safely stowed away, that her limbs look as large and clumsy as elephants' 

legs. She usually puts them to the ground with the same caution and 

deliberation as the great-eared beast. When our lady reaches a trading 

24 



370 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

settlement, the assertion is made that she unloads all superfluous baggage 
from hood and boot, and frequently departs with trinkets gnd necessi- 
ties of life which neither she nor her husband thought to pay for- 

Although the woman is treated more as a chattel than a human 
being by the man, she is otherwise conscientious in providing for his 
wants ; she makes all his clothes, being especially skillful in dressing 
the hair of the reindeer-skin so as to render it soft and pliable. She is 
also a remarkable needle-woman, and spends the long winter in making 
fur garments which are both air-tight and water-proof. Knowing her 
lord's hatred of water, she makes, among other things, a water-tight 
shirt from the intestines of the whale or the skins of young seals, which 
he puts on when he launches his canoe and starts on a hunt. 

Although put in the background as far as social position is con- 
cerned, and being, furthermore, but one of several wives, she is never- 
theless allowed a latitude in personal adornment which is denied to the 
Indian woman ; for while her lord merely cuts his hair on the crown and 
lets it hang as it will over cheek and neck, she may fashion hers into a 
large bow on the top of her head, plaiting her side locks, tying them 
tocrether with strino^s of beads, and allowino' them to hang down in a 
club-shaped form to the shoulder. Fashions somewhat differ, but there 
is a general similarity of mode to which the above description will 
apply. The women also tattoo their faces, and in this line each tribe 
has its own ideas of beauty, many of the customs reminding one of the 
abominations practiced upon the human face by the most degraded of 
the southern tribes in all parts of the world — in Africa as well as South 
America. In Greenland the women take a fine needle, the thread being 
smeared with lamp-black, and stitch their faces with beautiful lines ; 
while west of the Mackenzie River is a tribe whose men cut a hole in 
each corner of the mouth, which they fill with fancy pieces of bone, 
stone or metal, sometimes fashioning a combination ornament consisting 
of a small green pebble neatly set in wood or bone. 

THE ESQUIMAUX' PRIDE. 

The Esquimau draws his life from the sea, and is, par excellence, 
the marine hunter and fisherman of the world. He therefore devotes 
much of his attention to his boats. These are of two kinds, the kayak, 
or men's boat, and the umiak, or women's boat. The former is sixteen 
feet long, the frame being covered with seal or walrus skin, except a 
hole in the center, and the entire boat fashioned very much like a 
modern "shell." The whole idea is to provide an entire shelter for the 
seal hunter, with the exception of the face, and protect him against 



THE ESQUniAUX BRIDE. 371 

the water. The frame of the kayak is built of wood, whalebone or 
other bone, is flat above and convex in the bottom. No Indian has ever 
constructed a similar boat, which is roofed, and calculated to ride a 
stormy sea. In short, being protected himself from the water, the boat- 
man is fearless as to personal safety, and if he is capsized, rights him- 
self with his paddle, and proceeds on his way to give battle to the polar 
bear or the walrus. 

The umiak is larger and much broader, being regular in shape and 
built to accommodate ten or twenty persons. It is often furnished with 
a sail formed of the intestine of the walrus. This is the family boat, 
or it may be the common property of two families who live in the same 
house ; in it are therefore sometimes loaded the tent and lamps, pots 
and wooden dishes, and one or two sledoes with dog's attached. The 
umiak is so constructed that it floats only a few inches deep, and can be 
used either as a boat or a sledge. When launched upon the water it is 
usually propelled by the women, there being benches provided for those 
who row or paddle. 

The pride of the Esquimau is in his kayak, his weapons and his 
sledge. Now as to his weapons. A bladder filled with air is often 
attached to the harpoon, so that if struck the animal will be retarded in 
his motions ; or should the hunter miss his aim his weapon will not be 
lost. When the seal or walrus is struck the Esquimau has so contrived 
it that the head of the harpoon is bent out of the shaft, and only the 
head, with the line and bladder, remains attached to the animal. With- 
out this precaution the animal in its struggles would be likely to break 
the shaft or make the barbs slip out of the body. The harpoons and 
lances used in killingr whales or seals have lonor shafts of wood or of the 
narwhal's tooth, the points of these Aveapons being made of horns and 
bones of the deer ; or of iron, if the hunter is lucky enough to fish out 
a piece from a wreck or obtain it by barter. Among the Esquimaux of 
the Mackenzie River and Alaska region native copper is used, which they 
also manufacture into ice chisels. The point is so constructed in these 
spears, also, that it is disengaged from the shaft when the animal is struck, 
and the latter becomes a floating buoy attached to the head by a string. 
. The native bow is a most powerful weapon, and, propelled by the 
strong arm of the Esquimaux, will bring down the great musk ox or 
break the lea- of a reindeer. The sinews of the ox or deer will furnish 
the strings to other bows, or be rolled into cords with which to make 
nets or snares. The weapon itself is formed of three pieces of spruce 
fir carefully split with the grain, the two end pieces having a curve in 
the opposite direction to that of the central one. Along the back fifteen 
or twenty nicely twisted sinews are firmly bound. 



372 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

EASY-RUNNING SLEDGES. 

The sledge of the Esquimaux is made of drift-wood or bone firmly 
joined with thongs. The bones of the whale are fitted together with 
neatness and then sewed together by the women, to make the body of 
the sledge, or a number of salmon are packed together in the form of a 
cylinder about seven feet lontr, encased in skins taken from canoes and 
well corded. Two of these cylinders are pressed into the shape of run- 
ners, and, having been left to freeze, are secured by cross bars made 
of the legs of the deer or musk ox. The bottom of the runner is then 
covered with a mixture of moss, earth and water, upon which is depos- 
ited about half an inch of water, which congeals in the act of applica- 
tion. These sleds travel more lightly than those shod with iron, but as 
they cease to be of service when the temperature rises above the freez- 
ing point, they are taken to pieces, and the fish being eaten, the skins 
are converted into bags and the bones given to the dogs." This prac- 
tice of coatinof the runners of the sledsi'es with ice is also common in 
Siberia, and so anxious are the Esquimaux that the surface shall be quite 
smooth that in cold winter nights, after the water has been applied, the 
native will use his naked hand to polish it, viewing the result of his 
work with as much pride as the greasy apple-vender when he looks upon 
the shiny cheeks of his fruit. 

HUNTING AND FISHING. 

The dwelling of the Esquimaux consists of the summer tents and 
winter huts. In the months of June, July, August and part of Septem- 
ber they use their tents, generally adapted for less and rarely more than 
twenty persons. They are peculiar in shape, being formed of from ten 
to fourteen poles, with one end raised high and leaning on the frame 
which forms the entrance, the whole covered over with a double layer of 
reindeer skins. During the summer the Esquimaux are generally on 
the move, carrying all their goods with them in the family boat, hunt- 
ing and fishing as they go. They choose their routes, however, with 
reference to their objects — whether they wish to hunt reindeer, seals or 
whales, or to fish or trade. One of the most exciting sports in which the 
company (or band of five or six families) engage, is hunting the deer, 
which migrate to the south to escape the blasts of winter. 

The plan usually is, as the great herds of deer approach, to drive as 
many as possible upon a narrow neck of land between two bodies of 
water. Upon the land they are met by huntsmen with their powerful 
bows and arrows, who drive them into the water where they are received 



HUNTING AND FISHING. 373 

upon the sharp points of the spears wielded by th€ Esquimaux in their 
kayaks. If more deer are killed than can be consumed, part of the meat 
is dried and the other portion is left in clefts of rocks out of the reach 
of wild animals. Should it become tainted before cold weather comes 
on, it is all the better to the Esquimaux's taste, who eat it raw or after 
it has been a little cooked. Another delicacy which they greatly enjoy 
at this season of the year is the half digested lichens, or moss, which 
they find in the bodies of the dead deer. They also drink the warm 
blood, and eat the entrails when they have become crisped by the frost. 
Flocks of geese, salmon, trout and other fish, and berries of half a dozen 
varieties, are enjoyed during this feasting season. The killing of whales, 
on the coast, in August and September, must also be undertaken semi- 
periodically to furnish oil for their lamps and winter feasts. 

Taking their dogs with them, having built a snow hut at a conve- 
nient distance, the hunters start out toward the sea in quest of seals or 
walruses. Their useful brute assistants g-uide them to the breathinsj holes 
of their victims. Having erected a wall of ice to protect himself from 
bitter winds, for the winter is yet scarcely passed, the hunter with spear 
uplifted waits patiently. for the first rise of the air bubble which tells him 
that the wary seal is coming to the surface. No sooner is its smooth 
head above water than the weapon flies to a vital spot, the hunter throws 
a loop of his harpoon line around his body and braces his feet against 
a notch which has been cut in the ice for that purpose. If all this is 
done in proper time, well and good ; but if his antagonist happens to be 
a great walrus, or even a great seal, and he has not planted his feet so 
that the strain will come upon his body longitudinally he may be dragged 
into the air-hole and drowned before assistance can arrive, or be thrown 
across it and have his back broken. Such accidents are not uncommon. 

The sport of seal hunting is usually attended with little danger. 
When the sleek animals mount the cakes of ice to bask in the spring sun, 
they allow the Esquimau to approach them with his awkward, sprawl- 
ing motions which they take to be their own. 

ESQUIMAUX AS TRAVELERS. 

These summer expeditions, however, are not undertaken solely for 
the purpose of hunting and fishing. The Esquimaux not only take long 
journeys t5 barter with other tribes, but to points along the coast where 
Asiatic merchants have established a trade with them. The greatest 
territory for this species of barter is Alaska, or rather its coast opposite 
to Asia, such as Kotzebue Sound, Point Barrow and Cape Prince of 
Wales. To such points as these come from the Asiatic Hyperboreans 



174 



PANORAMA . OF NATIONS. 



and merchants iron and copper kettles, women's knives, double-edged 
knives, dolphin skins, tobacco, arrow heads, guns and ammunition, 
plumbago, feathers for arrows and head-dresses ; from the East come 
sledges and boats laden with whale and seal oil, whalebone, walrus tusks, 
thongs of walrus hide. The Asiatic Tchuktchis, or Esquimaux, find 
this trade so important that a settlement of 200 people has been formed 
on a rocky island in Behring's Strait for carrying on the traffic. Upon 
other adjacent islands, traders have established themselves and have 
been entrusted by these commercial Hyperboreans with furthering their 
interests in exchanging tobacco, clothes and other articles, for furs, 
fossil ivory, etc., collected on the banks of Alaskan rivers. The natives 




STARTING ON A JOUR^fEY. 

seem to be pleasure-seekers in their travels, for as they move along from 
settlement to settlement, several of which are permanent, stops are con- 
tinually being made, that the parties may combine in a dance or other- 
wise enjoy themselves. It is not surprising, then, with their passion for 
barter and their love of travel, that Russian knives should be passed 
from hut to hut until they are found nearly as far east as Hudson's Bay. 

WINTER HUTS. 

Many islands, capes and sounds along the shores of the ocean are 
therefore almost deserted during the summer months, but the huts are 
reoccupied in the winter. The winter huts are varied in structure, 



WINTER HUTS. 375 

Generally they are built of stones and turf, the spars and pillars which 
support the middle of the roof being of wood. Only the Esquimaux of 
the middle resfions have vaults of snow for their habitations ; whilst the 
western Esquimaux build their houses chiefly of planks, merely covered 
on the outside with turf. Some of the very far northern Esquimaux 
are obliged to use bones or stones instead of wood. 

The passage leading into the houses is long and very narrow, con- 
sisting of two inclined planes pitched toward the middle, so that in 
entering you first go down, then up, which is a double protection against 
cold draughts. The interior consists of a single apartment, and the 
sleeping or resting ledge, at the side, is divided into separate portions 
for the families who occupy the house. Each of these stalls is separ- 
ated from the other by a low screen, its lamp standing on the floor in 
front of it. In Greenland these compartments are sometimes divided 
by skins attached to the posts that support the roof, and each room has 
a window of dried, transparent seal skin. 

The snow huts, being circular in form, are, of course, arranged differ- 
ently. This is also true of the western Esquimaux, who have a cook^ 
ing place in the center of the floor; while in the hut of wood the passage 
leading to it has generally a small side room, with a cooking place, and 
also provision or store houses. More than three or four families seldorn 
occupy one dwelling. In South Greenland, however, houses have been 
discovered over sixty feet in length, with accommodation for ten families. 

FEASTS AND PASTIMES. 

In the larger settlements, especially among the western Esquimaux 
the community often unite to build a public hall, the floor and inside, 
walls being formed of dressed logs. The building, called a Kashim, is 
larger than a dwelling house and is used for a variety of purposes. Here 
the men feast and both sexes dance. The able-bodied males of some 
of the tribes retire to the Kashim at sunset and occupy it as a sleeping 
apartment, leaving the old men and children with the Shaman (native 
magician or priest) to sleep in the common huts. The Shaman appears 
early in the morning and performs his charms, which shall protect the 
Esquimaux huntsmen and bring them good luck. At the close of the 
hunting season a grand feast is held, to which the successful hunters 
liberally contribute. Their great deeds are there lauded, and they 
appear as heroes indeed. The women are not admitted to these festivi- 
ties until they have been initiated with certain formalities. The Kashim 
is not in common use, either, among the Labrador or Greenland Esqui- 
maux, but the latter know of it by tradition and both they and the 



376 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Labrador natives have words for it in their own languages. It is cahed 
a place of assembly for council, and points to the time when the 
Esquimaux were a people with quite complex rules of society. 

When the Esquimaux house is tightly closed for the winter with a 
slab of ice, and the lamps, fed with whale oil and trimmed with wicks of 
moss, commence to add their sickening fumes to the emanations from 
the bodies of a score of people, naked to the waist, and to the odors of 
rotting skins and putrefying fish, it ceases to be a wonder that the infant 

grows old very rap- 
idly. During their 
long confinement 
what time is not 
passed i n eating 
and sleeping is 
mostly occupied by 
the women in mak- 
ing garments, and 
by the men in man- 
ufacturing fish- 
hooks, spear-heads, 
knife-handles and 
in making orna- 
ments for their ca- 
noes. They are 
very ingenious in 
making the appa- 
ratus for certain 
games with which 
^ they pass their 
time and their 
models of boats, 
sledges, deer, men, 
A GREENLAND HOUSE-WIFE. women and chil- 

dren carved from ivory and walrus tusks are surprisingly accurate 
The models are cut by continually chopping with a knife, one end 
of the ivory resting on a soft stone ; after which the figure is pol- 
ished by being rubbed with a gritty substance, a constant flow of saliva 
keeping the ivory wet. Human figures thus carved show an intimate 
knowledge of anatomy. The natives on the coasts of Labrador are said 
to evince the greatest talent in this accomplishment. There is no evi' 
dence to prove that they worship these figures, since they barter them 
as freely as their fish and oil. 




THEIR CHRISTIANITY. 377 

This practice seems to have originated in the ancient cus- 
tom, when the tribes were continually at war with the Indians and 
with each other, of sending out artificial animals for the purpose 
of destroying their enemies. In their old tales we meet with 
bears and reindeers of this description. Common also was the 
belief in the " tupilak," composed of various parts of different 
animals, such as the teeth of the bear and the tusks of the walrus, 
and which, if smuggled into an enemy's country, were supposed to be 
particularly dangerous. Even to this day, upon the occurrence of any 
calamity, the afflicted people are ready to accuse another tribe with hav- 
ing caused the trouble through their Shaman, and retaliation is made by 
slaying one or more of the enemy. When the desire for barter or travel 
overcomes the passion for blood, the matter is compromised by the 
people who have killed the most men paying blood-money for the sur- 
plus. 

THEIR CHRISTIANITY,. 

Within the past century Christianity has made decided progress 
among the Esquimaux, especially among those of Greenland ; but Sha- 
manism, the heathen superstitions which are scattered from Lapland to 
Behring's Strait and personified in the Shaman, is still alive in their 
midst. Even those who have become Christians have engrafted the 
new upon the old. 

The ancient belief was that there were two great spirits and many 
lesser ones. The Supreme Ruler was termed Tornarsuk. Their heaven 
was in the under world, to which access was obtained by various en- 
trances from the sea and through mountain clefts. The abode beneath 
the land was heaven, because it was conceived as a warm place, rich in 
food. Those who went to the upper world would suffer from cold and 
famine. They were called ball-players, on account of their sport with 
a walrus-head wich gave rise to the aurora borealis. Tornarsuk dwelt, 
of course, in the warm heaven beneath. Some of the natives represented 
him as the size of a finger, others as a bear ; but as a general rule, they 
attempted to give him no description. 

Another great spirit, though a minor one, was an old woman who 
sat in her dwelling in front of her lamp, beneath which was placed a 
vessel receiving the oil that kept flowing down from the lamp. From 
this vessel, or the dark interior of her house, she sent out all the food 
animals ; at certain times she withheld the supply, causing want and 
famine. It was the task of the priest to induce her to again send out 
the supply. His journey was across horrid abysses, in which a gigantic 



378 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

wheel was revolving as slippery as ice ; having safely passed a boiling 
kettle with seals in it, he arrived at the house, in front of which were 
terrible watch-dogs ; within the very passage of the house, he had 
still to cross an abyss over a bridge as narrow as a knife edge. 

The Angakok, or priest, or Shaman, had his familiar spirit which 
he could employ, except upon very special occasions. This was sup- 
plied him by the Supreme Being. His education commenced with, 
childhood, and before his Tornak, or spirit, was given to him, he had to 
repair to a certain deep cave and rub two stones together until he 
heard the voice of his Deity arising from the depths of the earth , or 
to allow vermin to suck his blood until he or she (for women were 
admitted to the priesthood) became unconscious. 

The Angakok had other assistants to lighten his duties, called 
Innuae, those of a marine nature who fed on fox-tails, the inhabitants of 
rocky shores who carried off the natives, pigmies and giants, with scores 
of dogs, weather spirits and those who controlled the diet ; these, with 
hundred of others, which the Angakok called to his aid in expelling 
witches, curing diseases, bringing luck to the hunter, protecting the 
boatman from harm, etc., etc. 

When the priest's assistance was required, the company assembled 
in a dark house, he was tied with his hands behind his back and his 
head between his legs, being then placed on the floor beside a drum 
and a suspended skin. The auditors then sung a song, after which the 
Angakok invoked his spirit, rattling the skin and playing upon the 
drum at the same time, although his hands were tied. The arrival of 
the spirit was said to be accompanied by a peculiar sound and light.. 
Then questions were propounded by the Shaman, the answers seeming 
to proceed from without. If the priest desired to make a flight, his 
own spirit and that of his guardian were believed to shoot through the 
roof of the house. After a spell of unconsciousness the Shaman nar- 
rated his communications, which might be either in the way of infor- 
mation or advice, and showed that he had been entirely released from 
his bonds. During the following day no work was allowed to go on in 
the house. 

This art was principally exercised in discovering the causes of 
accidental disasters; in ascertaining the whereabouts of missing persons; 
in giving counsel as to rules of abstinence, travel, hunting, etc.; in pro- 
curine favorable weather and in curing- sickness. The education of 
children was rhanaged without any corporal punishment, but to threaten 
them with the vengeance of evil spirits was enough to keep them in 
check. 



SOCIAL AND HUNTING REGULATIONS. 379. 

The milder features of the old belief are still in existence even 
among those Esquimaux who have embraced Christianity. "Through 
their tales," says one, "they still preserve a knowledge of their ancient 
religious opinions, combined somewhat systematically with the Christian 
faith. Tornarsuk, in being converted into the devil by the first mis- 
sionaries, was only degraded, getting, on the other hand, his real exist- 
ence confirmed forever. In consequence of this acknowledgment, in 
part, of Tornarsuk, the whole company of Innuae, or spirits, were also 
considered as still existing. The Christian heaven coming into collis- 
ion with the upper world of their ancestors, the natives very ingen- 
iously placed it above the latter, or, more strictly, beyond the blue sky. 
By making Tornarsuk the principle of evil, a total revolution was 
caused with regard to the general notions of good and evil ; but in the 
same way as the ancient belief in the world of spirits has been kept up, 
many of the Esquimaux also maintain their old faith respecting the aid 
to be got from, it and have habitual recourse to it. The kayakers in 
their hazardous occupation still believe themselves taken care of by 
their invisible spirits." The Greenland and the Labrador Esquimaux 
have the Gospels ; many of the old tribes are still adherents to the old 
faith, a few general features of which have been given above. 

SOCIAL AND HUNTING REGULATIONS. 



The Esquimaux when untouched by Danish or other foreign in- 
fluence, seem to have no ideas regarding courts of justice and although 
custom has apparently established certain rules of conduct and regula- 
tions of society, no laws have originated in their midst ; that is, their 
tales and traditions, which extend back over a thousand years, show no 
such evidences, neither does their present life reveal anything of the 
kind. There are no Esquimaux chiefs, although trading companies 
often select some native who is recognized as a leader, on account of his 
wealth and superior management, to direct the hunting operations of the 
tribe and act as an agent. The constitution of society is patriarchial. 
Except in Greenland it is not customary for more than one family to 
occupy the same house, although the head of a family has often to pro- 
vide for a large collection of widows, and orphans of deceased relatives. 
When his vigor fails him and he is no longer a successful hunter, he is 
placed with the women in the social scale and must row with them in the 
family boat. Polygamy and the exchange of wives is approved of, 
under certain conditions. In cases of divorce it is customary for the son 
to follow the mother. When a man dies, the oldest son inherits the 



38o 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



boat and tent and is considered the family provider. If no grown up 
son exists the nearest relative takes his place and adopts the children of 
the deceased. 

If anyone picks up pieces of driftwood, or other goods lost at sea, 
he has only to carry them up to high-water mark and put stones upon 
them, in order to make them his property ; the right to a seal is lost 
when the hunting bladder becomes detached; if two hunters should, at 
the same time, hit a reindeer it belongs to the one whose bullet or arrow 
reaches nearest the heart, the owner, however, giving the unlucky hunts- 





LABRADOR ESQUIMAUX. 

man a part of the flesh ; in South Greenland, where bears are rarely 
seen, it is said that if a bear is killed it belono^s to whoever first discov- 
ered it. 

Except in the introduction of firearms and such articles as bread, 
coffee, sugar and tobacco, the hunting customs and food of the Esqui- 
maux are essentially the same as they were a thousand years ago. They, 
however, show a great aptitude in learning, and where schools have been 
established, particularly in Greenland and Labrador, both old and young 
are anxious to attend. In these countries and on the coasts of Alaska, 
they also seem to be acquiring some notions regarding the benefits of 
regular laws ; so that before long Esquimaux states and kingdoms ma]- 
arise in the frozen resfions of North America. 




NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 




ALASKA. 



HE regions of Alaska which are really known are confined 
to the coast, and the district inhabited by others than the 
native Indians is virtually included in the region about Sitka, 
or New Archangel. What has been learned of the interior of 
the country has come through rather indefinite native sources. 
Fort Yukon, at the junction of the Yukon and Porcupine 
Rivers, is the most northerly station of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, and some 900 miles east of the coast. The traders 
occasionally obtain information, with furs, from the natives, but 
the former is scant indeed. Sitka, as capital of the territory, 
and St. Paul, on Kadiak Island, as the main depot of the seal fisheries, 
are where tourists mostly seek news of the country. The Yukon and 
the smaller rivers have been explored, and it is safe to say that no 
stories told about the salmon can be too large. 

Geologically, Alaska will prove a pregnant field for scientists, and 
lovers of the grand and the beautiful will be attracted even more 
strongly. All along the Pacific Coast there are glaciers filling the 
mountain gorges, and terminating at the sea in magnificent masses of 
overhanofine ice. One of the most remarkable of these o-rand exhibi- 
tions, of which nature is so wonderfully lavish, is the Muir's Glacier, of 
Glacier Bay, a product of the Sitka Mountains. The swiftest and 
strongest pen falls far behind the reality in describing this frozen river, 
which stands as high as the loftiest cathedral, is two miles across and 
forty miles in length. 

REMNANTS OF THE GREAT TRIBES. 

The Athabascans compose a great family which has left its mark all 
over the western portions of British America, in the names of rivers and 
lakes, although its own name was given it by the Algonquins. The 

tribes of Alaska and British America are mild and industrious, greatly 

3S1 



PRESENT WAYS OF LIVING. 383 

resembling the Esquimaux in their mode of Hving,. especially in the skill 
which they show in the construction and use of their fishing weapons 
and their taste in carving their ornaments. Unlike the Esquimaux, 
however, who are most unsatisfactory as historical subjects, they retain 
traditions of a journey from the icy regions and islands of the great 
northwest. Another peculiarity which distinguishes them both from 
Esquimaux and other Indians is a heavy beard ; otherwise they have 
square heads, short hands and feet, and greatly resemble a Siberian 
Tungoose. 

The tribes of this family, comprise the native interior population of 
Alaska ; the Esquimaux occupying the northern coasts, and the Aleuts 
the Aleutian and adjacent islands. The latter have been classed both 
as Esquimaux and as Indians, but have been in contact with the Rus- 
sians for so many years as factors, or traders, that they have lost their 
national characteristics. In Alaska, the Athabascans are known as Ke- 
naians, a tribe by that name dwelling on the peninsula of Kenai, between 
Cook's Inlet and Prince William Sound. These tribes are principally 
settled along the Yukon River, which, from the Rocky Mountains, cuts 
through the country for eighteen hundred miles and empties into Behr- 
ing Sea. 

PRESENT WAYS OF LIVING. 

The waters of all the rivers and streams abound in salmon. They 
are caught and dried by the Indians, some of whom use the typical 
birch-bark canoe in their journeys up and down. The work of catching 
salmon in Alaska rivers is not difficult ; during the spawning season the 
streams are simply black with them, and it is no uncommon sight to see 
the banks piled up with dead fish to a height of three feet, the waves 
having cast ashore those which were weak and injured. 

Even now the Esquimaux and the Athabascans come into conflict, 
although their habits and beliefs are in many ways similar ; but, as a 
rule, they are mostly employed, either individually or by traders, in col- 
lecting fossil ivory, hunting the fox, beaver, marten, otter, mink, lynx 
and wolverine ; occasionally also fishing for the ulikon, which Is 
abundant in some sections and celebrated as the fattest of known fish. 
Other ocean game engages their attention and taxes their ingenuity, 
which seems never to be found wantine. 

The most original of their hooks, and which was especially photo- 
graphed from the real thing for us, is so constructed that when the 
fish snaps at his bait he not only gets hooked, but finds his head 
wedged into a sort of framework, so that he can not break away in either 




TOTEM POLES AND INDIAN HUTS, FORT MANGELL, ALASKA. 



THE Indian's totem. 385 

direction. The fish Hne, or rope, is made from a number of strands 
which consist of tough wood fibre, all twisted together in the neatest 
and most substantial fashion. The hook is fastened into a piece of wood 
which is grotesquely carved to represent a man playing a flute. . 

The Alaska Indians are as fond of playing cards as many of their 
Siberian ancestors, but most of the American natives show Yankee skill 
in making their own implements of the game. They consist, in some 
cases, of little round pieces of hard wood, in shape like a finger, which 
are smoothed and polished and carved into faces and figures. The man- 
ner in which they play their games has not yet transpired, but the form 
of their cards would preclude much shuffling. 

The center of the fur-seal industry is 1,400 miles west of Alaska, on 
the Pribylov Islands, in the very heart of Behring Sea, but within 
American waters. It is monopolized by the Alaska Commercial Com- 
pany of San Francisco, and by Act of Congress seals may only be killed 
in June, July, September and October; firearms may not be used, or 
other means employed to drive the seals away ; neither female seals, nor 
those less than one year old, can be killed. The act also limits the num- 
ber to be killed, in addition to those required for food by the natives, to 
100,000 annually. St. Paul and St. George are the two islands of the 
above group where the seals resort for breeding purposes, the shores 
being well drained and gently sloping, and peculiarly adapted to the 
habits of the animals. The males usually arrive early in June, as many as 
possible selecting and defending a few square feet of land upon which 
to establish their families when the females appear, about a month later. 
Only to the brave, however, flock the fair, the result being that more 
males are bachelors than heads of families. The bachelor seals have 
their separate grounds, and they are the ones who are the victims of the 
hunter. Armed with thick clubs about five feet in length, and with 
knives, the natives drive the seals from their hauling grounds which 
the animals have themselves selected, to the killinor grrounds which 
the men have laid out. The next process is simply to knock them on 
the head, stab them to the heart, and skin them. The skins are then 
salted, piled in bins where they are allowed to pickle for several 
weeks, and then rolled into bundles of two skins each, with the hairy side 
out, ready for shipment. 

THE INDIAN'S "TOTEM." 

Returning to the continent, it is found that among the Kenai 

Indians there are more distinct traces of Asiatic blood than among the 

Aleuts. They have their Shaman as do the Siberian tribes, and uphold 

25 



386 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

a species of caste. After burning the dead, the ashes are generally 
placed in a leather bag, which is suspended to a painted pole ; some of 
the tribes, however, put the corpse on a staging, or even bury it decently 
and erect a wooden tomb over it. Marriage is not allowed between 
members of the same clan or family, the children belonging to the 
mother's clan. Trousers and shoes are fastened to a kind of leather 
tunic ; which latter is worn of greater length by the women, rounded in 
front and trimmed with shells. The men paint their faces and wear 
shells in the nose, while the women tattoo lines on the chin. Personal 
beauty is said to favor the men, who, however, are in the minority. 
When girls arrive at a marriageable age they are separated from the 
rest for. one year, and wear a peculiar bonnet with fringe over the face. 
The winter houses of some of the tribes are underground, as are the 
Esquimaux, and they are all given as much to barter as the Arctic race. 
Their money is either shells or beads. 

The Alaskans are divided into many tribes, and each tribe has its 
peculiar totem, or symbol, as was the case with the Iroquois of New 
York, or the Six Nations; and the totem is still an institution with many 
of the tribes of the United States. There are Beaver, Crow, Rat, 
Turtle and all other kinds of Indians among the Alaskans, and each 
tribe has in front of its village a totem pole, on which is carved the 
figure or combination of figures which constitutes its coat-of-arms. These 
may even be seen in fascinating variety along the coast in the neighbor- 
hood of Sitka. 

The totem originates in the wide-spread Indian tradition that the 
red man's creation results from the union of a spirit v/ith some of the 
lower animals, and the bird, beast or fish which he fixes upon as one of 
his parents becomes his totem. There are tribal totems and family 
totems. As to the latter, the skin of the totem is " carefully stuffed, 
bedecked with ornaments and ' feathers, is tied to a staff and carried 
about in the hand on grrand full-dress occasions. In orood weather it is 
stuck up in front of the door of the lodge, and when the head of the 
family dies it is suspended to the top of a strong, high pole, which is 
firmly planted beside his grave. It is the family crest, the title of honor, 
the symbol of its ancestry and descent, and whatever may be the name of 
the individual of that family, his signature is a rude representation of 
the creature to which he believes he owes his origin." The above 
applies more particularly to the tribes of the Western plains. 

THE FLATHEADS. 
Upon their reservation in Washington Territory is a small band 




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388 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

of Chinooks, a tribe of Indians who, at one time, lived on the coasts of 
Oregon and Washington and the banks of the Columbia River. They 
would be unworthy of mention were it not that they still conform to a 
custom which was in vogue with the ancient tribes of Mexico, Central 
America and Peru, and with the mound-builders whose skulls have been 
excavated in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio. Either by bind- 
ing a piece of board or tightly braided grass upon their infants' heads, 
and suspending them so that the feet are the highest portions of their 
bodies, the Chinooks manage to flatten the soft, little craniums out of 
all natural shape. These Indians are small and unprepossessing, are 
filthy in their habits, but are shrewd and intelligent, ingenious in the 
construction of their household utensils and fishing weapons, as well as 
being of quite an artistic turn of mind. The Indians known as Flat- 
heads are not flatheads, in fact, they having never adopted the cus- 
tom of thus disfiguring themselves. They are located on a reservation 
in Western Montana, and are a remarkable instance of instinctive 
elevation. When they were half starved and naked, they voluntarily 
sent for a missionary and invited others to settle among them who could 
improve their condition. Willing to work, they made rapid progress in 
agriculture and industrial pursuits, obtained horses and cattle and, what 
was better, schools and churches. The Flatheads are naturally peace- 
able, but they have fought bravely against the Sioux when attacked. 
They belong to the Selish family. 

A few hundred of the Athabascans live on the banks of the Colum- 
bia River, Oregon, and they and other small tribes, although thej^ do 
not attempt to fix the time, have traditions, which are borne out by 
geological evidences, that several of the peaks of the Cascade Moun- 
tains were active volcanoes. The Nez Perces, the Wallawallas, and 
other minor tribes occupy reservations or native grounds in Idaho and 
Oregon, on the Columbia or Snake River. 

THE APACHES. 

To set a fierce Apache against one of these fishing, hunting and 
trading Indians is a wonderful contrast, and remarkable when it is con- 
sidered that they are of the same stock. Only a few hundred of the 
15,000 or 20,000 who have fortified themselves in the Sierra Nevada 
and Rocky Mountains, along the rivers of the United States and Mex- 
ico, periodically issuing forth to harass settlers and give the national 
troops a brisk campaign, have been brought under government control. 
For fifty years previous to the war one of their wonderful chiefs brought 
imposing forces into the field, but with his death the tribe has scattered, 




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390 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

although the fragments are still troublesome enough. The Apaches 
fight upon the fly, being mounted upon small, wiry ponies, which are 
guided by a simple cord passed under the jaws. Their principal weapon 
is a very long, iron-pointed arrow, which they shoot with the most 
unerring precision. The chief, or captain of a band, in addition to the 
breech-cloth, or blanket, wears a buckskin helmet, ornamented with a 
feather. The common warrior goes dashing at his enemy bareheaded, 
and if he kills him disdains to take his scalp. Both sexes ornament 
themselves with pearl shells or rough carvings of wood, and wear high 
buckskin moccasins. Their feet being thus confined are so small that- 
art Apache's trail is easily recognized. 

When in their mountain retreats the Apaches live in lodges built; 
of light boughs and twigs, resting from their labors of the field and 
allowing the women to do all the work of collecting fuel, besides per- 
formino^ the reafular duties of the household. Their sonsfs are not: 
weirdly sweet, and their card-playing, of which they are very fond, is 
probably not according to Hoyle; but their smoking is sedate and 
quite proper. The women as they move about, perhaps carrying infants 
in osier baskets at their backs, are seen to wear short petticoats and no 
ornaments. The African, the Polynesian, the Australian and the 
Esquimau, however much they may abuse their wives, generally allow" 
them the feminine luxury of adorning their persons, but the Indian 
even cuts off this enjoyment. When the Apache travels he loads his 
wife with provisions, upon a horse, fastening the basket cradle of his 
papoose to the saddle. 

Should the warriors not return from battle the Avomen cut off their 
lono- loose hair as a sio-n of mourning;. 

Montezuma seems to be an Apache deity, although the savage pro- 
fesses a belief in a Supreme Being. White birds and the bear are 
sacred to them, and the hog they consider unclean. 

The Lipans were formerly the most powerful of the tribes in the 
present state of Texas, with the possible exception of the Comanches. 
They have figured prominently in border troubles, being generally 
friendly to the Texans. Although both Texas and the General Govern- 
ment attempted to fix them upon reservations, they were too restless to 
settle down. Now they were in Texas, now in New Mexico and at last 
accounts they were without the jurisdiction of the United States. 

' THE NAVAJOS. 

The Navajos are as bitter toward the Mexicans as all the Apache 
tribes, but some of their bands have always been friendly to the United 



THE ALGONQUINS. 39I 

States, They occupy a tract of country between the San Juan and 
Little Colorado Rivers, in Northeastern Arizona, the government reser- 
vation of 6,000 square miles, lying in part within the boundaries of New 
Mexico. Even those who are not under guardianship, cultivate the soil 
of the table-lands, raise live-stock and make beautiful woolen blankets. 
This manufacture is so highly prized that a blanket will bring as high as 
$150. From a very early day the Navajos have possessed sheep, cattle, 
goats and horses, and were spinners of cotton and wool. They weave 
their own cloth, choosinof to attire themselves in red and other bright 
colors. Bows, lances and rawhide shields are the weapons of the Navajo 
when he goes upon the war-path, his head dress being the same as that 
of the Apache. 

THE ALGONQUINS. 

Hundreds of nomadic tribes belonging to the Algonquin family 
scoured the country now included in the British possessions east of the 
territory of the Athabascans, up and down the St. Lawrence and Ottawa 
Rivers and around the shores of the Great Lakes. The Algonquin 
tribe, which gives the name to the family, is supposed to have been par- 
ticularly partial to the region adjacent to the Ottawa River, and there is 
now a remnant of them at the Lake of the Two Mountains. 

The chief band of the Algonquin tribe was called Kichisipirini, 
" men of the great river." The Iroquois Indians early came in conflict 
with this great family, and were driven south of Lake Ontario where they 
formed the confederation of the Six Nations. 

As the Chippewas, Menomonees and Pottawattamies, the family 
appeared on the shores of Lake Michigan and paddled their canoes in 
the lakes, rivers and streams of the Northwest. The Chippewas are 
now living on reservations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas 
and Indian Territory, numbering, with the Ottawas, nearly 20,000. The 
Menomonees occupy a reservation in Northeastern Wisconsin. About 
1,000 of them remain. The Pottawattomies are in Indian Territory and 
Kansas, and number 1,700. There are less than 1,000 representatives 
of the Foxes, Sacs, Miamis and other tribes who formerly counted their 
thousands, and ranged over the garden States of the West as their hunt- 
ing grounds. With other wTecks of the Red Man's race they have been 
gathered into the Indian Territory. 

THE CHIPPEWAS. 

The Chippewas, or Ojibways, comprised one of the great Algon- 
quin nations, driving the Sioux from the headwaters of the Mississippi 
and the Red River of the North, warring with the Sacs, the Foxes and 
Iroquois, firmly establishing themselves on the lands north of Lake Su- 



392 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

perior, and then spreading southward over Northern Wisconsin and the 
northern peninsula of Michigan. Some of the tribes moved east to Lake 
Erie, where they joined the Miamis, others moving southwest and wrest- 
ing vast tracts of land from hostile bands along the Chippewa and Mis- 
sissippi rivers. Numbers of the Chippewas have not been gathered to 
any reservation, their principal country lying on the southern shores of 
Lake Superior and the western shores of Lake Huron. 

A historic spot is Madeline Island, a small tract of land opposite 
Bayfield, Northern Wisconsin; for here the great Chippewa chiefs signed 
away all their lands in Wisconsin and Michigan to the General Govern- 
ment. Upon it were also located the headquarters of the American Fur 
Company and the Jesuit missions, Father Marquette himself living there, 
for a time, to labor with the Chippewas. Only a few fisherman now 
remain upon the island, although on the opposite shores of the lake 
the natives still roam about, hunting and fishing, guiding sportsmen and 
the pleasure seekers, making canoes, mats, baskets and maple sugar. 

The ancient religion of the Chippewas, and which is still held by a 
few thousand of the children of the woods around Lake Superior, con- 
sists in a belief in the Manitous, or the Good and the Evil Spirits. They 
have a priesthood called the Medas, whoare the veritable sorcerers found 
among the Siberian tribes; for each of their priests has his manitou, or 
spirit, revealed to him in a dream. 

The Chippewas are tall and well-developed, and their power as 
forest fighters was celebrated all over the Northwest, their weapons 
being superior to those of most neighboring tribes. At a suprisingly 
early day they obtained firearms, and even their arrows and spears were 
pointed with good steel. The name Odjibewa, or Chippewa 
(although the accent really comes on the second syllable), signifies 
the dwellers in a contracted place. Many of the descendants of the 
wild Odjibewas have settled in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan, 
being engaged principally in the lumber trade. 

The Menomonees, unlike most of the western tribes, increased in 
power from the middle of the eighteenth to the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century, and even as late as 1830 they held a large portion of 
Northeastern and Eastern Wisconsin. But little by little they ceded 
their lands to the United States, and in 1852 removed to their reservation 
on the upper Wolf River, in the northeastern part of that State. 

INDIAN PIONEERS. 

And where are the Pequots, the Narragansetts, the Powhatans, the 
Pampticoes, and other tribes of the New England States and the South, 



THE CHEYENNES. 393 

"who SO warmly welcomed the white immigrants? There is a little 
settlement of Narragansetts near Charlestown, R, I., and the last heard 
of them they had not yet decided to become citizens. 

Wisconsin, however, has to tell another story. Early in the " 20's" 
remnants of Narragansetts, Pequots, Mohicans and other tribes of 
former power, who had emigrated from the land of the Oneidas, near 
Utica, N. Y., removed to Green Bay, and afterwards to the shores of 
Lake Winnebago, southwest of that locality. Here they formed the 
Brothertown colony, proceeded to clear land, and established churches 
and schools. Since then the inhabitants have generally kept pace with 
other portions of the county (Calumet) in material and mental improve- 
ment, having sent several representatives to the legislature, and developed 
educated and refined citizens. Others have become wealthy and, have 
sent their children to colleges and universities. With the Brothertown 
Indians also came the Stockbridges, a New York tribe, who had been 
granted a small tract of land by the Oneidas, but who sighed for inde- 
pendence. The story of their advancement and incorporation into the 
body politic of a great State is similar to that of their friends and 
co-workers. 

THE CHEYENNES. 

West of the Mississippi River were two great isolated tribes of the 
Algonquins — the Cheyennes and Blackfeet. The Cheyennes are 
divided between Indian Territory and Montana reservations, being, in 
both cases, intermixed with their auxiliary tribe, the Arapahoes. 

In personal appearance the Cheyennes meet all the romantic ideas 
regarding the noble red men, exceeding in stature all of the tribes of 
the plains except the Osages. The wars which they have waged with 
the Government are the most costly, both financially and in the loss of 
human life, which have been experienced of late years ; the campaign 
of 1864-65 is said to have cost the United States $40,000,000. The 
Cheyennes were first known as living on the Cheyenne River, a branch 
of the Red River of the North. They were driven away by the Sioux, 
and in the early part of the century were camping near the Black Hills, 
on the Cheyenne River. From the first the Cheyennes were great 
horsemen, and to-day they are noted dealers. Finally the tribe split, 
the northern portion joining their old enemies, the Sioux, and the south- 
ern the Arapahoes of Arkansas. 

The Blackfeet are scattered from Hudson's Bay to the Missouri 
River. The Kena, or Blood Indians, are a northern branch of the 
same nation, the two separating on the Saskatchewan River, British 



394 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

America, and the Satsika, or Blackfeet (as the Crows dubbed them), 
going south to the Missouri. Other difficulties in the northern body 
brought another spHt, the seceders following a chief named Piegan. 
And so it comes to pass that about half of those who remain of the 
original Blackfeet are in Montana. They number some 7,000, of whom 
1,500 are on their Montana reservations, being divided into Blood and 
Piegan Indians and Blackfeet proper. 

THE ARAPAHOES. 

The Arapahoes have, for many years, resided near the headwaters of 
the Arkansas and Platte rivers. They are a member of the Blackfoot 
confederacy, but are going out with the buffalo. Some of them 
occupy reservation land adjoining the Cheyennes, in the Indian Territory. 
The Gros Ventres, said to be of the same stock as the Arapahoes, 
occupy, with a number of the latter, a portion of the Blackfeet reserva- 
tion in Montana. Their chiefs are chosen for their valor, and the 
women are the workers, building large and comfortable lodges capable 
of accommodating 100 persons. One part is assigned to their horses,, 
dogs, cattle and chickens, and another is divided into sleeping and 
living apartments. 

OTHER NOTED WESTERN TRIBES. 

The vicissitudes of the Shawnees, a war-like Algonquin tribe, form 
the experience of the average Indian, and make one wonder that he is 
not more stolid and hopeless than he actually appears. They seem to 
have first appeared as a distinct tribe in Southern Wisconsin, going 
toward the east. Having infringed upon the territory of the Six Nations 
(over two centuries ago), they were driven south, some going into 
Florida. Fifty years afterward bands of them commenced to appear in 
Pennsylvania and New York, having returned to the north. They 
fought with the French, the English and the Spaniards, having now 
ranged as far west as Missouri. In the war of 18 12 they endeavored to 
unite the tribes of the west against the Americans but were unsuccessful. 
It is possible that at the present day they could muster seven hundred 
individuals from the Indian Territory, but it is doubtful. 

The great and warlike tribe of the Illinois is now reduced to about one 
hundred souls, who occupy a few acres on their reservation in the Indian 
Territory. Two of their powerful chiefs, father and son, were called 
Chicago, the former visiting France in 1 700, where he received much 
favorable notice. The French missionaries had converted them, and in 
their wars wi.th the Iroquois, Sacs and Foxes, they rendered France 



THE PAWNEES. 395 

valuable services, although they were driven frorn their villages and suf- 
fered terrible losses. Peoria and Kaskaskia, in Illinois, received their 
names on account of tribes who belonged to this family. 

The Foxes and Sacs, kindred tribes, first came into view in the 
vicinity of Detroit, but they were driven west by the Iroquois, warred 
against the Sioux and French, settled on the Fox River, Wisconsin, and 
at Prairie du Chien (the name of one of their chiefs), but finally, after 
having ceded immense tracts of land on the Missouri and Wisconsin 
rivers, located west of the Mississippi River. They hunted and fished, 
cultivated land, and were the bone and sinew of the Black Hawk War, 
which they waged against the government for the possession of Rock 
Island. The few hundred who did not choose to be removed from reser- 
vation to reservation bought a tract of land in Iowa, and became indus- 
trious farmers and farm laborers. 

THE PAWNEES. 

The Pawnees, a noted tribe in the annals of Nebraska, fought many 
a pitched battle with the Arapahoes, the Sacs, the Foxes and the Sioux. 
Finally they forgot their wild ways and located north of the Nebraska 
River and west of the Loup, and under the guardianship of the Govern- 
ment built houses and schools and cultivated farms ; but their old enemies, 
the Sioux, came down upon them, burning their villages and massacring 
their people. The Sioux, with devastating epidemics of small-pox, and 
cholera, almost swept the Pawnees out of existence. Until their crops 
were swept away by locusts, however, they continued to reside stub- 
bornly but peacefully upon their native soil. In 1874, a general council 
of the tribe determined upon removal to the Indian Territory and there 
2,000 of them now are, with manual-labor schools and day schools, culti- 
vating their lands and governing themselves. They are under the 
especial charge of the Friends. 

THE DAKOTAS. 

The traditions of the Dakotas are more pregnant in thought to the 
student, who is forced to trace the progenitors of the American Indian to 
Asia, than those of any other of the Indian families. Their language^ 
also, is Mongolian in its structure. According to their traditions they 
were driven back from the Mississippi River by the Algonquins, after 
they had slowly advanced from the Pacific Coast and the Northwest. 
Only one tribe, the Winnebagook (Winnebagoes), pushed through the 
ranks of their enemies, settling on the shores of Lake Michigan, where 



396 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



they were held in check. There, in the regions adjacent to Green Bay, 
they lorded it over many of the tribes with such a high hand that they 
were attacked and nearly exterminated by an allied Indian force. Yet 
they were still warlike and troublesome, and after they had ceded over 
two million and a half acres of their lands to the Government, they were 
removed west of the Mississippi, then hither and thither, to Dakota, 

Minnesota, Ne- 
braska — and 
where not? 
There,as in other 
States, they com- 
menced to culti- 
vate land, build 
cottages and 
schools, and 
dress and live 
like white men. 
It was formerly 
the practice of 
the agents to de- 
pose and appoint 
their chiefs at 
will ; now they 
are elected. 
The Winneba- 
goes left in Wis- 
consin are self- 
supporting and 
peaceable. 

Other tribes 
of the Dakota 
family have 
given us the 
following- greo- 
graphical names: 

Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Osage, Omaha and Sioux. There were also 
the Upsarokas, or Crows. A few of the family yet remain within 
the British possessions, but the majority of them are on reservations 
in the northeastern part of Indian Territory, in Eastern Nebraska, in 
-Southern Dakota and Montana. 




A SIOUX WARRIOR. 



THE SIOUX. 397 

THE SIOUX. 

The Sioux are still the powerful tribe of the family, as they always 
have been, and were the arch enemies of the Algonquins, especially the 
Chippewas. The fortunes of war were various, the Sioux preferring to 
fight upon the plain and the Chippewas in the woods, but, as has been 
stated, the Sioux were, after a century or so of warfare, driven from the 
headwaters of the Mississippi to the south. By the early part of this, 
century the bulk of the nation was upon the Missouri River, although 
native villaees were scattered from Northern Minnesota to the Black Hills. 
During the first part of our civil war the Sioux commenced to prepare 
for a general uprising, on account of dissatisfaction with the way they 
were being treated by the Government and its agents, and eventually 
the whole of Minnesota and the res^ions borderino- on the Missouri, 
with the Western Plains, were the scenes of their massacres and hos- 
tilities. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills, and subsequent 
troubles with Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, on account of 
their reluctance to part with their grounds, are matters of recent record. 
Some of the most warlike bands fled to British territory, others agreed 
to go to their immense Dakota reservation. There 30,000 of them are 
supposed to cover 34,000,000 acres of land. Churches and schools 
have been established among them, and the younger generation show 
aptitude and patience. The settled bands have their tribal form of 
government, and are raisers of live-stock, and agriculturists ; notwith- 
standing which, the Sioux may yet be called an uncertain quantity in 
the Indian problem. 

When first known, the Crows occupied territory in the basins of the 
Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers, Southern Montana, and they now 
hold a reservation on the site of their old camping-grounds. Like the 
Northern Cheyennes and Sioux, with whom they often came in conflict, 
they were expert horsemen and brave warriors, although not great in 
numbers. In personal appearance they are tall and remarkable for the 
extraordinary length of their hair. They are so cleanly in their habits 
that a Crow lodge is easily recognizable, it being generally made of 
buffalo skins so dressed that they are almost white. 

THE SHOSHONES. 

This is both the name of a tribe and of a family. Various mem- 
bers of the family have roamed from Idaho to New Mexico. The 
tribes which are best known are the Comanches and the Utes, or Utahs. 
The Comanches call themselves "live people"; their modes of warfare 



398 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and the extent of territory they have covered in their wars with the 
Spaniards, with the Osages, Pawnees and other Western tribes, as 
well as with travelers crossing the plains, certainly entitle them to that 
appellation. Being almost constantly mounted, the Comanche has 
become somewhat heavy of foot, but, with the Apache, he is the ideal 
warrior on horseback. Only a few of the troublesome tribes have been 
collected upon reservation lands. 

THE UTES. 

The Utes roam over a great portion of the southwestern sections 
of the United States, hunting and raiding. In districts where game is 
plentiful they are, physically, noble looking, but are miserable in 
appearance and pitiful specimens of the race in other localities. Their 
arms vary with their territory, some using a primitive club, bow or lance, 
others an improved rifle. As a rule, in dressing the hair the men wear 
braided queues, and the women cut their hair short. It is said that 
their wives and children are often sold into slavery to neighboring 
tribes. The Utes have a small reservation in Southern Colorado, and 
the Shoshones proper have one in Wyoming, but the whole tribe and 
family of Utes and Shoshones seem to be irreclaimable. 

THE KIOWAS. 

The Kiowas are a branch of the same family, being wild, restless 
and troublesome ; but they have been assigned lands in the south- 
western part of Indian Territory, which was leased from the Chicka- 
saws. They share their reservation lands with the Comanches and 
Apaches — that is, when they are not off on raids. The hair is worn the 
same as that of the Utes, except the men do theirs up in three or four 
long plaits, instead of one. The Kiowas long hunted on the Platte, 
had immense herds of horses, and were at constant war with the Paw- 
nees and Sioux, their weapons being the bow and arrow, lance and war 
club. They also carried shields. When they were not pasturing their 
herds on the grassy bottoms of the Red River, hunting the buffalo 
between the Canadian and Arkansas rivers, or fighting furiously with 
their powerful enemies of the plains, they were uneasily shifting their 
quarters from point to point, carrying their skin lodges as they went. 
They have given the Government untold trouble, having several times 
invaded Texas and murdered many settlers. Two of their chiefs are 
now under sentence of imprisonment for life, but it seems impossible to 
effectually quell them. 



THE PUEBLOS. 399 

THE PUEBLOS. 

The villages of these semi-civilized Indians who form the native 
population of New Mexico, are called pueblos ; hence the name which 
has become attached to the tribe. The Spaniards occupied the country 
during the latter part of the sixteenth century, established schools and 
churches among them and supplied them with cattle and sheep. They 
were citizens under the rule of Mexico, and the Supreme Court has 
decided that they are now citizens of the United States, although the 
State laws deprive them of their rights. They have never strenuously 
insisted upon their rights, however, and seem satisfied to be left in the 
enjoyment of their ancient village government, which consists of a gov- 
ernor and a court of three elders. The Pueblos are still semi-civilized 
and have shown no marked improvement within the past three hundred 
years. 

They raise grain, vegetables and cotton, and manufacture pottery, spin- 
ning and weaving with rude machines. " Their houses are sometimes 
built of stone, laid in mortar made of mud, but more generally of sun-dried 
brick or adobe. These buildings are generally large, of several stories, 
and contain many families. In some of the pueblos the whole com- 
munity, amounting to from 300 to 700 souls, are domiciled in one of 
these huge structures. The houses are sometimes in the form of a hol- 
low square ; at other times they are on the brow of a high bluff or 
mountain terrace, difficult of approach. The first or lower story is 
invariably without openings, entrance to the house being effected by 
ladders. Each upper story recedes a few feet from that below it, leav- 
ing a terrace or walk around or along the whole extent of the structure, 
from which ladders lead to those above. The upper stories have doors 
and windows, but no stairways. In most instances a single family occu- 
pies one apartment, and as its number increases another apartment is 
added where there is sufficient space, or it is built above and reached by 
a ladder. This mode was practiced by these Indians three centuries ago. 
In every village there is at least one room large enough to contain sev- 
eral hundred persons, in which they hold their councils and have their 
dances." 

THE HURON-IROOUOIS FAMILY. 

The Hurons occupied a tract of country about as large as Delaware, 
near Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, when the French first penetrated into 
their country. Within this space, however there were 30,000 Indians 
living in bark lodges, and separated into many villages. But the Iro- 



400 Panorama of nations. 

quois invaded their territory, killing a French missionary and his con- 
verts, destroying their largest towns and dispersing those of the tribes 
who did not join their confederation of the Six Nations. A number 
of the Hurons fled to several islands in Lake Huron, and, through the 
the assistance of the French, the remnants of the once powerful family 
were removed to the banks of the River St. Charles, a few miles from 
Quebec. There their descendants quietly reside, being faithful Catholics 
and numbering two or three hundred people. 

A few miles southwest of the Hurons proper were the Dinondadles, 
another tribe which belonged to the Huron-Iroquois family. They 
cultivated tobacco, and with such success that the French called them 
Tobacco Indians. They were scattered with the Hurons, wandering to 
Lake Superior, then to Detroit and finally to the headwaters of the 
Sandusky River, Ohio. In 1832 they sold their lands and, as the " Wy- 
andots," were removed by the Government to the junction of the Kansas 
and Missouri Rivers. The descendants of the larger band are still liv- 
ing in Kansas, their fathers having become citizens, founded a city, 
organized a county, and, in many cases, intermarried with white pioneers. 
A few are on reservation land in the Indian Territory, and in Canada, 
on the Detroit River. 

THE SIX NATIONS. 

At a very early day the Tuscaroras separated from the six nations 
of Iroquois, and penetrated into the Carolinas, where they made no end 
of trouble, but finally, in i 713, were completely routed and most of them 
rejoined their kindred in New York. Thus the confederation was again 
complete. Besides the Tuscaroras were the Onondagas, the Mohawks,, 
the Oneidas, the Cayugas and the Senecas, the confederation being the 
most formidable and permanent which ever threatened the whites of the 
United States. The league was called " Hodenosaunee," or " they form, 
a cabin." The Onondagas were at the head, their chief being presi- 
dent of the council of fourteen sachems ; and at Onondaga the council 
. fire, or the fire of the cabin, was kept burning. Far to the east the 
Mohawks held "the door." This tribe called itself the She Bear, 
which the Algonquins translated into their language as Mahaqua and 
the Enoflish into Mohawk. The Onondagas were " men of the moun- 
tain," the Oneidas "tribe of the granite rock," and the Tuscaroras 
" shirt wearers." Each tribe was divided into the Turtle, Bear and 
Wolf families, and occasionally the division went further. To further 
cement the union it was forbidden for one to marry within his own tribe. 

In the conflicts between the English and French, the Iroquois. 



THE FIVE NATIONS. 4OI ' 

usually sided with the former, as the French had generally been allies of 
the Algonquins, who were the inveterate foes of the Six Nations. Upon 
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War the confederacy was split asunder, 
a portion of them adhering to the English, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras 
being generally friendly to the Americans. In 1777, therefore, the 
council fire at Onondaga was extingruished forever. Previous to the 

o o 

war of 18 1 2, when the Iroquois tribes were again arrayed against each 
other, the Mohawks, and a portion of the Cayugas, went to Canada, and 
subsequently they were followed by other members of the Six Nations, 
lands being granted to them on Ouinte Bay, Grand River, the Thames, 
Sault St. Louis St. Res^is and Lake of the Two Mountains. In con- 
ncction with the present condition of the Iroquois, a remarkable fact is 
noticed — viz. : that there has been little, if any, decrease in their num- 
bers since they were the most prosperous. Their 15,000 people are 
nearly divided between Canada and the New York reservations, with a 
band of over 1,000 Oneidas at Green Bay, Wis. The Six Nations may 
be called converts to Christianity. 

THE FIVE NATIONS. 

The Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, all 
Southern tribes who previous to the war held slaves and were in arms 
ao^ainst the United States Government, constitute now the Five Nations, 
of the Indian Territory. They had previously developed quite a com- 
plete system of self-government, and generally retained their old con- 
stitutions when they were removed to the Indian Territory after the war. 

THE CHEROKEES. 

The Cherokees have their peculiarities of language and organiza- 
tion which entitle them to be considered a distinct family. They for- 
merly occupied portions of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia and Alabama in the valleys of the Allegheny Mountains, the 
Upper Tennessee and the headwaters of the Savannah and Flint 
Rivers. They consist of seven clans, and members of the same clan 
are forbidden to marry. They fought with the English against the 
French with such effect that Louisiana made great efforts to obtain 
their friendship. 

With the capture of slaves, in their wars, the Cherokees com- 
menced to give more attention to the cultivation of land and less to 
war. The nation divided, a portion crossing the Mississippi and the 

balance remaining on their own lands. They were aided by the United 

26 



402 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

States Government, which furnished them with agricultural implements 
and mills. As the white population clamored for their lands, however, 
they gradually ceded them to the Government until they were in pos- 
session of but a mountainous tract of 8,000 square miles in the States 
of Georgia and North Carolina. Gradually they were crowded out of 
these States and removed to the Indian Territory. 

Different factions of the eastern and western divisions prevented a 
union of the nation until 1839, but by the commencement of the war 
it was very prosperous. Printing presses were at work, turning off 
newspapers and books both in English and Cherokee ; grain, cotton, 
salt, cattle and horses were all elements of their wealth. At the break- 
ing out of the civil war the nation's warriors, who numbered over 
15,000, divided their allegiance, and their territory was ravaged by both 
armies. The slaves of the Cherokees were, of course, emancipated, 
but they themselves gained in habits of industry. 

Their territory now comprises about 5,000,000 acres, two-thirds of 
which is unfit for cultivation. The chief of the nation is elected for 
four years. The country is divided into eight districts, and the citizens 
are governed by a National 'Committee and Council, elected for two 
years. The Cherokees lead the five nations in the cultivation of wheat, 
corn and oats. They have neat villages, schools, churches and public 
buildings, and are a noteworthy evidence of Indian civilization. 

CREEKS AND SEMINOLES. 

The Creeks are allied to the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, 
and occupied a territory which was bounded on the north by that of the 
Cherokees, but stretched south into Florida. Not being able to trace 
their origin beyond a certain point, they claim to have sprung from the 
earth and emigrated from the northwest. They settled principally along 
the streams of Georgia and Florida, where they were found by the 
Enelish and called Creeks. 

Two bands of the Creeks who remained in Florida and intermarried 
with negroes and Spaniards form the Seminole Indians. The Creeks 
called them Seminoles, or Wanderers, and it was the latter's refusal to 
be bound by a treaty made by the Creek nation with the United States 
which precipitated the war in Florida which was so disastrous both to 
them and to the United States. The Creeks were divided into a num- 
ber of distrinct tribes, including the Alabamas and Natchez, Avho figured 
for years in Southern troubles, but fifty years ago the Government 
succeeded in removing, all but a few hundred, to Arkansas. The civil 
war split them asunder as it did the Cherokees, and they suffered severely. 



CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS. 4O3 

After the war both sections were removea to their reservation. Their 
form of government is not so repubHcan as that of the Cherokees 
retaininor- more of the tribal features. 

Notwithstanding all efforts to consolidate them, the Seminoles have 
retained their individuality and form one of the most progressive of the 
nations. They have missions and district schools, are steady and 
industrious. 

CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS. 

The Choctaws and Chickasaws speak the same language and have 
a tradition that they came with the Creeks from west of the Mississippi. 
The Cnoctaws attained more to the dignity of a nation, for, with their 
allied tribes, they formerly occupied nearly all the coast territory from 
the Mississippi to the Atlantic. When the French first came among 
them they were in the habit of flattening the heads of their children 
with bags of sand, and therefore became known as Flatheads. They 
were allies of the French, and did splendid service for them against the 
Natchez, Chickasaws and other hostile tribes. The State of Georgia 
offered them the rights of citizenship, but they preferred to cede their 
lands and move with the Chickasaws to Arkansas. 

They were already a nation, in fact, as in name, and are still governed 
by a written constitution, substantially adopted in 1838. They are 
governed by a chief elected for a term of four years, by a National 
Council and a regular judiciary. Trial by jury is also a feature of their 
government. Besides exhibiting other evidences of the white man's 
civilization, the Choctaws comprise a distinguished member of the Five 
nations as being the principal lumbermen of the group. 

The Chickasaws at first formed a part of the Choctaw nation, but, 
subsequently organized a government of their own, consisting of a 
Governor, Senate and House of Representatives. The Chickasaw 
nation embraces a decided negro element ; for instead of giving up a 
proportion of their lands to the Government, the proceeds of which Avere 
to go to their former slaves, the nation adopted them as members of the 
tribe. 

TRIBAL GOVERNMENT. 

In the tribal form of government few measures originate solely with 
the chief. He is to execute the decrees which are discussed and adopted 
in the council, and is the head warrior of the band. Not alone such 
momentous matters as peace or war, the removal of the camp, or the 
initiation of a large band of warriors, are eloquently considered in 
council, but orators are not found wanting to discuss in all their bearings 



INDIAN RELIGION AND MEDICINE. 4O5 

a proposed hunt, or a medicine dance. Every band is provided witli a 
council lodo^e and all warriors are members of the council. The vote is 
taken by acclamation, and though eloquence and personal magnetism 
have a certain sway in the council chamber, the real power lies with the 
chiefs, sao^esand medicine men. The " doo^-soldiers " of the Indians of 
the plains are the young, active warriors, who have no standing as wise 
men, but they elect their own leader and maintain a strong organization 
outside of the council. This is a special feature of Cheyenne govern- 
ment, although in some of the tribes, since the tendency has been toward 
a popular form, the dog-soldiers have become subordinate to the chief 
and form merely his body-guard in war. 

INDIAN RELIGION AND MEDICINE. 

The Indian believes in the Good God and tne Bad God, and he 
speaks of the latter deity with the greatest disinclination. Gods and 
spirits of the plains, rivers and mountains also play a bold role in his 
faith. He does not apply morality to his religion, but whatever thwarts 
his aims he attributes to the Bad God. The Good God helps him to kill 
his enemy, steal the wife of a friend or raid a white settlement. No 
prayers are necessarily offered to the Good God. 

Death by strangulation bars the Indian out of the Happy Hunting 
Grounds, for his soul is supposed to escape through the mouth, which 
opens at the moment of dissolution. It was formerly a universal belief 
with the Indians of the plains that scalping an enemy annihilated his 
soul. This is now quite a general superstition ; also one that each per- 
son killed by them, and not scalped, will be their servant in the next 
world. They have their good omens and their bad. One of their most 
common ways of preparing medicine, which they use as it turns out 
good or bad, is to take earth, sand, ashes of plants or bones, and, mixing 
them in a shallow dish, stir the ingredients. If by the combination of 
colors and figures the Indian is convinced that his Good God has charge 
of his affairs, he places the mixture in tiny deer skin bags and ties them in 
his hair, upon the tail of his war horse and around the necks of his 
women and children. Should the mixture prove to be bad medicine, 
or an indication that his Bad God has the upper hand, the stuff is taken 
outside the camp and secretly buried. The exact nature of this mixture 
is a close secret between the individual and his eods. He is forever 
making the medicine, and takes not the smallest step without consult- 



mg It. 



The Indic.n.5 '.:ave different ways of propitiating the Evil One. 



406 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

When he brings them into great danger a common vow is to consecrate 
a pony to his service, should he allow them to escape. When this is. 
done the animal is never again mounted, is treated with care and even 
tenderness. 

When the warrior dies the pony which is killed for him, and the 
weapons which are laid on his grave, will appear as phantoms and serve 
him in the Happy Hunting Grounds. If he falls in battle, cut or shot to 
pieces, his shade, in the next world, will appear mutilated and imperfect. 
In fact, in every particular, he commences his spirit life in the beyond 
under the conditions which govern his material life. If a body is pierced 
with arrows, the Indian, particularly the Sioux, believes that the soul will 
■be always tormented with ghostly arrows. Should a warrior, or his- 
enemy be killed in the dark, darkness will be his eternal portion. The 
fear of meetinsf this fate has deterred more than one savao-e from 
murderous midnight attacks upon the wagon trains of the plains. 

There is hardly a tribe which agrees with another as to the length 
of time which it required for a soul to pass from this earth to the Happy 
Hunting Grounds ; the ideas vary from one to two days, to as many 
months. If the period is long, food and water are brought to the grave,, 
generally by the female mourners. The entire journey is conceived to 
lie over a dreary space, devoid of all the necessities of life; hence the 
provisions, the phantoms of food and water to supply the needs of the 
spirit traveler. 

The Medicine Chief of a band of Indians divides the honors with 
the war chief, obtaining, if anything, more than an equal share. He is 
always dignified, the owner of the most attractive wives and ponies, holds 
no social intercourse with any except the principal men of the tribe, is 
the spiritual head of the tribe and the recipient of the confidences of the 
women, is the all-powerful physician of both body and soul, and when 
the fighting force takes the field, he proves his faith in his own power 
and religion by entering into the heat of the fight and the thick of the 
carnage. With the weakening of the authority of the head chief, the 
Medicine Chief has, if anything, gained in influence. 

The Medicine Chief is assisted in his work of exorcising evil spirits 
by a band of women, who howl to the drone of his incantations. Their 
wails and howls draw the women of the other lodo-es to the scene of 
action, and this deafening chorus is intensified by a muscular young 
priest who beats a tom-tom over the head of the poor patient. Whea 
the Medicine Chief dies, his successor steps into the coveted position 
only by coming forward with the claim that he has found the medi- 
cine which will keep away the Bad God, and then proving it by 
obtruding himself into every danger and coming out unscathed. 



THE MEDICINE DANCE. 407 

Many of the western tribes of Indians have a mysterious some- 
thing, which is in careful charge of the head chief or Medicine Chief, 
it being wrapped in a number of comphcated coverings. Its influ- 
ences are all good, and it is always carried in war, or on important expe- 
ditions, by the Medicine Chief. Each tribe, as well as each Indian, has, 
of course, a particular medicine; but this thing is different — it goes 
withou t a name. The tribal medicine of the Cheyennes is a bundle 
of arrows, wrapped in skins and placed in a small case of stiff raw-hide. 
It was captured by the Pawnees, some years ago, and the whole tribe 
was thrown into a panic, expecting instant annihilation. Runners were 
dispatched ; but the medicine was not regained until the Cheyennes 
had paid the Pawnees three hundred ponies. The Utes attribute many 
of their late troubles to the capture by the Arapahoes of a little squat 
stone figure which they had adopted as the " tribal medicine." 

THE MEDICINE DANCE. 

In former days the Medicine Chief had power of life and death 
over the actions of the dancers, each of whom was placed in a large 
ring, his eyes fixed upon an image suspended from above, and hav- 
ing in his mouth a small whistle ; as he danced hour after hour, he con- 
tinued to blow upon the whistle and keep his head painfully thrown 
back upon his shoulders. Eight or ten hours of this distressing per- 
formance would generally throw some of the warriors into a faint. 
They were then dragged out of the ring, and if not revived by the 
mystic figures which the priest painted upon their faces arid bodies, cold 
water was thrown over them. He might order them back until they 
actually danced themselves to death. In case the dance progressed to 
the end of the appointed time without the occurrence of any misfor- 
tune, the tribe were assured of good medicine, which generally induced 
them to Q-Q to war. 

If the exhausted warriors could not be revived, the dance was broken 
up in confusion. The women shrieked and inflicted ghastly wounds 
upon themselves. The men howled and rushed off to kill their horses 
for the use of the warriors who had preceded them to the Happy Hunt- 
ing Grounds, Bad Medicine had been proclaimed ; the Bad God had 
them well in hand. 

The Indians still have their medicine dances (in lodges which the 
women construct), but the Medicine Chief is no longer autocrat, and 
whether the omen is good or bad is determined, in a general way, by 
the conduct of the different bands toward each other, by the attitude of 
the elements toward the festivities and by the fervor displayed in this 



408 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

aboriginal revival. The dancers, however, gaze at;, the same dangling 
image — the Good God (painted white) on one side, and the Bad God 
(black) on the other ; some enter to display their costumes, some to 
show their powers of endurance, and others from pure religious fervor 
or because they hope to thus propitiate the Had (jod for some evil he 
has brought to them. lUit all are at liberty to withdraw when they see 
fit, the duration of the dance being fixed at four clays. A United 
States officer, who lived for over thirty years among the Indians of the 
West, is authority for the statement that some of the dancers keep in 
motion before their image, blowing constantly upon their whistles, for 
seventy-five hours without sleep, food or drink. 

Succeeding the medicine dance, and occasionally as a portion of the 
proceedings, is the self-torture of the braves. Here the Medicine Chief 
also is master of ceremonies, and with his own hand makes the incisions 
in the muscles of the breast, through which horsehair ropes are passed 
and tied to pieces of wood ; or he uses his broad-bladed knife on the 
muscles of the back, lifting them from the bones and passing a rope 
underneath, with a stick at the end so as to keep it fast. The free ends 
of the ropes are either attached to poles of the lodge or to heavy mov- 
able objects, and the aim is to tear the sticks from the wounds and 
obtain freedom. Sometimes the Indian is unable at once to do this, and 
must remain without food or water until the tissues soften ; but it is 
good medicine to tear loose at once. As soon as freed, the warrior 
is examined by the Medicine Chief, and if all is right, religious cere- 
monies are gone through with and his wounds are properly attended to. 
He is honored and suno-. Should one, however, durincr this fearful 
ordeal, which has been known to last several days, show any sign of 
weakness, he is sent away a disgraced man. 

BURIAL PLACES. 

Indian tribes who live in somewhat permanent villages select reg- 
ular burial grounds, often placing the corpse upon a scaffold which is 
roofed over with a frame work covered with skins. If the body is that 
of a warrior, it is dressed in the most gorgeous apparel, and hanging froni 
his neck is his medicine bag. His weapons are by his side and his 
totem bag is tied to his lance or riile. At his girdle, or on his lance 
or shield, are hung all the scalps he has taken in life. Pots, kettles and 
other utensils which he will need in his spirit journey are fastened to 
the platform outside, and o\'er all are hung streamers of red and white 
cloth to frighten away beasts and birds of prey. 



INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 4^9 

Caves and the forks of trees are favorite burial places for wander- 
ing- tribes. Women and female children of common people are put out 
of sight with as little ceremony as scalped warriors, or those who die 
except in the tight. Indians near the agencies frequently use for cof- 
fins the boxes which are sent to them filled with soap orcrackers. 

The burial customs of nearly all the Western tribes, except the 
Utes, have been quite carefully investigated by travelers and army 
officers. After the burial of one of their number, these Indians care- 
fully erase every footprint which may lead to a discovery of the place of 
interment. Although several army officers were present at the funeral 
of Ouray, the great Ute chieftain, they were ordered back when they 
attempted to accompany the body to the grave. The corpse was wrapped 
in a blanket thrown across a horse and taken away. When, a few 
weeks later, it was removed to Ouray's own country, the officers managed 
to be taken along by the Indians and found the body in a natural 
cave which had been walled up with rocks. Another Ute grave, 
discovered by accident, was found to have been excavated in a hill and 
lined with walls of stone, cemented with mud. 

INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

Scattered all up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys are 
those remarkable earth mounds, covering areas of from a few feet to 
square miles in extent. Some of them form simple hills or pyramids, 
while others are portions of a general design which was evidently thus 
fashioned upon the earth's surface to convey an idea. Thus in Adams 
county, Ohio, is a series of embankments representing a serpent, over 
1,000 feet in length, which is disgorging' an oval figure, supposed to bean 
egg — a delineation of the creation of the earth. 

Fissures of animals have also been traced in mounds in Wisconsin ; 
in fact, it seems to be a peculiarity of the antiquities found in that State 
that they generally represent something more animate than mathematical 
figures, either the bear, the buffalo, the raccoon, the lizard, the turtle, the 
tadpole, the war eagle, or man. From these mounds, as in those of other 
states, skulls, stone carvings, silver and copper ornaments, etc., have 
been excavated. Metal from the Lake Superior regions, mica from the 
Alleghanies, and shells and porphyry from Mexico have all been found 
in the same mound, indicating that the civilization of which these 
remains are an index was widely extended. They seem to have been 
used either as temple sites, burial places, observatories or for purposes 
of defense. 



4IO 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



It is noticeable that the mound-builders have been influenced by the 
same considerations as the later order of city-builders ; "hence St. Louis, 
Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities of the West are founded on ruins 
of pre-historic structures. River terraces and river bottoms seem to 
have been the favorite places for these earth-works. In such localities 
the natural advantages of the country could be made available with much 
less trouble than in portions of the country lying at a distance from the 
water-courses." 

Geology, naturally, comes to the aid of the student who is curious 
to approximate to the era when the mound-builders flourished. Their 
works never appear upon the lowest of the river terraces of the West. 
The earth of the mounds is usually of the driest description, and yet 
the skulls and skeletons which have been unearthed are in the last stages 
of decay. Putting the two facts together, scientists conclude that the 
mounds were constructed when the rivers occupied the higher levels, 
and place the builders in, an era at least 200 or 300 B.C. In the 
Titanic birds, beasts and reptiles which they laid upon the earth, may 
be traced the existence of the totem, an institution which has been 
noted as still alive among the Indians of this country and Alaska. 




THE MEXICANS. 




MYTHOLOGY OF MEXICO 



RADITIONS disagree as to even the direction from which 
the aborigines came who settled upon Mexican soih The 
first historical race were the Toltecs, who left a written account 
r of their government. Their capital was Tula, a short distance 
north of the present City of Mexico. The Toltecs afterwards 
united with a ruder tribe from the north. Immigrations from 
the north were thereafter continuous, and with the influx came 
often improved methods of agriculture, the mechanical arts, 
and a hisjh order of civilization. From various unions of the 
immigrants with the settled population, republics, nations and 
king-doms were founded, previous to the arrival of the Aztecs, or 
Mexicans, the most important of them all. 

The supposed period of their wanderings varies from fifty to one 
hundred and sixty years. Traces of their journeyings exist in the 
remains of vast fortresses, houses and granaries in New Mexico, Arizona 
and Mexico. The most noted ruins are those found near Casas Grandes, 
a town in Chihuahua, the most northern district of Mexico. The largest 
edifice was built of mud mixed with grave, land seems originally to have 
been from three to six stories in height. For fifty or sixty miles there- 
from, the plain and banks of the streams are covered with similiar war- 
like ruins and artificial mounds. From the latter have been excavated 
stone axes, corn grinders and fine pottery. 

ITS PRIMITIVE PEOPLE. 



The doorways of these structures have the form of those noticed in 
the ruins of Central America ; and antiquarians are not wanting who 
would give the Aztecs a southern origin. At all events, various tribes 
who spoke the same language settled in the vicinity of Lake Tezcuco 
during the thirteenth and first part of the fourteenth century, and the 
Aztecs established a city therein, approached by long and narrow cause- 



411 



412 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ways and defendecT by powerful fleets. They absorbed not only the 
first settlers, but the tribes of their own nation, and under the lead of 
their great military chieftain Mexi assumed a new name, and eventually 
gave it to millions of people. The Aztecs were cruel in the extreme, 
but held the reins of government with an able hand, so that when the 
Spaniards came their empire extended over the whole territory of the 
present Republic. 

The judicial system was very complete, but the laws were most 
sanguinary. For embezzlement of the taxes, the offender was put to 
death with all his kindred to the fourth degree. Drunkenness in youth 
was a capital offense. The penalty of death was the rule. 

The Aztecs had no system of writing. The laws, however, were 
few, and were represented by paintings, the judges being attended by 
artists who pictorially described the suits and the parties thereto. 

Prisoners of war were devoured or enslaved, and thousands of 
human victims were sacrificed to their god of war, who was at the head 
of their thirteen deities. Their god of the air, peaceable and benign, 
is said to have been driven from the country, the ruins of one of his 
temples being seen to this day at Cholula. The inferior deities of the 
Aztecs numbered several hundred. In every house, however poor, 
their hideous images were worshiped. Mountains, plains and cities 
were covered with temples erected to the gods of high and low degree, 
and within them were thousands of schools and colleges taught by the 
priests. 

The system which the Aztecs had for the reckoning of time was 
received by them from the Toltecs. Their year of 365 days was divided 
into eighteen months of twenty days each, with the odd days added to 
the last month. After the termination of a cyclfe of fifty-two years they 
added thirteen days, to allow for the six hours by which the tropical 
year exceeded their civil year. The year, month and day had each its 
hieroglyphic sign, and at the end of every cycle a solemn astronomical 
festival was held. Other features of their system of reckoning time 
indicated that the ancient Mexicans had some correct ideas of the revolu- 
tions of the sun and moon, as did the Hindus, the Persians, the Chal- 
deans and other Asiatic people. 

Agriculture and the manufacture of metals and cotton were at a 
high pitch of excellence. Their cotton cloth was interwoven with rabbit 
hair and feathers, their substitutes for wool and silk. 

'■ For the rapid transmission of news, towers were erected at Intervals 
of s'x miles along the high roads, where couriers were always In waiting 
for dispatches, which were transferred from hand to hand at each stage. 
Dispatches were thus carried 300 miles in a day." 



THE HOLY CROSS AND VIRGIN. 413 

THE HOLY CROSS AND VIRGIN. 

" It is strange, )'et well authenticated and has given rise to many 
theories, that the symbol of the cross \Yas already known to the Indians 
before the arrival of Cortes. In the island of Cozumel, near Yucatan, 
there were several; in Yucatan itself there was a stone cross; and there, 
an Indian, considered a prophet among his countr)'men, had declared 
that a nation bearing the same as a svmbol, should arrive from a distant 
country. More extraordinary still was a temple dedicated to the Holy 
Cross by the Toltec nation in the City of Cholula. Near Tulansingo 
also is a cross engraved on a rock, with various characters, which the 
Indians, by tradition, attribute to the apostle Saint Thomas. In 
Oajaca also there existed a cross which the Indians from time immemorial 
had been accustomed to consider as a divine symbol. By order of the 
Bishop Cervantes, it was placed in a sumptuous chapel in the Cathedral. 
Information concerning its discovery, together with a small cross cut 
out of its wood, was sent to Rome to Paul the Fifth, who received it on 
his knees, singing a hymn." 

It is likewise remarkable that the Aztec god of war was said to have 
been born of a Holy Virgin, who Avas in the service of the Great Temple, 
and that when *-he priests would have stoned her to death, having knowl- 
edge of her disgrace, a voice was heard saying: "Fear not, mother, 
for I shall save thy honor and thy glory." -Upon which the god was 
born, as he is represented, with a shield in his left hand, an arrow in his 
right, a plume of green feathers on his head, his face painted blue and 
his left lee adorned with feathers. 



'to 



AN ABORIGINAL TRIBE. 

In Yucatan and the adjoining districts of Mexico and Central 
America, the Maya Indians decidedly predominate. They retain their 
ancient language, which is distinct from the Toltec of Mexico, although 
their former system of reckoning time was the same as that which was 
passed down by the Toltecs to the Aztecs. The ruins of the Mayas' 
great temples are supposed to be found at Palenque, Mexico, although 
certain archaeologists insist that they are of Toltec origin ; the truth of 
the matter seems to have been that the two races were closely associated 
at one time, that they were both civilized and retained their own dis- 
tinctive alphabet and language, but absorbed from each other many 
features of their national life. The Mayas cultivated the soil and were of 
a commercial turn, having sailing vessels, and money consisting of shells, 
beans and copper ; but they flattened the heads of their infants, painted 



414 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



and tattooed their bodies, filed their teeth, wore pieces of amber in their 
noses, and in outward appearance were savages. Their religion was bar- 
barous, the victims being slain with arrows and thrown into a sacred pit. 
Arrows, spears and copper hatchets, and an armor made of quilted cotton, 
with salt inside, were their war accoutrements. They had drums and 
wind instruments, and were fond of dancing and drinkincr a kind of mead. 

THE MEXICAN AS HE IS. 



Although the Indian population of Mexico was distributed among 
the Spaniards as slaves it was of so hardy a fibre that it was not crushed. 
Under priestly leadership, the Indians revolted from Spanish tyranny, 
and finally, in national congress assembled (1813), they' declared 
Mexico independent. The quarrels of ambitious leaders were followed 
by a re-establishment of Spanish authority, and by the proclamation of 
the Republic, in 1824. 

The present population consists of Indians, descendants of the early 

Spanish settlers and Spaniards of European birth, 
and mestizos or half-breeds. Two-thirds of the 
population is of Indian blood, and probably one- 
half of the descendants of the Toltecs and Aztecs 
now roam among the mountains of the north, 
without fixed habitations. The native population 
of the City of Mexico devote themselves to vari- 
ous menial occupations, such ^s those of water 
carriers, domestics, muleteers, and public venders. 
A traveler who has been there, states that 
the street cries of these venders are simply ear- 
splitting. At dawn the coal man and the grease 
.'^J^^ man start the concert, beingf joined somewhat 
later by the butcher. Then follows the woman 
who buys kitchen stuff, and she who proposes 
to exchange fruit for any hot peppers which the householder may have 
in stock. Their cries are drowned by a peddler with needles, pins, shirt 
buttons, tape, etc., and behind him stands an Indian with tempting 
baskets of bananas and oranges. A little woman offers "little fat cakes 
from the oven, hot" ; while at midday, cheese and honey and lottery 
chances have their noisy advocates, and towards evening " chestnuts hot 
and roasted," "clucks, oh my soul, hot ducks," and maize cakes. These 
latter are mixed with a little lime and "have been in use all through this 
country since the earliest ages of its history, without any change in the 




A MEXICAN. 



MINERS AND MULETEERS. 415 

manner of baking them, excepting- that, for the noble Mexicans in 
former days, they used to be kneaded with various medicinal plants, 
supposed to render them more wholesome." 

" One circumstance must be observed by all who travel in Mexican 
territory. There is not one human being or passing object to be seen that 
is not in itself a picture, or which would not form a good subject for the 
pencil. The Indian women, with their plaited hair, and little children slung 
to their backs, their large straw hats, and petticoats of two colors — the 
long strings of arrieros with their loaded mules, and swarthy, wild-looking 
faces — the chance horseman who passes with his sarape of many colors, 
his high ornamented saddle, Mexican hat, silver stirrups and leathern 
boots — all is picturesque." 

MINERS AND MULETEERS. 

Mexico is an elevated plateau, formed by the expansion of the 
Cordilleras of Central America. Its climate is both tropical and tem- 
perate, and its products partake of both zones. Wheat, oats and corn, 
sugar-cane, pineapples and oranges, the ash, the mahogany, and the palm 
trees are all found. 

The chief natural wealth of Mexico, and which is being gradually 
re-developed by American and European enterprise, consists of its gold 
and silver mines. The gold mines are on the west side of the Sierra 
Madre Mountains, north of Durango. Silver abounds in the western 
declivities of most of the mountains and in the "Vela Madre" lode at 
Guanajuato, it has been discovered in beds of from ten to fifty yards in 
depth, being mixed with sulphur, antimony and arsenic. Carbonate of 
soda, used in smelting silver, is plentiful on the surface of many of the 
lakes and table lands. 

The common miners are, for the most part, of the Indian race. 
They work nearly naked, and sometimes go together in bands, taking 
their equal share of the "find," besides being paid a small sum by the 
company which is operating the mine. On issuing from the mouth of 
the mine, the Indians themselves divide the lumps of ore, rich and poor, 
into a certain number of heaps in the presence of an overseer, who 
determines which portion shall be given to them. There are subter- 
ranean offices where the tools and lanterns, or tapers, are kept. These 
are regularly distributed and reclaimed. 

The arriero, or muleteer, is an institution of Mexico, or New Spain. 
He is the t^'pe of honesty in a country where that commodity is at a dis- 
count, the most precious freight being unhesitatingly delivered to his 



41 6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

care. The Indian occasionally rises to the dignity of a proprietor, as 
well as a driver of mules. He has his assistants, or mozos, in whom the 
Indian blood always predominates. The whole cavalcade are armed 
with such weapons as are at hand, as a protection against bandits, who 
are still not unknowm. This, of course, is when the journey is to be of 
some distance. It sometimes happens that the arriero, when expecting 
to pass through a particularly dangerous- country, thinks best to engage 
the services of a bandit as guide and protector, and when the good silver 
dollars have been fairly passed over to " the gentleman of the road " the 
party has really no need of further uneasiness. 

A MEXICAN BONANZA. 

The American agave, which is often confounded with the aloe, is 
found and cultivated on the highlands of Mexico, and is especially pro- 
lific around the city. The plant often shoots up to a height of thirty feet, 
along the stem being branches of flowers, and at its summit is a crowded 
head of large fleshy leaves. After flowering, the plant dies, but the 
root continues to send up new shoots^ The leaves are from five to seven 
feet long, and from their fibres are made thread, paper, oakum, ropes and 
hammocks. Cut into slices they are also used for feeding cattle, and 
the juice of the leaves, or of the roots themselves, makes a very good 
soap. The thorns which terminate the gigantic leaves were the means 
by which the Aztec priests tore their bodies for religion's sake ; they 
were, furthermore, the nails and pins of Mexican antiquity. 

But, in the eyes of the natives, its chief value consists in its proper- 
ties as a producer of " pulque." " The moment the experienced Indian 
becomes aware that his maguey (so he calls it) is about to flower, he 
cuts out the heart, covers it over with the side leaves of the plant, and 
all the juice which should have gone to the great stem of the flow^er 
runs into the empty basin thus formed, into which the Indian, thrice a day 
and during several months in succession, inserts his gourd, a kind of 
syphon, and applying his mouth to the other end, draws off the liquor by 
suction. First it is called honey-water and is sweet and scentless ; but 
easily ferments when transferred to the skins or earthen vases where it is 
kept. To assist in its fermentation, however, a little old pulque is added 
to it, and in twentj^-four hours after it leaves the plant you may imbibe 
it in all its perfection. It is said to be the most wholesome drink in the 
world, and remarkably agreeable when one has overcome the first shock 
occasioned by its rancid odor. At all events the maguey is a source of 
unfailing profit, the consumption of pulque being enormous, so that 



MEXICAN SPORTS. 417 

many of the richest families in the capital owe their fortune entirely to the 
produce of their magueys. Besides, there is a strong brandy distilled 
from pulque. Together with the maguey grows another immense pro- 
duction of nature, the ' organos,' which resembles the pipes of an organ, 
and being covered with prickles, and about six feet high makes the 
stronofest natural fence imaginable." 

MEXICAN SPORTS. 

Though no more elevating than a prize fight, a bull fight is the nat. 
ional sport in Mexico as it is in Spain, A greater variety of classes 
countenance it, or rather thoroughly enjoy it, than in the United States 
applaud the brute contest of man with man. 

Mexican bulls are much smaller than those of Spain, but when one 
bounds into the ring, lashing his tail, rolling his wild eyes, finally fixing 
them upon the matadors and picadors, armed with their colored scarfs 
and their lances, and with head down dashes furiously at them, now 
pricked with their weapons, now maddened by exploding fire-crackers, 
now lifted off his feet and rolled in the dust by a mounted picador, now 
crushing a horseman to the ground, bellowing, covered with blood, fran- 
tically charging at nothing, at bay, waiting for renewed strength, stuck 
full of darts, stabbed to his death, still fighting off the darkness, stag- 
gering, dead — when a Mexican bull is thus goaded, and so desperately 
and hopelessly strives for life and revenge, few would wish for a mam- 
moth brute of Andalusia or Castile to prolong the contest. . 

The ceremony of stamping the bulls with the owner's name is a 
great treat for the country people, and especially the Indians, who 
assemble for miles around to see the sight. They occupy every tree 
and point of ground overlooking the enclosure, while within, out of 
harm's way, a platform is erected for agents and small farmers, with 
their gayly dressed wives and daughters. The men themselves, who are 
the principals, are not averse to show, as witness the silver rolls and 
gold linings of their hats, new deerskin pantaloons and embroidered 
jackets with silver buttons. Well, sometimes nearly a thousand bulls 
are driven in from the plains, and then three or four at a time are 
forced into the enclosure, where the men are impatiently waiting with 
their lassoes to receive them. Although the bellowing brutes frequently 
wound or kill their men, their ultimate fate is inevitable. They are 
thrown to the ground, and although they dash their heads against it in 
rage and despair, they are branded with the evidence of their serfdom. 
Some of the bulls, when fairly conquered, seem too proud to utter a 



4l8 - PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

sound ; others, when the iron enters their flesh, burst out into roars 
\vliich start the echoes for miles around. After a great number of the 
bulls have been caught and branded, it is customary for the spectators 
to be treated to a bull feast. The dead animal is given by the proprie- 
tor to the torcadores, and buried by them in a fire-hole. It is then 
covered with earth and branches, and left to bake. 

Cock-fighting is as fashionable a sport in Mexico as bull-fight- 
ing. The exhibition is attended by ladies of the highest society, who 
sit in boxes around the pit, betting with the gentlemen on their favor- 
ites. Their toilet is brilliant, and the men promenade around the circle, 
attired, whatever their station, in short jackets. " The President of the 
Republic, his suite and a sprinkling of foreign ministers were in attend- 
ance"; — this would not be so remarkable a truth to state. As a small 
knife is fastened to the leg of each bird, the fights are sometimes short 
and most bloody, the spectators clapping their hands and otherwise 
giving way to their enthusiasm when a more than usually brilliant stroke 
is delivered. 

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 

The approach to the city, which stands on an extensive plateau 
surrounded by lofty mountains, is grand in the extreme. The general 
figure of the valley of Mexico is an irregular oval, sixty by thirty-five 
miles, and in the center is the city itself, around which cluster so many 
memories of the ancient empire of the Aztecs. Its area of more than 
1700 square miles, includes five lakes. Once within the city, the 
most striking features are the great Plaza Mayor, pronounced one of 
the finest squares in the Western world, and its broad, raised, paved 
streets, lined with double rows of trees, extending far out into the 
country and all converging at the public square. 

In the times of Montezuma three causeways led from his capital to 
firm land, the streets were intersected with canals and all around were 
thousands of skimming canoes, which were the principal means of com- 
munication with the outside empire. Only one of the canals — that of 
Chalco — is now maintained. The causeways remain, enlarged, and 
there are several other new ones, some of them being lined with pop- 
lars. They became, in fact, the groundwork of more than one grand 
thoroughfare, for which the city is noted, and along two of them, those 
of Tacuba and Chapultepec, fresh water is brought from the mountains. 

The aqueduct of Chapultepec is over two miles in length and that 
of Sante Fe six miles. The hill of Chapultepec formerly sprung from 
near the margin of the lake, and at its foot are still the remains of an 
ancient garden, now a tangled labyrinth of myrtle, jessamine and sweet 



HOLY WEEK. 419 

peas, from which peep out stained marble fountams, fish-ponds and 
baths. The garden encircles the base of the rock, which is about a 
mile in circumference, and is, all in all, a sad but beautiful memento of 
the days when Montezuma retreated to its solitudes, even when the 
Spanish invaders were marching- rapturously toward his Venetian capital. 

Within the Plaza Mayor of the city is a magnificent cathedral, 
erected on the ruins of the wonderful temple of the Aztec God Mixitli. 
It is adorned with the " Kallenda," a circular stone covered with hiero- 
glyphics representing the months of the year. This is a mass of por- 
phyry, 24 tons in weight. The ancient temple included not only the 
site of the cathedral and the plaza, but much of the outlying territory, 
for its massive stone walls are said to have included five hundred dwell- 
ings and colleges for the priests and seminaries for the priestesses, mys- 
terious minor temples and sanctuaries, consecrated fountains, gardens 
•of holy flowers, towers built of human skulls, and squares designed for 
religious dances. We are told that " five thousand priests chanted 
night and day in the great Temple, to the honor and in the service of 
the monstrous idols, who were anointed thrice a day with the most pre- 
cious perfumes, and that of these priests the most austere were clothed 
in black, their long hair dyed with ink, and their bodies anointed with 
the ashes of burnt scorpions and spiders." 

The Christian cathedral is gothic in form, with two lofty towers, the 
■entire structure being richly ornamented with gold, silver and precious 
stones. Inside is a quaint balustrade of brass and silver, which was 
brought from China. This, with a few kneeling I ndian women and beggars, 
some of them lepers, includes the usual sights of the interior. In the 
courtyard, without, is a large stone, hollowed in the middle, upon which 
the ancient Mexican was held by six Aztec priests, while the seventh cut 
open his breast, and, with a golden spoon, put his heart into the mouth 
of the idol. It has been surmised that this is the " exceedingly great 
stone " which was found by the Mexicans as late as the reign of Monte- 
zuma, when it was recorded that it was brought to the capital with great 
labor and pomp for the sacrifices, on which occasion 12,210 victims were 
immolated. The stone is a cylindrical mass of porphyry, twenty-five 
feet in circumference, covered both on the surface and sides with sculp- 
tures in relief. 

The palace of the Cortez, in the same square, is a vast irregular 
structure containing goverment offices, schools and public institutions of 
various kinds, but is falling into decay. Nearly a hundred churches and 
convents, theaters, and a circus for bull-fights, Avith memories of b)'e-gone 
ilays clinging to every square mile of the city and its suburbs, deserted 



420 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

houses, gardens and chapels, and miraculous Spanish tales springing up 
from countless spots of holy ground — such is the region which is so 
filled up with strange contrasts of the old and the new, of worldliness, 
religion and superstition. 

HOLY WEEK. 

Holy Week in Mexico collects every element of the republic's 
population. Inside the great cathedral, on Palm Sunday, a dense for- 
est is gently waving ; for an army of half-naked Indians have brought 
their branches of palms with them, and are swaying, expectantly, under 
the knowledge that the priests will soon approach. Each palm, which 
is dried and ingeniously plaited, is about six feet high, and when it has 
been blessed, will be carried home and placed reverently upon the wall 
of the little hut. 

On Holy Thursday all of Mexico is in the streets, showing its best 
clothes ; for no carriages are permitted abroad. There are rich sefioras 
in velvets, satins, diamonds and pearls ; women of lower rank in richly 
embroidered muslins, lace trimmed petticoats and white satin shoes ; 
others showing their Indian blood in feature as well as by their gay- 
colored petticoats and garments; handsome peasant women, attired as 
richly as any ; graceful children, with their masses of hair plaited and falling 
down their backs, their costumes determined by diverse tastes ; men of all 
nationalities, French, German, American, Spanish ; the Mexican with 
his large hat and embroidered jacket ^ — -all are at the capital to enjoy 
themselves, and most of them to suspend their jabberings, quarrelings 
and flirtations, and fall upon their knees at the approach of anything 
which is considered holy. Around the great square the scene is bewild- 
ering, especially at sunset of Good Friday, when the Procession of the 
Cross attracts tens of thousands of devout Catholics from all the huts 
and palaces of the country. The poor Indians appear again in force; 
the men in their blankets, the women trotting along, their black hair 
plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woolen cloth wrapped around 
them, and a little mahogany baby hanging behind, its face upturned to 
the sky and its head jerking vigorously, but escaping dislocation. 

The same scenes, only on a smaller scale, are repeated In the 
country villages. They have their market-places and little churches, 
monasteries and high-walled gardens, narrow lanes, Indian huts, roses 
and trees, and the scenes in Christ's life portrayed by living actors in 
the most public places. The holy dramas and the festivities are accom- 
panied by good music; which would not be expected of every American 
village, though It Is true of every Mexican town. Music, It has been 
said, is a sixth sense in Alexico. 



FEMALE BEAUTY. 

FEMALE BEAUTY. 



421 



Those who have investigated the subject of female beauty are posi- 
tive that the most comely Indians are not found in the towns but in the 
country. Even those who come to the city with their fruit and vegeta- 
bles, although very gentle and polite, are not as a rule beautiful. 
Occasionally, however, there flashes out from this general monotony a 
face and form, soft and yet dark-hued ; wonderful black eyes and hair, 
pearly teeth, and delicately molded hands and feet, arms and bust alive 
with lines of beauty- — such a vision as might have captivated Cortes 
himself, and which may be a modern wit- ^^_ 
ness to the far-famed beauty of the ancient 
Aztec women of noble blood. 

It is said that the Indians (men) near ^^B 
the City of Mexico, are, many of them, of J 
noble Aztec blood, although, outwardly, 
they seem as degraded as the natives of 
the country districts. The existence of 
enormous hidden wealth is even reported J: 
among some of these rag^ored and-bare- K 
footed specimens. i- 

The wives and daughters of farmers, %_ 
who ride into market on horseback sitting ^— 
in front of their servants, are, at times, ^- 
charming types of bright, healthy beauty, 
but it is seldom that one is startled with w 
an apparition of beauty. Usually the 
women of the better classes acquire a 
coarseness and a corpulence in early life 
because of the quantities of meat and 
sweatmeats which are consumed in so mild 
a climate. Indian women can not afford 
it. Their diet is mild and more suited 
to the country, and they take sufficient 
fresh air and exercise to shade down any natural tendency to cor- 
pulency. 

The native woman is etherialized, also, by her love for flowers 
which seems to be an undying passion born in the Mexican blood. In 
the market-places she often loads her little stand of green branches with 
bright-hued flowers, which she sells if she can, and with which she be- 
decks herself if she does not find a purchaser. Many of the Indian 




A MEXICAN GIRL. 



42 2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

women bring their fruit and vegetaoies by way of the canal, and their 
canoes, as they ghde along, seem moving gardens of sweet peas, 
poppies and roses, each with a flower-goddess in the center. In the 
evening, after they have disposed of their regular "truck," they crown 
themselves with garlands, and start, singing, on their homeward journey. 
In the village churches, floor, walls, and altar are decorated with these 
fresh trophies, and a christening, a marriage and a funeral are occasions 
where the Indian woman buries herself and all around her in nature's 
choicest eifts of the earth. 



t>' 



IN THE SUBURBS. 

Before the Aztecs nad acquired dominion over the other tribes and 
states they were obliged to live not only upon the natural islands of Lakes 
Tezcuco and Chalco, but upon land which they formed by weaving to- 
gether the roots of plants and twigs, placing upon this soft soil, which they 
drew from the bottom of the lake, and upon this ground sowing their 
maize, chili and other necessary plants. Flowers and herbs followed, 
and the lakes were soon dotted with floating gardens, which became 
gems of pure beauty, when Tenochtitlan was the mighty capital of the 
Aztec empire. The once floating gardens have now become fixtures in 
the marshy grounds between the two lakes. They are covered with 
cauliflowers, chili, tomatoes, cabbages and other vegetables, intermixed 
with flowers. The gardens are separated by narrow trenches of water, 
and each has its small Indian hut and flower-loving, musical occupants. 
Tinkling guitars, children and adults, garlanded with roses and poppies 
and gaily dancing, jars of pulque and long festoons of dried and salted 
beef, are elements which may be combined in various ways to make up 
home and out-door pictures of life in this vicinity. Unfortunately, the 
stronger brandy is apt to succeed the mild pulque, and the music, sing-r 
ing and dancing. A drunken brawl, the flash of a knife in one of the 
little huts, or on the sward outside, a cry of pain and a corpse, is fre- 
quently the finis of this Arcadian picture. 

These Indian huts have usually mud floors, and small altars, with 
palm leaf branches or leaves (which have been blessed) in one corner. 
The Virgin is generally represented by a collection of daubs on one 
wall. The other decorations are earthen vessels, a few tough, half- 
naked children and some dirty dogs. The Indian woman is within, or 
she may be off to work, having left her pots, children and dogs to take 
care of themselves. 

The hut of the Indian who lives far from the city is often built of 



THE CENTRAL AMERICANS. 42 



-> 



light bamboo frames, thatched with palmetto leaves, not only on the 
roof but on the sides, and divided into two or three compartments by 
coarse screens of grass matting. 

THE CENTRAL AMERICANS. 

The republics of Costa Rica, Gautemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, 
and San Salvador, and the English Colony of Balize, or British Hon- 
duras, constitute Central America. The population of the country is 
similar to that of Mexico, and aside from its charming birds and hid- 
eous reptiles, interest has centered in the territory as a field of investiga- 
tion for the antiquarian, and the civil engineer prospecting for a route 
for an inter-oceanic canal. Central America was subdued by one of 
Cortes' lieutenants, and the five colonies did not become independent 
until 1823. 

REMAINS OF KINGDOMS. 

The ruins whose structure stamps them as the most primitive of 
those found in South America are those of Copan, Honduras. They 
are in the form of terraces, or pyramids, upon which were erected mas- 
sive buildings, approached by broad staircases. When these structures 
were several stories in height, each story was smaller than the preceding 
one, so that the building itself had the form of a pyramid. The fronts 
were covered with stucco, or carved into elaborate figures and designs, 
while the interiors were divided into narrow corridors and chambers, 
richly ornamented with stucco work and carvings, and containing mys- 
terious tablets, idols and altars. Grand monoliths, or upright stones, 
arise from the areas between the temples. In the islands of Lake 
Nicaragua, like evidences of a pre-historic worship and civilization 
occur, as do also more primitive marks of life, such as rude mounds of 
earth and uncut stones. The general appearance of all these ancient 
structures from Mexico to Chili, forces the conviction upon one's mind 
that they were built not only as temples and dwelling-houses, but as 
fortresses. 

At Palenque, near the Central American frontier, is a series of 
remarkable ruins, consisting of terraces of cut stone, surmounted by 
edifices whose walls and interior are covered with figures in stucco and 
hieroglyphics. The Palace, which stands on a terraced pyramid, is 
faced with cut stone, being 310 feet long and 260 feet broad. Its face 
was evidently once covered with stucco, and brightly painted. In the 
large courts are numbers of tablets, and one of stone which represents 
a figure seated cross-legged like Buddha. The pavements are skillfully 
constructed of large blocks of stone. 



424 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE HONDURANS. 

The proportion of Indians among the Hondurans is not as large as 
that of Guatemala, and they show no such encouraging advances. The 
whole of the eastern portion of the Republic is given over to aboriginal 
tribes, who are believed to be related to the once blood-thirsty and 
powerful Caribs who resisted the Spaniards with such ferocity in the 
Lesser Antilles and on the mainland of South America. Numbers of 
them have embraced the Catholic faith, and now devote themselves to 
agriculture. The " Black Caribs " are a tribe who have largely inter- 
married with negroes. Formerly held as slaves by the Spaniards, 
they broke away from their bondage, and, in early times, combined 
into bands which were as great a terror to the country as the pure 
Caribs themselves. The western portions of Honduras are generally 
occupied by the descendants of early Spanish settlers, who live upon the 
sea coast or on extensive estates in the interior. Here cattle, horses 
and mules upon the plains find good pasturage, but both live-stock and 
land are neglected on account of the scarcity of laborers. The most 
attention is given to the mules, as they perform almost all the carrying 
trade of the country. 

Honduras is rich in the precious metals, her silver mines being 
found in the west, in combination with iron, lead and copper. Gold is 
in the east and in the west, but few mines are now worked. Copper 
mines are numerous. Beautiful marble abounds. But the same old 
story must be told. Civil disturbances and a lazy people have retarded 
the development of the country, materially and intellectually. 

Honduras has upon her coasts, especially those of the Caribbean 
Sea, the most commodious harbors of Central America. 

THE NICARAGUANS. 

The population of the Nicaraguan Republic consists of a mixture 
of whites and Indians, negroes and Indians, whites and blacks, and of 
pure-blooded Indians. The Indians of pure blood outnumber all the 
rest, their special country being the basins of Lakes Nicaragua and 
Managua and the Pacific coast. A number of uncivilized tribes occupy 
the river basins of the Atlantic slope and have a reservation along the 
coast. Those who have settled along the Pacific coast are of Aztec 
descent. 

Unlike many other American republics, the mainstay of Nicaragua 
is its Indian element, the natives being sober and industrious, tending 
the large herds of cattle, mules and horses which are raised, and also 



THE GAUTEM ALANS. 425 

cultivating- the large plantations of cocoa, sugar-cane and coffee, which 
are principally owned by Europeans on the Pacific slope. Two or three 
crops of the small but juicy sugar-cane are raised annually. Maize is 
the principal food of the civilized natives, and two bountiful harvests 
are gathered from their own lands every year. 

A favorite article of food with the wild Indians who live along the 
rivers and in the swamps of Eastern Nicaragua is the iguana, a lizard 
Avhich grows to be four or five feet long, the tail being two-thirds of its 
length. Its flesh is delicate but said to be unwholesome. It passes 
most of its time in trees, where it is caught by the sly Indian with slip 
nooses. 

When the Spanish conquerors entered the country they found a 
powerful chief on the borders of Lake Nicaragua, named Nicarao. The 
lake was named after him " Nicarao agua," and from the combination 
of the two words we obtain the present name. 

The Nicaraguans are Roman Catholics, and their republican form 
of gQy,ernment does not materially differ from that of other Central 
American States. Their most serioys disturbances were with Great 
Britai.nt-and on account of civil wars. England wished to obtain a 
protectorate over the eastern coast, and had obtained a foothold in the 
territory formerly occupied by native tribes under the name of the 
Mosquito Nation. This is now the reservation, of which mention has 
been made. One of the chiefs who died as king of the nation passed 
over his scepter to the English agent at Balize, or British Honduras. 
The Central American republics protested against Great Britain extending 
its protectorate over this territory and were joined by the United States. 
Nicaragua thus became the protector of the Mosquito Nation, with the 
understanding that she was not to interfere with the administrative 
authority of the native king and chiefs, who were in turn to acknowledge 
the government of the republic. Civil war once (1855) divided the 
Nicaraguans into two parties, each having its own capital, and they have 
not been backward in participating in the many quarrels between sister 
republics. 

THE GUATEMALANS. 

Guatemala has about a million and a half of people, and two-thirds 
of its population is Indian. When the Spaniards came to conquer the 
country they found the greater portion of the present territory 
occupied by the powerful native kingdom of the Quiches. For six days 
the invaders fought with its army of more than 200,000 warriors, who 
only yielded with the death of their king. The City of Quiches is now 



426 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

in ruins, but the district which the Quiches occupy is the most populous 
in Guatemala and the inhabitants as intelligent as any in the republic. 
Their ancient language is still in use. The Quiches are described as an 
" active, courageous race, whose heads never grow gray, persevering in 
their industry, skillful in almost every department of art, good workers 
in iron and precious metals, generally well dressed, neat in person, with 
a firm step and independent bearing, and altogether constituting a class 
of citizens who only require to be better educated to rise equal to the 
best." 

And it would seem that the grovernment had taken the matter in 
charge throughout the republic. The public-school system is in force- 
although until of late years the educational institutions were generally 
supported by the private contributions of wealthy citizens, and were 
mostly confined to the capital. Well-to-do citizens of other states were 
in the habit of sending their children to Guatemala City to be educated- 
This is more or less the case at the present time. The government- 
however, is giving its own money to the cause, so that the public schools 
have become a part of it. Education is compulsory, and parents or 
guardians who do not allow their children private instruction are required 
to send them to the o^raded schools. 

No such diversity of costume is found among the people of Guate- 
mala as among the Mexicans. The higher cl,'\sses, so-called, dress like 
Europeans, the garb of the men of Indian and mixed blood being chiefly 
a short woolen jacket, cotton pantaloons, a palm-leaf hat covered with 
oilcloth, and a shawl of many colors. The Indian women draw a piece 
of blue cotton cloth around the body above the hips, and occasionally a 
white embroidered chemise; and their hair, which is wound around the 
temples, is interbraided with a red cord. 

Guatemala is considered the finest city in Central America, stand- 
ing upon a plateau which occupies the extremity of a broad plain, upon 
each side of the town being a volcano. As earthquakes are frequent,, 
the houses are of one story. Fronting on one side of the largest square 
is a large cathedral and archiepiscopal palace. In the center is a foun- 
tain, one of many which are supplied with water from a distance of nine 
miles. Much of this square is occupied by rows of little huts, in which 
pottery, agave thread, iron utensils and other native manufactures are 
displayed for sale, the renting of the booths forming a portion of the 
municipal revenue. Guatemala abounds in churches and other religious 
structures, and although the better classes of private dwellings are low, 
they are tastefully decorated and surrounded by large courtyards, with 
fountains, orange and oleander trees. In the center of another of the 



COSTA RICA. 427 

city squares is an elegant theater, surrounded also by statues, fountains 
and flowering trees. 

Old Guatemala was destroyed in 1 541, by a flood of water from the 
volcano at whose base its ruins exist. Later the rebuilt city was de- 
stroyed by an earthquake. The work of reconstruction is still progress- 
ing, as the town is situated in the midst of a rich cochineal district. But 
both new and old Gautemala are evidences more of Spanish than of 
native life, and, as such, we must leave them. 

COSTA RICA. 

This, geographically, is the last of the Central American republics, 
and more than any of the other four is a Spanish state, there being only 
a few thousand Indians in the entire country. Most of the inhabitants 
are of pure Spanish descent, the first settlers coming from Galicia, in 
the north of Spain. The Indians chiefly occupy the Atlantic coast and 
are, probably, of the Carib stock. There are also small tribes at the 
headwaters of the San Juan and in some of the unexplored districts. 

The Costa Ricans are enterprising, and enthusiastic advocates of 
railroads, telegraph lines and other public works, which exist in various 
stages of completion. The revenues of the government have not been 
sufficient to successfully prosecute their enterprises, and the country is 
considerably in debt. 

THE SAN SALVADORIANS. 

The natives of this brisk little republic are more than half of Indian 
blood; many of them are. debarred from, exercising the right of suffrage, 
however, by the provision of the republic's constitution which makes a 
non-voter of a domestic. Other disqualifications consist of being with- 
out legal occupation, contracting debts fraudulently, owing money to 
the State, entering the service of a foreign power, or being of a notori- 
ously bad character. The president, representatives and senators must 
own a certain amount of property. The geographical position of San 
Salvador has been the means of forcing her into nearly every quarrel 
which has agitated the republics of Central America, but she has ad- 
vanced in spite of her many disturbances so that she is really a very pros- 
perous little state. The foreign trade of the country, especially in 
coffee and indigo, is rapidly growing ; she is improving her cart roads 
throughout the territory ; encouraging railroads and agriculture ; throwing 
open her unoccupied lands, which have been held by municipalities, to 
settlers ; and establishing schools and colleges for both sexes, as well as 
nicrht schools for tradesmen. 



428 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

San Salvador, the capital of the republic, is in a very active vol- 
cano district. In 1854 the city was almost completely destroyed, many 
of its 30,000 people perishing. Most of its public buildings and dwell- 
ing houses fell into the cruel jaws of the earth in 1872, and when the 
plucky natives decided to rebuild on the site which had been chosen 350 
years previous, they were about to make the eighth attempt to keep 
above ground. The city is still the center of the republic's political 
and educational life, containing a university and a well-organized sys- 
tem of public schools. In the neighborhood are extensive sugar and 
indigo plantations, and numerous hot springs. 






SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 



HE foundation of all the countries of South America is the 
native Indian population. The conquests and colonizations of 
the Spanish and Portuguese reared upon this a superstructure 
of civilization, the foreigner intermarrying, to a great extent, 
with the Indian. When these countries declined in power the 
native blood asserted itself, and with the added strength of 
European life, republics and kingdoms have been formed which 
are marching on with vigor and intelligence. The purest 
type of South American Indians is now found in Patagonia 
and Brazil. 

THE PATAGONIANS. 



Patagonia, in fact, can hardly be said to have a history. Early 
voyagers represented the inhabitants as of gigantic size, insisting that 
they averaged eight or nine feet in height. But later investigations 
have proved that although they are among the tallest races in the world, 
the men average only five feet eleven inches. They are powerful in 
proportion to their size, with large heads, high cheek bones, black eyes 
and straight, coarse, black hair, separated in front by a band and falling 
over the shoulders and back. The men go nearly naked, except in the 
south where they wear a mantle of skins sewed together, with a hole for 
the head and extending below the knee. 

Naturally the women are smaller than their lords. Their head-dress 
is a beaded patch of cloth, from which the hair falls in two long braids. 
Huge earrings, armlets, and anklets and a woolen garment, hanging 
from the shoulders to below the knees, complete their costume. Like 
many North American Indians the Patagonians paint their bodies with 
earth and eradicate every hair from the face. 

In a country of stunted vegetation, with the exception of huge 
marine weeds ; in a country where wheat and barley will not germinate 
within less than three years, — it is natural that the Patagonian should 
greatly depend upon the bountiful water for sustenance. Whales, otters, 
seals, shell fish and salmon, and, above water, all kinds of fowl, tax their 

42y 



430 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ingenuity and activity ; and when they hunger for meat, and have no 
sheep themselves, they make a descent upon Argentine territory. 

In the north the Patagonians not only are admirable horsemen but 
own herds of their own, which they lasso on the great central plains of 
the country. Wild cattle and ostriches, which roam the same tracts, are 
not only brought to earth with the lasso, but with the bolas. This mis- 
sile consists of two balls covered with leather and united by a thin 
plaited thong, varying in length from six to eight feet. The Patagonian 
holds one of the balls in his right hand, whirls the other round his head, 
and when sufficient momentum has been obtained sends them whirling 
like chain shot through the air: Striking the legs of an animal, the 
thong is tightly wound about them, rendering escape impossible. The 
balls may be of stone, iron or wood. Those of iron, usually small, are 
projected an amazing distance. The other weapons used by the Pata- 
gonians are the lance, sling, bow and arrow. 

THE WEAK TERRA DEL FUEGIANS. 

As the dreary regions of the South are approached, cattle and 
horses even commence to disappear. The latter are extinct long before 
you reach Terra del Fuego, the island across Magellan Straits. And 
not only this, but human beings themselves do not thrive in this inhos- 
pitable clime, becoming small and weak. 

So we find that the Fuegians, or natives of Terra del Fuego, 
although of the same race as the Patagonians, are mere patch-works of 
humanity. They have no ambition or energy, and barely subsist on the 
shell fish which are caught in the gigantic sea-weed which clogs every 
indentation of the coast or straits. A seal or guanaco skin is their cloth- 
ing. Their huts, built near the shore, consist of branches of trees stuck 
in the earth, about eight feet in diameter and half that in height, with a 
small hole for a door. 

Although broad-chested, their limbs are withered and emaciated, 
and on account of the squatting position which they always assume 
when at rest, the skin over the knee joint becomes permanently 
stretched, and, when they stand, hangs in unsightly folds. 

It is strange that although they exist in so severe a climate they 
should neglect to provide themselves with necessary coverings. A 
guanaco or a sealskin thrown over the shoulders, or perhaps confined 
around the Avaist by a girdle, with slight fillets about the head, comprise 
the clothing of the men. The females are covered a little more com. 
pletely, and carry their infants In a loose fold of their guanaco robes 
above the belt. 



THE WEAK TERRA DEL FUEGIANS. 43 1 

Their canoes are roughly constructed of bark, and in the center of 
e^ch a fire is ever kept burning, upon a bed of sand or clay. Fire is 
obtained by striking sparks from iron pyrites, with which the island 
abounds, upon a tinder of dried moss, but after the flame is once 
obtained the aim is to keep it alive in the boat, which is, virtually, the 
home. They raise no vegetable food and all that the Fuegians can 
procure to vary their animal diet of fish, seals and shell fish, are the sea 
weed we have mentioned, a few berries, such as the cranberry and the 
berry of the arbutus, and a fungus, like the oak-apple, which grows on 
the birch tree. With the exception of these spontaneous productions, 
and dead whales thrown occasionally upon the coast, the remainder of 
their food must be obtained by their own perseverance, activity and 
sagacity. 

The natives of Terra del Fuego use bows and arrows, short bone- 
headed lances, clubs and slings, in war or in the chase. In hunting the 
guanaco, otter, etc., they are assisted by a breed of dogs which they 
have domesticated and trained. 

Being perpetually in motion, in order to barely sustain a miserable 
existence, the Fuegians have neither houses (which warrant the namie) 
nor storehouses in which to keep provisions for times of famine. When 
great storms cut them off from the sea, all that they may have to 
depend upon, in the way of substantial, is a quantity of blubber which, 
fortunately, they have buried in the sand. A story is told of a party of 
natives, who were in a famishing state, being relieved by certain mem- 
bers of the tribe who had secretly buried some blubber four "sleeps," 
as they say, or four days' journey away. The succoring party returned, 
ready to drop with exhaustion, each man wearing two or three huge 
pieces of half putrid blubber as necklaces. 

The Fuegians are physically and intellectually degraded, but, as is 
apt to be the case with the lowest savages, their powers of mimicry, and 
the kind of memory which forms its basis, are wonderfully developed. 
Though they fail to comprehend a single word they will repeat whole 
sentences correctly, and they have been known to follow the tones of 
the violin through a long series of cords with the utmost precision. 
They are remarkably sensitive to loud sounds, fire-arms are terrible to 
them, and they usually address each other in whispers. 

The belief in a Being embodied in a great black man, who wanders 
about the woods and mountains, sends them weather accordingf to their 
deeds, and who is acquainted with their smallest action, is the extent of 
their religion. They have mysterious dreams and omens, with official 
interpreters, and are, as a race, like a collection of ignorant, half-starvedj 
timid children. 



432 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



THE PATAGONIANS AGAIN. 

The Patagonians proper, on the other hand, beHeve in the Author 
of all Good, and the Evil One, who wanders to and fro on the face of 
the earth. Both men and women are diviners, but are gradully losino- 

ground ; the natives 
are becoming more in- 
telligent and are com- 
mencing to doubt their 
ability to see through 
the surface of the earth 
into its bowels. They 
have two festivals a 
year, one in honor of 
each of their divinities. 
The Good Spirit of the 
Patagonians is believed 
by them to reside in a 
certain hill, ricar the 
Cordillera Mountains, 
which they will point 
out to you, and from 
which he dispersed all 
the Indians and animals 
of the world. But, as 
has been stated; 'their 
idea is that he has be- 
come careless of their 
welfare, while Gualichu, 
or the Evil One, is wide- 
awake and actively seek- 
ing whom he may get 
into his toils. In camp, 
the Devil is always wait- 
inof behind each toldo, 
or house, hoping to 
be able to create some 
mischief. 

They have their sacred animals and those of evil repute. There Is 
a bird which is common on the slopes of the Cordilleras, and which 
utters a weird cry. If the sound is heard over a house, it is dreaded as 



n 



13 

> 

> 
o 
o 
•z 




DRESS AND HORSE GEAR. 433 

the forerunner of sickness or death. This bird is considered sacred. A 
two-headed guanaco (llama) also holds the same place in their minds. 
On the other hand, when they see a certain lizard, which mysteriously 
lames their horses, they kill it as coming from the Evil One, The tick- 
ing of a watch is regarded as the voice of the hidden Gualichu. 

Superstitious as they are, they do not rely upon the wizard, impli- 
citly, to drive out the household devil, or sickness. They have an 
intimate acquaintance with the properties of many herbs, and practice 
blood-letting, not only to cure complaints but to prevent them. 

Unlike the Fuegians, the Patagonians are vigorous livers and have 
plenty of meat to eat. They are excessively fond of horse-flesh, which 
they eat with salt, almost raw, and sustain their vigor by habitual 
draughts of animal blood. In a word, two more startling physical con- 
trasts of the same people, and living side by side, can not be found in the 
universe. 

The Patagonians evidently expect totake their tremendous appetites 
with them, for not only do they slaughter the horse of the deceased that 
the pleasures of the chase may be continued, but they leave upon the 
o-rave several animals to be used as food. Their funerals are conducted 
with great solemnity, and their festivals and dances with an equal degree 
of hilarity. A reed fife is their principal musical instrument, although 
the women play upon a sort of tamborine and sing a few measures ta 
encourage the dance. The men also beat a rude kind of drum. 

DRESS AND HORSE GEAR. 

The men's heads are thickly covered with long hair, which is care- 
fully brushed and dressed by some female at least once a day, and bound 
with a colored fillet. This practice obtains principally among the south- 
ern tribes. The performance of the men's toilet is a very important part 
of home life, and the wife, daughter or sweetheart who does the sweet 
duty is careful to burn every hair that is brushed out, that no enemy 
shall obtain it and work a bad spell upon her hero. She then paints his 
face black or white, according as to whether he is a mourner or a fighter. 
Tattooing the forearm is accomplished by puncturing it with a bodkin 
and inserting a mixture of blue earth with a piece of glass. The women's 
hair is not as long as the men's, and is worn in two braids. Upon special 
occasions they weave into it horse hair, blue beads and silver pendants, 
which make it both longer and more attractive than it would naturally be. 

With all their rough traits, Patagonians, both male and female, 

28 



434 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

have a strong sense of decency, which they evince in the matter of wear- 
ing apparel. They both wear their great mantles, with cloth under-gar- 
ments, and boots made of horse's skin or from the leg of a large puma, 
drawn on as hig-h as the knee and fastened around the foot. In wet or 
snowy weather hide overshoes are worn, and the apparent size of the ex- 
tremities, thus attired, may account for the name which the Spaniards gave 
them — Patagon, or "big feet." Boots are seldom worn in camp and in 
riding they are secured with bright colored garters of woven material, 
or with bands of hide with hug-e silver buckles. 

Very young children run about naked; the older ones wear the uni- 
versal mantle, and some of them have tiny boots made of the fore-legs 
of the guanaco. A baby's cradle is made of wicker work, strengthened 
with hide thongs, is covered, and rests upon the saddle-gear of the 
mother when the tribe are on the move. It is often ornamented with 
bells or little metal plates. 

Both sexes are fond of ornaments, the women wearing huge ear- 
rings, and the men necklaces, besides decorating their weapons and rid- 
ing gear with silver. The paint which is smeared over their faces, and 
sometimes the entire bodies, is not invariably in the line of decoration 
but is employed as a preventive against chapped and raw skins. 

The Patagonian saddle consists of two side pieces of timber, fash- 
ioned with a hand-adze to the shape of the horse's back, to which are 
lashed two angular limbs of trees, and over all is sewed a guanaco hide 
divested of its wool. The stirrups are suspended by strips of hide from 
the holes bored in the front saddle-trees, being generally made of a 
piece of hard wood fixed into a raw-hide thong, or sometimes of wood 
bent into a triangular shape. The bit in common use is a simple bar, of 
either wood or iron, covered at either end with two flaps of stout hide, 
from which two thongs extend under the horse's jaw, the reins also being 
secured to the hide flaps. Two pieces of hard wood, with sharpened 
nails in the ends, are the spurs. " Caligi " are straps used by the Pata- 
gonians for securing the legs of horses not thoroughly broken, so that 
they will stand. 

WORK OF BOTH SEXES. 

Although not so common as in the olden times before the introduc- 
tion of fire-arms, chain and hide armor is still often worn by Patagonian 
warriors. The latter is thickly studded with silver. If the warrior is 
wealthy he has his silver buckles, garters and beads, all made from the 
silver dollars which have been received at the settlements in exchange for 
native goods. Knives and axes are made by the Patagonians out of 



AMUSEMENTS. 435 

any piece of metal of requisite size which falls into their hands. Their 
tools generally are files, small adzes, and perhaps a pair of scissors or 
an old chisel, obtained by theft, barter or from a shipwreck. 

A woman's most continuous occupation, when in camp, consists in 
the preparing of mantles. The skins are first dried in the sun, scraped 
with pieces of flint or glass fixed into a handle, smeared over with 
g'rease and liver kneaded into a pulp, and after being softened by hand 
are cut into pieces, and nicely dovetailed. The pieces are sewed 
together so as to form halves of mantles, and painted with red ochre, 
dotted and lined with black and blue paint. The parts are all joined 
together after the skin is perfectly dry. When a young man is married 
this work of manufacturing his mantles or trousseau is more than usually 
brisk. Besides the guanaco mantles, which are most generally worn, others 
are made from the skins of the fox, puma, skunk, and wild cat, the fur of 
the last two animals being the most valuable. These, however, are 
intended for barter, not for use. There are also the fillets, made from 
the threads of stuff obtained at the settlements, scarfs for the waist, and • 
garters ; all of which the women make, besides sewing the skins together 
for the tents, scraping and painting horses hides for the beds, fashioning 
the reed bolsters for the high saddles, cooking the food, smashing the 
marrow bones, extracting the grease, fetching wood and water, taking 
care of the children, and many extras when the band change their 
■encampment. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

The amusements of the Patas^onians are almost confined to horse- 
racing, card-playing and gambling with dice. They do everything in 
earnest, and their gambling debts, whether a dozen fine mares or a bit of 
tobacco, are scrupulously discharged. The women, even, play cards, 
staking their clothing, horse gear or husband's property on the result 
of the games. The game called Knucklebones, which the boys so 
thoroughly enjoy, and in which their elders sometimes take part, is our 
game of marbles, played with bones and "for keeps." The young men 
have a game of hand-ball which they play with a sphere of hide stuffed 
Avith feathers. 

THE CHILDREN. 

The education of Patagronian children, which commences almost 
from infancy, is calculated to keep their minds active and their bodies 
healthy. Both girls and boys learn to ride almost as soon as they can 
Avalk. The boy commences to practice- with his little lasso and bolas 



436 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



upon the hunting dogs and other domestic subjects almost as soon as he 
can talk, while his sister imitates the women, and when yet in her lisp- 
ing period is able to sit under her own small tent, which she has made 
out of stray bits of skin and sewed together with a sharpened nail. As 




PATAGONIAN DANCERS. 

infants the chief allots to them their own horses and gear, which their 
own parents can not take away from them. Should a child die, its steed, 
fully caparisoned, is strangled with a lasso, and its saddle, cradle and 
all belonging to it are burned. The women cry and sing during the 
ceremony, while parents often add many of their own valuables to the 



ENTERING SOCIETY, 437 

fire. Upon the occasion of the death of an only child of rich parents, 
fourteen horses and mares were once slaughtered, in addition to the one 
it had been accustomed to travel on. 

On the death of an adult the same wholesale destruction of personal 
property goes on, the body being sewed up in a mantle, or coat of mail, 
and buried in a sitting posture with its face to the east. With some of 
the tribes it is a religious duty never to mention the name of the 
deceased after he is buried. 

ENTERING SOCIETY. 

Among some of the tribes, when a girl arrives at the marriageable 
age the event is celebrated by knocking several horses on the head with 
a hand bolas, and cooking their blood mixed with ostrich grease. The 
feast progresses during the day and a dance is inaugurated in the eve- 
ning. A tent has been made, guarded by lances placed in front, and 
adorned with brass plates, bells and streamers ; within the tent is the 
maiden who is to be brought out into society. Toward dusk a fire is 
made near the maiden's tent, and a number of chiefs, daubed over with 
white paint, dance around and almost into the fire, the spectators of both 
sexes looking on. Before the exercises are completed all the men and 
boys are allowed to show their most fanc)^ steps, four or five drums 
keeping up the necessary music. The maiden is supposed to witness 
the performance from the sacred precincts of her tent, choosing from the 
participants her future husband. 

The damsel is not obliged to marry until she has secured some one 
entirely to her liking. Even then the parents retain the right of veto, 
if they are not satisfied with the suitor or his proffered gifts of horses 
and silver ornaments. If all is satisfactory, gifts between the suitor and 
the parents are exchanged, and the girl is escorted by the bridegroom 
to his house. The event is celebrated by more slaughtering and eating 
of mares, and in this case the head, backbone, tail, heart and liver are 
offered to the Evil Spirit from the top of a neighboring hill. 

HUNTING OSTRICHES, GUANACOS, ETC. 

Even when an encampment is moving through the country the 
hunting goes on in a systematic manner. At daylight the leader of the 
band comes out of his toldo, or tent, and in a loud tone of voice delivers 
an oration, intermixed with commands and exhortations, describing the 
order of march, locating the hunting grounds, and la)'ing out the pro- 
gramme generally. Then the young men and boys lasso the horses ; 



438 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the women load some with tents, blankets, babies, pet dogs, and with the 
various household implements ; mount by means of a sling around the 
animals' necks, and start off, in single file, across the plains. Their line 
of march is the base line of the hunting operations. 

Having seen the cavalcade well on its way, the men start out and 
gallop around a certain area of country, lighting fires at regular intervals,, 
that the exact path of the journey may be known to those who follow. 
The circle gradually closes, and finally when the area is confined enough, 
the horsemen beat up the herds of ostriches and guanacos, and attack 
them with their bolas. The dogs also assist in the chase, although unless 
the horses are weary or the hunters are short of weapons their services 
are little required. Cougars, or American lions, are frequently started 
up, and when driven to bay they are dangerous foes. But they are 
particularly hateful to the Patagonians and all Indians of the plains, for 
they create great havoc among the wild cattle, not killing them and 
making a clean meal, but sucking a little warm blood from each animal 
and often leaving its fat carcass untouched. They are powerless, how- 
ever, to withstand a bolas, which is so thrown that it usually catches 
them around the neck, the balls crashing into the skull. This, however, 
is more a hunt for revenore ; for besides beino^ wholesale butchers of meat 
the lions thoroughly enjoy surprising the setting ostriches and eating 
their eggs by the dozens. 

The guanacos and ostriches having been brought to earth, the 
Patagonians proceed to the agreeable task of dividing the game and eat- 
ing a portion of it. There is a regular law of division, the man who balls 
the ostrich or guanaco, continuing the chase, leaving the one who has 
been hunting with him, to bag the game. At the conclusion of the 
hunt the fore half of the ostrich and the guanaco belongs to the man 
who has done the killing. The bird is considered most desirable game» 
for, besides its feathers being valuable, nearly every part of its body is 
considered good eating. The fat over the eyes and between the thigh 
joints, the heart, gizzard and blood being especially sought after. While 
fires are being built and stones being heated, the birds are plucked of 
their wing feathers, which are tied together with sinews and packed away. 
The leg bones and a portion of the back-bone are taken out, and the 
body, divided into halves, is filled with hot stones, a light blaze being 
kindled to roast the outside meat. The gizzard, which would fill both 
hands, is roasted by the insertion of a hot stone, the eyes are sucked 
and the tripe is greedily devoured. 

In winter the Indians have an easier way of capturing ostriches 
than that previously described. Although they swim well enough to 



A DREARY COUNTRY. 



439 



pass a river, In winter they are quickly chilled. So the hunters drive 
them into a river, and the ostriches' legs become so benumbed that they 
drift helplessly ashore, where they are dispatched. During September, 
October and November they are at the height of their laying season, 
and the Indians almost live upon the eggs. 

The young guanaco's meat is excellent, but it lacks the profuse fat 
of the average ostrich. When the animal is old, even, the haunches 
may be sliced, dried, salted and roasted, then pounded between two 
stones and mixed with ostrich grease. This forms a very condensed 
and nutritious food and is taken on long journeys. 

The guanaco is, however, of great use in other ways than as food. 
The skin of the adult forms the covering of the Patagonian's tent ; that 
of the young is used for mantles. Thread is made from the sinews of 
the back, thongs for the bolas and bridles are cut from the skin of the 
neck, shoes and coverings for the bolas come from the skin of the 




ENTRANCE TO FORTESQUE BAY. 

hock, and musical instruments and dice from the thigh bone. On 
attaining the age of about two months, the coat of the young guanaco 
becomes woolly. The skin is then useless for mantles, but makes good 
saddle cloths. The guanaco has been described as that queer animal 
with " the neigh of a horse, the wool of a sheep, the neck of a camel 
and the feet of a deer." He is remarkably swift of foot and defends 
himself somewhat like the kangaroo. 

In taking wild horses and cattle the Indians either lasso them, or 
throw the bolas so that the animals will be caught around the hind legs. 

A DREARY COUNTRY. 



A great portion of Patagonia is covered with only a kind of coarse 
grass, or with thorny shrubs, the country rising in a series of terraces 



440 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

from the sea coast to the Andes. Across the Straits of Magellan, the 
country is rocky and mountainous, cold and dreary.' Why it should be 
called Terra del Fuego, or the Land of Fire, has puzzled not only 
more than one school boy, but many adults. The reason is not because 
the country is volcanic or has any natural heat, but because early navi- 
gators noticed that upon the coasts fires were always seen burning. 
They were doubtless the fires of half-frozen natives, kindled in their 
crazy lodges, or those which they were keeping alive in their hundreds 
of boats. 

The territory has been long in dispute between Chili and Argen- 
tine Republic, but the former is now virtually in possession, having 
established a colony at Port Famine, which has been in existence for 
many years. Argentine Republic founded another at Port Santa Cruz, 
which is younger, but which amounts to little more than a fish-oil fac- 
tory, with the few laborers engaged in the industry. Efforts to intro- 
duce Welsh and Scotch colonists have met with failure. Chili's offer 
to a private individual to grant 75,000 square miles of territory, embrac- 
ing both coasts, in consideration for the favor of keeping four steam 
tugs in the Straits to relieve vessels, did not come to anything, and the 
probability is that the country will never be considered of enough con- 
sequence to be generally occupied by European or South American 
colonists. 

THE BRAZILIAN INDIANS. 

The Tupi-Guaranis is a widely extended Indian family in South 
America, its members being the native tribes of Paraguay, Brazil, 
and of the whole Orinoco region. The Brazilian Indians are generally 
of a bright yellowish, copper color ; are robust rather than tall ; with 
small noses, round faces and small eyes. Their dispositions seem to 
partake somewhat of the light-heartedness of Southern climes, and even 
in the presence of others they are not uniformly so grave as the Indians 
of the North. The tribes formerly dwelt almost entirely along the 
coast, but with the advent of Europeans were driven into the interior, 
where some of them still reside in their savage state. In the northern 
provinces the Indian blood prevails, but the negroes are the most num- 
erous of the unmixed races in Brazil. 

There were many other tribes which were not included in this fam- 
ily, when the missionaries, traders, slave hunters and adventurers first 
commenced to push their way into the country, and singular to say they 
were able to so co-operate that a language was formed out of all these 
diverse tongues which became the common vehicle of communication 




BRfiin . 



"^ PHCENICIANS OF THE AMAZON. 44I 

from the Orinoco to the La Plata. The basis of the language is, however, 
the Tupi-Guaranis tongue. And where are the Tupi-Guaranis, who once 
numbered nearly a hundred tribes along the Atlantic coast, occupying 
the country back to the Parana River ? The Portuguese slave hunter 
followed the missionary who had partially civilized the Indians of South 
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and broke up their tribes, carrying many 
away as slaves and, in short, almost exterminating them. Remnants 
of two of the most numerous tribes started out under an eminent chief 
and journeyed for three thousand miles from their homes, near Rio 
Janeiro, to the country along the Amazon River, near its confluence 
with the Madeira and Purus. These tribes are now known as Mandru- 
cus, and are the most warlike Indians of South America. They live in 
villages, in each of which is a fortress where all the men sleep at night. 
This building is adorned within with the dried heads of their enemies, 
decked with feathers. The similarity of some of their habits to those 
existing among the savages of the great Pacific Islands is noticeable. 
The Mandrucus have a blowpipe, through which they discharge small 
darts as do the natives of Borneo ; their great village houses resemble 
the " head houses " of the Dyaks of Borneo, while many small baskets 
and bamboo boxes from Borneo and New Guinea are so similar in their 
form and construction to those of the Amazonian Indians that they 
might have been made by adjoining tribes. Like the Dyaks, the Man- 
drucus hang up the dried heads of their enemies in their houses. A 
tribe of Indians on the Purus use, instead of the bow and arrow, the 
Australian boomerang, or so close a copy of it as to warrant the state- 
ment. 

PHCENICIANS OF THE AMAZON. 

The first glimpse of the Amazonian Indians is obtained at Para, 
the growing city at the great river's mouth. Although trading centers 
have been established along the main river and most of its principal 
branches, many of the natives prefer to do their own business, and so 
take their wives and children in their canoes, and with added cargoes of 
nuts, cocoa, dried fish, mandioca meal, crude rubber, turtles, monkeys, 
parrots, etc., they sometimes make journeys of five or six hundred miles. 
The monopoly of the immense interior trade of Brazil, which flows 
through her great river arteries, is in the hands of the Amazonian 
Steamship Company, which has established innumerable trading-posts 
and sends its vessels at stated intervals to collect the products which its 
agents, or private traders, have received from the natives, both Indians 
and negroes. Traders depend for much of the interior produce upon 
the Mandrucus and allied tribes. 



442 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The Indian of Brazil is not a property owner, as a rule, though one 
of them, now and then, amasses quite a little fortune as an agriculturist 
or as a brick manufacturer. He clings, however, to his palm-thatched 
house, extending its dimensions into several rooms and gathering a herd 
of half a hundred cattle. Generally the Indian has not the faculty of 




AMAZONIAN INDIANS. 

keeping steadily to his work, or of saving when he earns a little some- 
thing. He would rather go off hunting or fishing, or, sad to add, on a 
spree, than to work upon a plantation, day after day and week after 
week. 

When it comes, however, to labor which has excitement in it, such 
as dragging canoes through seething rapids, and overland to other navi- 
gable waters, the Indian, whether he be savage or semi-civilized 



BURIAL JARS. 443, 

doggedly pushes his way through all difficulties. Picturesque scenes of 
this nature can be witnessed where the headwaters of the Tapajos, a 
branch of the Amazon, approach the Paraguay River. An elevated 
plain divides the two great rivers, and when the waters are highest 
canoes have even passed over the shed. The fierce Mandrucus, next 
to fighting rival tribes, enjoy this conflict with rapids and waterfalls. 
They divide into two crews, part of them jumping into the water near 
the boat, and the others going ahead with long lines which they attach 
to rock or trees along the bank. The men in the water drag and lift the 
canoe slowly along, sometimes being under water and all but washed 
away by the rushing current. 

Most of the freight which is brought to the Paraguay and Amazon 
rivers, and which finds its way to the coast through the efforts of these 
Indians, consists of gum and the guarana drug. 

The Mandrucus Indians are the principal gatherers of rubber gum, 
which they give to the traders in exchange for knives and fish-hooks. 
Another Indian tribe, the Maue, are almost exclusively the gatherers of 
the drug, which grows wild between the Tapajos and the Madeira, and 
which they also cultivate in their forest gardens. It grows in the nature 
of a fruit, the seeds of which are hulled, reduced to powder and after- 
wards, by adding water, formed into long chocolate-colored rolls. The 
natives show their bent of mind by often making the rolls or cakes into- 
the form of fishes, birds or turtles, and thus throwing them upon the 
market. When used in Brazil, Bolivia and other South American 
countries these charming figures are ruthlessly grated and the powder 
employed as a substitute for tea. It has decided medicinal properties, 
of which the Indians avail themselves, having a soothing effect and being 
especially good in head and stomach troubles. Many white families 
have engaged in this rubber and"^drug trade, and get along very well 
with the Indians. These two tribes are, however, continually fighting 
with one another. The tradition is that, although they are both allied 
to the Tupi, the Maue were disinherited by the family because of their 
gfeneral worthlessness. 



& 



BURIAL JARS. 

Many powerful Indian tribes formerly dwelt along the Tapajos- 
River, or rather they selected a line of bluffs which follow it and the 
Amazon River for hundreds of miles, a short distance inland. Among 
other objects which have been dug from these bluffs are stone axe heads, 
flint arrow heads, ornamental pottery, and jars which contained calcined 
human bones, mixed with charcoal and ashes. These burial jars have been. 



444 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



elsewhere discovered in Indian territory, whicn hasledtothe supposition 
that the ancient tribes cremated their dead. It is known that many of the 
Brazihan Indians were in the habit of burying the dead in the floors of 
their houses, and "among the Mandrucus of the present day, the bones 
of dead warriors are kept for three years in the houses ; then they are 
placed in a jar and buried." 

THE BOTOCUDOS. 

Among the degraded tribes of Indians of Brazil there is one for 
which a proper place has not been found in South America. In language 
and personal appearance, in habits of life and bodily adornment, it is 
quite distinct from the Tupi-Guaranis family, which includes scores of 
tribes scattered throughout the empire. But the Butocudos, with pieces 




WAR TRUMPET. 



•of wood in their ears and under lips, with their broad shoulders and weak 
legs, seem unlike any other Indian tribe in North or South America. 
Their hair is thin, they have low foreheads, black or blue eyes, aslant like 
those of the Mongolians, small noses and mouths, with usually thick 
lips, and cheek bones much less prominent than those of other Brazilian 
tribes. 

The Butocudos seem, to take none of the average Indian pride in 
decorating their bodies with feathers and gaudy colors, and the terrible 
ferocity which they formerly exhibited when they approached the eastern 
■coast from their interior country, in connection with their other peculiari- 
ties, gained for them among the milder coast tribes the reputation of a 



THE AMAZONS. 



445 



race of maniacs. Their weapons are mighty bows and arrows, the latter 
being sometimes barbed with a bamboo head hardened in the fire. They 
usually attack at night, and although their numbers have been reduced 
by the way in which they have been hunted down by the whites, like 
wild beasts, many of them still roam through the forest and along the 
river banks, eating lizards, alligators, monkeys and boa constrictors, or 
lie in ambush for human victims. It is certain that at one time they alL 
were cannibals, and that many of them now are. 

Some of the tribes have been partially civilized. These are divided 
into small bands, each living in a separate village, and when they visit 
the plantations on the coast they cover themselves with a little clothing 
and plug up the slits in their lips with wax. Many of the children of these: 
village bands do not follow the barbarous disfigurement of their parents. 
These little ones were often sold to the planters for slaves, but they sel- 
dom reached maturity. In fact not only the Butocudos, but all Indians, 
were early found to be unprofitable as slaves, which resulted in the im- 
portation of such swarms of negroes from Africa. 

THE AMAZONS. 

On the upper branches of the Amazon are numerous tribes whose 
male members do most of the ornamenting of the body, and otherwise 
attire themselves in so feminine a manner as to partially explain the 
origin of the story carried back to the Old World that fierce female 
warriors (Amazons) lived and fought in this country. Says a trav- 
eler who penetrated into their territory, by a liberal use of that univer- 
sal lanofuaore of Eastern South America, to which reference has been 
made : " The women wear a bracelet on the wrists, but no necklace, or 
any comb in their hair. They have a garter below the knee, worm 
tight from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, which they 
consider a great beauty. While dancing in their festivals, the women: 
wear a small apron, made of beads prettily arranged. It is never worm 
at any other time, and immediately the dance is over it is taken off. 
The men, on the other hand, have their hair carefully parted, combed 
on each side and tied in a queue behind. In the young men it hangs, 
in long locks down their necks, and with the comb, which is invariably 
carried stuck on top of the head, gives them the most feminine appear- 
ance. This is increased by the large necklaces and bracelets of beads 
and the careful extirpation of every symptom of beard." They use 
shields which cover the entire length of their bodies. 

And yet, if the Amazons did not exist, the delusion is one of a 



446 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

most general character, for Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, and other 
more modern travelers have given credence to reports which they 
received from Indian tribes that the Amazons were a reality and that 
they associated principally with the Caribs ; that they killed their male 
children or returned them to their consorts and retained only the 
females. The stories of the Amazons are current among all the Indian 
of Guiana, and similar reports have been received from Paraguay, from 
the tribes along the Amazon, New Granada and the West Indies. The 
latest theory is that the whole story had its origin in some aboriginal 
myth and has been distributed over all the vast territory in which the 
Tupi-Guaranis language and its dialects are spoken. In fact, several 
myths which have for their theme the separation of a band of women 
from the men of their tribe and a subsequent periodical reunion, have 
been discovered in definite form among the Amazonian Indians, 

The fathers of female children are reported to have received from 
the Amazons, as a mark of honor, a precious stone called the Muiri- 
Kitan. The stone is of a hard crystalline nature, and is so esteemed that 
it has been given a mysterious origin. It is related that it was created 
by a goddess who lived in a certain lake, and that, having celebrated her 
praises, the Amazons would dive for the stone and receive it from 
her hands. When it was exposed to the sunlight it hardened into per- 
manent form. Another legend is that the stones were caught like fish, 
the Amazon putting a drop of her blood in the water, over the precious 
Muiri-Kitan which she coveted. These stones are still worn as charms 
by various Indians, one tribe on the upper Rio Negro spending most of 
its time in making them into rough imitations of birds and beasts or 
into bead-like forms, 

SEMI-CIVILIZED LIFE. 

The village life of the semi-civilized Amazonian Indians is daily 
inaugurated by a bath in the river or the nearest spring. Then is com- 
menced a busy round of duties, as not only must food be provided, but 
everything except a few articles of clothing, iron and steel. The huts 
are constructed of roughly hewn logs, and beams of hardwood (for the 
frame-work), the joints being secured with pegs or strips of bark. The 
roof and sides are of palm-leaf shingles ; windows there are none ; 
the doorways are closed with palm-leaf mats, and other mats, under the 
hammocks, are spread upon the ground within. Another style of 
Indian hut, often seen on the banks of the Amazon, consists (as to the 
walls) of lumps of clay, plastered and whitewashed. Even those 
Indians who live in villages, however, seem to have an instinct to hide 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 447 

away, and it is almost impossible to say, sometimes, how large a settle- 
ment really is. Each house is built in a little clearing, which is kept 
conscientiously clean and free of weeds, but it is invariably fenced in 
with a thick hedge of some tropical growth, so as to be completely 
hidden until one fairly stumbles upon it. Men and women are dressed 
in light cotton clothes, and some of them are possessors of shoes, which 
they often wear "in their hands." 

KITCHEN UTENSILS. 

The kitchen of the house is always separated from the main struc- 
ture, the fireplace being formed of three stones, and the cooking uten- 
sils sometimes consisting of an iron kettle and a tin coffee pot. As a 
rule, however, the kitchen implements are made out of clay by the 
women. Their tools are pieces of gourd, shells, corncobs, round peb- 
bles, jaguar teeth, and rough fungi to serve as sand paper. A dish of 
water and a square piece of board complete the apparatus. A quantity 
of fine bark ashes is mixed with the clay, and a lump of it, having been 
thoroughly kneaded, is flattened upon the board. The bottom of the 
pot is made by turning the board in front of the woman, the edges 
being rounded off with the unoccupied hand and the shell. The potter 
then forms long rolls of clay, which she uses to build up the vessel from 
the bottom, the latter being first allowed to harden in the sun. The 
rim of the pot is nicely marked with a tooth, the pieces of gourd, the 
shells, the corncobs, and the improvised sand paper all coming into play 
to mould and smooth. The whole affair is then baked over a hot fire, 
polished with a pebble and varnished with a sort of resin. 

Pans and bottles made of shells and gourds, wooden spoons, native 
baskets, clay lamps for burning fish-oil and plates of earthen ware are a few 
of the other kitchen accompaniments which bear witness to the Indian 
woman's industry. Whole settlements along the Amazon River are 
devoted to the manufacture of baskets, spoons and jars from calabashes. 
All about the houses are planted calabash trees. The great fruit is cut in 
two, thoroughly soaked and cleaned, painted with a solution of bark, 
and exposed to ammonia fumes which bring out a durable black color. 
The vessels may then be painted with various yellow and gray clays, 
annatto and indigo, the designs representing figures, landscapes, or the 
Brazilian coat of arms. Often the surface is left plain, or a pattern 
scratched upon the white shell beneath. This, again, is woman's work, 
which truly, in Brazil, seems never to be done. Even the hammocks, 
which swing so invitingly in the Indian's living room, are the products 
of her hands. She first beats the cotton into a fleec)' pile by means of 



44^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

two Sticks and then twists it into hammock thread, either with a simple 
spindle or a crude spinning wheel. After dyeing some of the threads 
for the woof of the pattern, she sits upon a mat in front of a frame- 
work, passing each thread of the woof through the white warp, and in 
the course of a few weeks completes a very substantial, prettily checked 
hammock. 

MORE FEMININE WORK. 

The native bread is made from the root of the yuca, which the 
women raise ; while maize, yams, potatoes and cassava are included in 
their vegetable diet. The cassava is prepared by grating or scraping 
the root, and by subsequent pressure in a receptacle of basket-work. 
This strainer is constructed in the form of a long tube, open at the top 
and closed at the bottom, to which a strong loop is attached. The 
pulpy mass of cassava is placed in this, which is suspended from abeam. 
One end of a large staff is then placed through the loop at the bottom, the 
woman sits upon the center of the staff, or attaches a heavy stone to the 
end. The weight stretches the elastic tube, which presses the cassava 
inside, forcing the juice through the interstices of the plaited material of 
which it is made. This liquor is carefully collected in a vessel placed 
beneath. It is at first a most deadly poison, but after being boiled it 
becomes perfectly wholesome, and is the nutritious sauce called casareep, 
which forms the principal ingredient in the " pepper-pot," a favorite dish 
in the country. 

Even if some of the milky juice, in which lurks the poison, should 
remain in the meal, there is no danger after the cakes have been dried 
on a hot iron plate or in the sun. These cakes are kept in store to be 
mixed with water and baked into bread. When left to stand some time 
the juice which is pressed from the root deposits a very delicate starch,, 
which, when washed and dried, is exported as tapioca. 

The Indian does not prepare his ground in any way in raising his 
crop of mandioca roots, but simply clears away a space in the woods,. 
digs some holes and places therein a bunch of cuttings. When the roots 
are fully grown, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds each, they are 
thrown together in a pool of water, where they are allowed to ferment 
for a time. The women then carry them to sheds, strip off the tough 
outer skin and grate them into the mass of pulp and fibre which we have 
seen run through the wicker-work sieve or bag. To obtain the farina 
grain, the lumpy substance which remains after the poisonous juice has 
been nearly extracted is broken and roasted in a large earthen pan. The 
grain or meal, is then put into pots and baskets and stored away for 
family use, or made into cakes as we have stated above. 



HUMAN AND BRUTE FISHERMEN. 449 

HUMAN AND BRUTE FISHERMEN. 

Neither is the masculine head of the family idle, although the brunt 
of the work does not fall on him. He makes the new clearings in the 
forest ; he works for traders ; or guides exploring parties, for miles up 
and down the river or through the forests ; he hunts, and he will stand 
any length of time in his canoe or on a bank overhanging the water, 
with his long spear poised or his arrow drawn to the head, waiting for 
his ideal of a fish to pass within range of his weapon. 

In shooting fish, the Indian must take into account the refraction 
of the water. But in hunting his game, the native has far more wonder- 
ful feats to be placed to his credit. One of them is thus described : 
"The turtle never shows its back above the water, but, rising to breathe, 
its nostrils only are protruded above the surface ; so slight, however, is 
the rippling that none but the Indian's keen eyes perceive it. If he 
shoots an arrow obliquely it would glance off the smooth shell ; there- 
fore he aims into the air, and apparently draws a bow at venture ; but he 
sends up his missile with such wonderfully accurate judgment that 
it describes a parabola and descends nearly vertically into the back 
of the turtle." The Indian has fastened the head of the arrow to the 
shaft so that, like the Esquimaux' harpoon, when the weapon strikes the 
game the string which binds the two portions together unwinds, and the 
shaft is left floating upon the water. This the huntsman seizes, and by 
it draws the turtle into his canoe. Nearly all turtles which are bought 
in Brazilian markets are captured in this way, and the hole made by the 
arrow head may generally be seen in their shells. To shoot birds at 
a distance, one of the Indian customs is to lie on the back, elevate the 
feet and brace them against the bow at its center, then rest the arrow 
upon the toes, drawing it to the chin. 

The animal stories which make up so much of the Indian folk- 
lore nearly all represent the jaguar as being thoroughly outwitted by 
various beasts of the forest ; which must have been a way the aborigines 
had of showing their jealously of his ingenuity ; for the Indians of to-day 
are forced to admit that his schemes and tricks to capture game are 
fully equal to their own. There are certain fruit-eating fish of which 
the jaguar is very fond ; so he sits on a log and raps gently upon the 
surface of the water with his tail, to imitate the sound of falling berries. 
When the fish rise for their fruit they are quietly hooked out with the 
lonsf claws of the fisherman. He catches and eats turtles, and it is said 
that he even attacks the cowfish, which grows to be as large as an ox, 
and drag-s it to the land for a errand feast. Another of his tricks is that 



450 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of being able to imitate the cry of any bird or animal upon which he has 
designs. 

REVERENCE FOR THE AGED. 

A beautiful reverence for old age is seen among these semi-civilized 
Amazonian Indians. " Many a touching picture one sees : a gray-haired 
patriarch, sitting before his door in the crimson sunset, and gravely giv- 
ing his hand to be kissed by sons and daughters who come to honor 
him ; village children stretching out their palms for blessings from a 
passing old man; young Indians bringing offerings of fish and fruit to 
decrepit old women. On moonlit evenings the old people sit before 
their doors until near midnight, while the younger ones stroll around 
from house to house, gossiping with their neighbors and carrying on sly 
flirtations under the orano^e trees." 

THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 

Even those Indians who are nominally Roman Catholics have no 
very definite ideas constituting a system of religious belief. In fact, the 
new and the old are so confused in their minds that they seem to have 
fallen into a state of indifference. Previous to the coming of the mis- 
sionaries they had a faint idea of a Supreme Being whom they called 
Tupan, which the Jesuits used as the name of the Deity. The sun 
they conceived to be the creator of animals, the moon of plants, and 
there was a god of love who promoted the reproduction of human 
beings. Under these were inferior deities who protected birds, game 
and fishes,' the plains and the forests. The full moon and the new 
moon served the god of love. 

An old superstition which has comedown to the present generation 
of the Tupis, is that the moon grows from " thin to fat," by eating like 
a human being, and that she then goes into a state of decline and dies 
to give place to another. When the moon is eclipsed some evil spirit 
has stolen her farina and she is dying ; so the Indians beat drums, and fire 
guns and rockets as their forefathers did, to frighten away the evil spirit — 
although most of them profess to know better. 

Their grand annual festival in honor of their patron saint is a part 
of their Catholic training, and is made the occasion of much ceremony 
and hilarity. On Saturday evening the village in which there is a chapel 
is crowded with guests, many swinging their hammocks to the trees. 
The next day the chapel, which has been decorated, is filled Avith men, 
women and children, who bow to the saint and devoutly take part in the 
services. The dancing, which begins as soon as possible in two or three 




BRAZIL. 



THE BRAZILIANS. 45 I 

of the village houses, is continued as long- as the sweetmeats and man- 
dioca beer last, usually for several days, with few intermissions. On 
Sunday a roasted ox is eaten by the villagers, during which performance 
there is a necessary interlude, and they then return to their waltzes and 
quadrilles. The young people do not forget the aged, who have been 
looking on quietly, but with deep satisfaction, at their sports ; more cor- 
rectly speaking, the early Jesuits did not forget how much these uncivi- 
lized Indians revered the aged, and that this lovable trait should be 
encouraged. They therefore established a custom by which three old 
women, bearing an ornamented frame surmounted by a cross, pass from 
house to house as honored o^uests. After beino; served with refresh- 
ments they rise, and to the slow beating of a drum, begin a chant, and 
also keep time by going through with a sort of dignified dance, or 
march. 

THE BRAZILIANS. 

It is impossible to get at anything like a reliable statement of the 
population, by races, of the great Empire of Brazil ; but striking a 
balance of many estimates it is safe to say that civilized and uncivilized 
Indians, and Brazilians of mixed Indian and white and of Indian and negro 
blood, would constitute one-half of the population, which has been placed 
all the way from 8,000,000 to 14,000,000. The ruling nationality is, of 
course, the Portuguese, and since the royal house of Portugal was driven 
from its throne and took refuge in Brazil, which subsequently declared 
its independence, the South American Empire has been the sovereign 
state and Portugal the dependency. 

The internal commerce of the country is conducted generally by 
private navigation companies. The principal one of the twenty-eight which 
now ply Brazilian waters is the English Amazon Company, of which men- 
tion has been made. Besides following the main stream of the Amazon 
up to Tabatinga, on the frontier of Peru, a distance of 1,800 miles, it 
ascends some of its greatest tributaries, employing four steamers on the 
Madeira, four on the Purus, and two on the Negro. During one year 
its boats touched at 120 stations, conveyed 14,000 passengers and 20,000 
tons of merchandise. The same service is performed by various com- 
panies on other tributaries of the Amazon ; also on the San Francisco 
and other streams flowing into the Atlantic, on the Plata, the Parana 
and the Paraguay. 

The most precious stones, the most valuable metals and the finest 
woods are all natural products of Brazil. Maize, rice, cotton and coffee 
are great crops — that is, with proper management they could be made 



452 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

SO. Here are somes tatements, well authenticated: Maize yields from 
150 to 400 fold ; rice as much as 1,000 fold ; wheat from thirty to seventy 
fold ; an acre of cotton gives four times as much as in the United States ; 
on an area of five acres one man can easily cultivate 2,000 coffee 
trees, which will give him an average crop of 6,000 pounds, worth about 
$400. For field and plantation labor, Brazil depends upon the negro. 
But since the emancipation of the slaves they have been flocking to the 
cities to serve as domestics, and the former trade in staples, which never 
was in any proportion to what nature intended, is on the downward 
grade. 

THE CARIBS AND ARAWAKS. 

When Columbus first visited the West Indies a fierce tribe of 
Indians occupied the islands extending from Porto Rico to the main- 
land of South America. He heard of their warlike natures throuorh the 
milder tribes of Cuba. The Greater Antilles had been invaded by them 
and the very name of the Caribs was a nightmare. According to tradi- 
tion they had their origin among the Rocky Mountains, or in some great 
mountainous district west of the Mississippi. From Florida they ad- 
vanced to the continent, step by step, and island by island. When 
South America became generally known to Europeans, the Caribs had 
been widely diffused over the northern portions of the continent — princi- 
pally along the shores of the sea and the banks of the Orinoco River. 

Their descendants still live in the river districts, but their disposi- 
tions are not what they were four centuries ago. There are, in fact, few 
Caribs remaining. Streams of blood from many races have crossed 
their own. The Caribs stoutly resisted the Spaniards, and in one of their 
terrible battles two thousand of the natives perished. They retreated 
to the mainland, where they also for many years were the most dreaded 
savage foes of the Spaniards. This powerful race is now reduced to a 
few insignificant tribes in Guiana and mingled with other Indian nations 
of the interior. About the upper waters of the Pomeroon is one of their 
laro-est fraorments, consistinsf of a few hundred savages livinor in almost 
as primitive a state as when their forefathers saw Columbus sail along 
their island coasts. 

The Arawaks are ancient enemies of the Caribs, and are said to 
have been so powerful as to have repeatedly repelled their incursions 
into the mainland. They have now dwindled to a tribe, which is, how- 
ever, powerful. The Arawaks inhabit a large extent of territory in Gui- 
ana, back of the cultivated strip on the sea coast. The only records of 
their history are rude figures marked upon the rocks in certain localities 



THE MOZCAS. 453 

of their wilderness. These natives were the first seen by Cohimbus 
when he discovered the continent in 149S, and he was greatly surprised 
to find, instead of a black race, that they were of lighter complexion than 
any aborigines he had yet met. Their figures were graceful, and their 
onlv clothincf was a sort of turban and a waistband of colored cotton. 

The Arawaks of the present are mild and peaceful, but are armed 
with modern weapons, besides the club, bow and arrow of their fore- 
fathers. On the banks of the streams which flow through their territory, 
the country of the Caribs and even weaker tribes, missionaries have 
established little settlements as a basis of their labors, and among the 
Arawaks they have made no little progress. They have not yet been 
able to effect a material change in the native costume, which consists, as 
of old, of a cloth about the loins, with ornaments upon state occasions. 

The Guiana Indian retains more Asiatic features than even the 
North American Indian, his e}-es being black and piercing, and slanting 
a little upward towards the temple. The expression of the mouth is 
good. The forehead recedes in a less degree than the African, and in 
some individuals it is well-formed and prominent. 

THE MOZCAS. 

A few bands of the once great Indian nation of Mozcas, or Muys- 
cas, live in the United States of Colombia, on the upper Orinoco River. 
They were an empire of two million people at the time of the conquest, 
having subdued the tribes from that river to the southern part of the 
present Ecuador. In common with some of the other Indian nations 
and the Esquimaux, the Mozcas call themselves "men"; that is the 
translation of their name, as if they considered themselves the only 
true specimens of mankind in the world. They offered human sacrifices 
to the sun and worshiped a number of minor deities, throwing their 
offerings into the lakes. The natives dressed in square mantles of cot- 
ton cloth, dyed and painted, and were skillful workers in wood, stone 
and metals. They used money and traded in mantles and other articles 
of their own manufacture, lived in wooden and clay houses with peaked 
roofs, furnished inside with comfortable mats and benches. The 
ancient language is now only spoken by these tribes of the United 
States of Colombia. Of the origin of the coast Indians, who are 
mostly savages, nothing is known except that they bear no resemblance 
to any of the other families. 

THE PANAMA CANAL. 

The project of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by means of 
a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was first put on foot by the 



454 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

king of Spain over 360 years ago, but it did not advance, perceptibly^ 
until within the last century. Scores of surveys were made, and finally 
the government of the United States of Colombia approved of a con- 
tract with " Lucien N. B. Wyse, chief of the scientific exploring expe- 
dition of the isthmus in 1876, 1877 and 1878, and member and delegate 
of the committee of direction of the Civil International Interoceanic 
Canal Society," by which the canal was to be finished in twelve years 
from the time of the organization of the construction company, -and, if 
absolutely necessary, an extension of six years was to be granted. 

In 1 88 1 the Interoceanic Canal Company was formed in Paris, with 
M. Ferdinand de Lesseps at its head, and France subscribed to 994,00a 
of the 1,200,000 shares of stock. An agreement with the United 
States Government having been reached that the neutrality of the canal 
should be maintained, seventy engineers, superintendents, and doctors 
were sent to the isthmus, and thousands of Indians, negroes and China- 
men were engaged as laborers. M. Blanchet, who had active charge of 
the undertaking, died from the effects of the climate and overwork in 
November, 1881, the surveyors, having been in the field for only nine 
months. Notwithstanding his advanced age, M. de Lesseps has 
assumed the general management, being often in the field in person, 
and notwithstanding the unhealthful climate of the isthmus, and serious 
drawbacks caused by the periodical inundations of the Chagres River, 
it is quite possible that he may add the Panama canal to his other great 
engineering triumphs. 

THE ECUADORIANS. 

The Indians of Ecuador are the bone and sinew of the population — 
the miners, herdsmen, farmers and manufacturers of the country. 
Panama hats, brilliant quilts and carpets, and the most durable earthen 
ware in South America are placed to their credit. They build the 
bridges of Ecuador, and are noted for the rafts which they construct, and 
in which they take long sea voyages. Shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, 
blacksmiths, lawyers and doctors are discovered in the ranks of the 
Indians, although white blood is usually found to be an incentive to join 
the professions. The so-called " free Indians" (although none are held 
in actual bondage) often act as mule drivers and guides. Those who 
are employed by Spanish planters are usually paid insufficient wages and 
are brought so deeply into debt, however, that most of them are all but 
slaves In name. 

Some of the natives have never settled down to any employment, 
but hunt and fish along the great rivers east of the Andes, cultivating 



THE ANDI-PERUVIANS. 



455 



enough maize for their own subsistence, and exchanging the products of 
the chase and a certain powerful arrow poison, for tools and ornaments. 
The most numerous of the aboriginal tribes, descendants of a race, 
which at the time they were conquered by the Incas had its noted 
painters and architects, are the Quitus, who gave their name to the capi- 
tal of Ecuador. The Indians are divided into eleven families, which, in 
turn, have their distinct tribes. 

THE ANDI-PERUVIANS. 



The glorious empire of the Incas, which the Spaniards found firmly 







COLOSSAL HEAD CARVED IN STONE. 



rooted when the love of gold lured them to South America, extended 
from Patagonia to New Granada, the center of the government being 
the great temple of the Sun, at Cuzco, in the interior of Peru. Here on 
an elevated table land, between two branches of the Amazon River, 
were also great fortifications, it being the capital of the empire and the 
center of its religious system as well. The principal buildings of the 



456 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

capital were constructed of huge masses of stone, transported from quar- 
ries many leagues distant and then elevated to their lofty sites. The 
stone was hewn with copper tools, and although cement was seldom used, 
so nicely was the work done that the blade of a knife could not be 
introduced between the blocks. 

The Temple of the Sun was where the Inca, as head of the church 
and high-priest of the Sun, presided. It was built of stone, but thatched 
with straw. Within was a huge golden sun, which had a human face 
delineated upon it, and it was so arranged as to receive the first rays of 
the heavenly luminary. Vases of gold, filled with offerings of maize, 
stood in the open space of the Interior, and all the vessels used in the 
celebration of religious rites were made of the precious metal. The 
building itself sparkled with golden ornaments ; even upon the out- 
side a heavy belt of gold was let into the stone wall around the entire 
edifice. The royal palaces and temples were adorned with like magnifi- 
cence. 

The empire had no money ; everything of value was collected in the 
coffers of the Inca. The government owned the soil and the people 
tilled it. It fixed a man's place of residence, determined his employment 
and even the amount necessary to support him. The government owned 
immense herds of llamas, and the people received their garments of 
wool and hair, after a certain proportion had been devoted to royal and 
religious purposes. All females were required to marry at eighteen and 
males at twenty-four years of age. The Inca always married his sister, 
that the royal blood might remain pure, but such a connection was 
forbidden between those of lower rank. 

TRACES OF THE EMPIRE. 

The empire was warlike and the military system was complex, 
including a draft of troops proportionate to population and dependent 
upon the hardihood of the people of the district. Throughout the 
extent of the vast empire were great roads carried along the mountain 
ridges or over the plains of the coast. Of the most famous of these 
Mr. Prescott, in his Conquest of Peru, thus speaks: " It was conducted 
over pathless sierras buried in snow ; galleries were cut out for leagues 
through the living rock ; rivers were crossed by means of bridges sus- 
pended in the air ; precipices were scaled by stairways hewn out of the 
native bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid masonry ; 
in short, all the difiiculties that beset a wild and mountainous region, and 
which might appal the most courageous engineer of modern times, were 
eucountered and successfully overcome. The length of the road 



TRACES OF THE EMPIRE. 



457 



of which scattered fragments only remain, is variously estimated from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand miles." Stations and storehouses 
were established on the main roads, under the care of army officers. 

Ruins of the Incas' civilization which was so ruthlessly crushed by 
the Spaniards, have been found in the shape of gold and stone figures, 
monuments, temples of all descriptions, acqueducts, bridges and paved 
roads, scattered from Chili to Central America. In Peru, besides the 
imposing remains of the Temple of the Sun, are the ruins of a supposed 
citadel of the Incas at Cannar, which is a regular oval in form. Within 
this is a square edifice, E^gpiKji.- 
containing two rooms. 

Among the most I 
ancient monuments and 
believed even to ante- 
date the period of the '^_ 
Incas, are those which 
have been discovered on 
the southern shore of &;1 
Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia. ^^ 
They are situated on a 
broad, arid plain, and con- 
sist of rows of hucre erect 
stones, sections of massive 
walls and foundations, 
stairways, fragments of 
cornices, carved blocks of 
stone, etc., etc. From the 
center of a bewildering 
mass of ruins, of which a 
description is here im- 
possible, rises a rectang- 
ular, irregularly terraced 
mound, 50 feet high, 650 
feet long and 450 feet 
wide. The temple, 
another great rectangular mass, is near by, and the hall of justice, a 
mighty ruin, contains a structure which is composed of massive stones 
beautifully cut and held together by bronze clamps. 

World-famed antiquarians have traced in those vast areas surrounded 
by upright stones, .which are seen in this great Bolivian plain, the earliest 
efforts of human art, and on the bare mountain tops of High Peru, 




PERUVIAN CARVING. 



458 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

it is said, " are hundreds and thousands of enclosures or fortresses, ante- 
dating all history, which were built according to Peruvian traditions 
when the country was divided up into warlike and savage tribes, before 
the sun shone or the Incas had established their beneficent rule. They 
are held in great reverence, as the works of giants whose spirits still 
haunt them, and to whom offerings of various kinds are still made." 

In addition to the ruins which have been mentioned, the fortress 
tnat comands the ancient capital of the Incas, and in the storming of 
which Juan Pizarro lost his life, is almost as perfect as it was three cen- 
turies ago. Near the town of Truxillo, Northern Peru, is what is known as 
Grand Chiniu, the ruined capital of a great coast nation which was sub- 
dued by the Incas. Over at least twenty square miles are spread the 
ruins of public buildings, massive walls, temples, palaces, houses, tombs, 
prisons, work-shops, etc., etc. A vast temple of the Sun also appears, 
being pyramidical in form, 812 by 470 feet at the base and 150 feet 
high. There is a second of nearly equal size. Three centuries ago the 
Spaniards were digging treasure from the ruins and the work of excava- 
tion still goes on. 

SOME INCA TRIBES. 

The Ouichuas are the most prominent of the ancient races of Peru 
and Bolivia. They have large acquiline noses ; generous mouths and 
fine teeth ; short but not weak chins ; a brown-olive complexion ; soft, 
thick and flowing hair, but scant beards and are generally low in stat- 
ure, with tremendous chests, caused by more frequent and greater respira- 
tions than are taken in a less rare atmosphere than that in which they live. 
The Quichuas differ in appearance from all other South American 
nationalities, and from the figures which appear upon various Peruvian 
antiquities it is evident that none of their ancient physical peculiarities 
have changed. 

The Aymaras are an ancient people whose history centers around 
Lake Titicaca, between Peru and Bolivia. They still inhabit adjacent 
districts in both of those countries and look, with sad eyes, upon the 
monuments of their forefathers which are in ruins upon the many small 
islands of the lake. The center of their government and their religion 
was a sacred isle, from which they believed the sun first arose. The 
worship of this luminary was part of their religion. Some of the pyra- 
midical structures, with door-ways and pillars elaborately sculptured, and 
fragments of colossal statues, are of great antiquity and only the vaguest 
traditions exist of their origin. They evidently represent a prior civilization 
to that of the Incas which absorbed, or conquered that of the Aymaras^ 



THE ANTISIANS, OR WHITE MEN. 459 

and received from them a more perfect knowledge of the arts, of agri- 
culture and astronomy. They now number some quarter of a million of 
people and are principally engaged in agriculture. 

Most of the tribes of Peru and Bolivia have embraced Christianity, 
and in the tracts covered by the missions chiefly dwell the remnants of 
many ancient nations. They form by far, the majority of Bolivia's popu- 
lation, and are generally advancing in civilization, being a credit to their 
forefathers of the Incas. They are generally mild and passive, and are 
the foot-travelers of South America, performing the longest journeys at 
a dog trot and going for days at a time with no sustenance except cocoa 
leaves chewed with lime or ashes, and, perhaps, a small quantity of 
pounded maize. The civilized tribes dwell in houses or huts constructed 
of sun-dried bricks, rushes, or maize stalks thatched with grass. 

The Chiquitos are a tribe, which was once very powerful, and were 
employed by the early Jesuit missionaries to convert neighboring tribes 
and educate them. They also cultivated fields, were manufacturers and 
artisans, and traders of high standing. But when the missionaries were 
expelled, their beautiful churches and large factories were destroyed and 
many of them fled to the forests and relapsed into barbarism. At the 
time of their prosperity the Chiquitos had been consolidated into a won- 
derful nation, a bright example of native capability. 

THE ANTISIANS; OR, "WHITE MEN." 

There are five tribes who live on the eastern declivity of the Andes, 
in Bolivia. They are the Yucacares, or White Men, so called from 
their remarkably light color ; the Chuncos, Tacanas, Marapas and 
Apolistas. These tribes have their own languages, although they have 
been classed as one family. In Bolivia the Cordilleras divide into two 
ofreat rido^es, called the Cordillera of the coast and the Cordillera Real, 
between which is the great walled table-land which contains Lake Titi- 
caca, the source of one of the great branches of the Amazon, and the 
site of the famous Potosi, famed for its silver mines and for being the 
most elevated city of the world. From Potosi, in a northwesterly direc- 
tion through Bolivia, are those wonderful ruins and sections of the 
stupendous military roads ; and it is east of this historic region that the 
Antisians dwell. 

THE ARAUCANIANS. 

The natives of Chili and Patagonia, bold, warlike, tall and muscular, 
belong to this race. The mountaineers are very light in complexion, the 



460 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



tribe of Boroanos in Chili being little darker than Europeans. They 
have broad faces and heavy features, but their bright eyes save them from 
the stamp of dullness. Some of them have heavy beards but generally 
the Indian custom is followed of plucking out the hair. 

When the Western coast of South America was first visited by 
Europeans a portion of Chili was subject to the Peruvians ; but the bulk 
of the natives were divided into tribes, each governed by its " ulmen ' 
or "cacique." Four of the original fifteen tribes had been subdued by 

the Peruvians* 
when the pro- 
gress of t h e lat- 
ter's arms was 
permanently 
checked. The 
Spaniards came 
and found a foe 
worthy of their 
prowess. They 
discovered that 
these tribes had 
already confeder- 
ated and were 
working under a 
^ crude system of 
government ; that 
the country was 
divided into four 
sections, each 
governed by a 
" toqui, " or su- 
preme cacique, 
with the real pow- 
er still in the 

hands of the ulmens ; that the Araucanians were a compact, patriotic 
nation of great warriors. For over a century the Spaniards brought 
their iron-clad soldiers and their improved artillery to crush these 
brave and military Indians, with their swords and lances, slings, bows, 
pikes and clubs. Many battles are recorded in which the invaders were 
utterly routed, and finally they were obliged to abandon the enterprise 
of conquering an independent Indian race ; and, the proud distinction 
of being the only aboriginal Americans who have maintained their inde- 







AN ARAUCANIAN FAMILY. 



THF ARAUCANIANS. 46 1 

pendence when brought directly in contact v/ith Europeans, still 
belongs to the Araucanians. They occupy much of their old territory 
within the modern republic of Chili." 

The provinces of Arauco and Valdivia have been especially the 
native districts of the Araucanians. This native state within the repub- 
lic of Chili lies between the Biobio and Valdivia rivers, and is 130 
rniles in length by 150 in breadth. The natural divisions of the coun- 
try have been made the political ; that is, the sea coast, the plain, the 
territory running along the foot of the Andes, and the mountainous 
region, is each under the rule of a toqui. These districts are sub- 
divided into what would be called, in the United States, counties and 
townships. The toqui's badge of office is an axe of porphyry or mar- 
ble. The four governors form the Federal Council, which decides upon 
grave national matters and may convene the General Assembly consist- 
ing of the subordinate rulers and chieftains. If the matter before the 
convention is war, the commander-in-chief is chosen from among the 
four toquis, if possible, and the chiefs, or ulmens, raise the troops 
from among their clans. A great plain between the Biobio and Dun- 
queco rivers is the meeting-place of these governing bodies. 

The Araucanians, like the Pampas Indians, rely principally upon 
their long spear when in action, trusting for finab success upon the 
impetuosity of their charge. When in war paint they are nearly, or 
quite naked, but in times of peace they dress in loose, flowing mantles, 
with dark blue and red skirts, having crimson cloths round their heads 
turban-fashion, and low down on the temples. If not aroused, they are 
peaceable and hospitable, hold free intercourse with the whites, and 
even serve as scouts in the Chilian army. Marriages have even occurred 
between Europeans and their women of high rank, at one time a French 
adventurer being raised to the dignity of King of the Araucanians ; 
but his character being exposed he was driven out of the country in dis- 
grace. Whole crews of shipwrecked vessels are known to have been 
merged into the race, so that white skins and straight faces are not 
uncommon. " The chief wealth of the tribes is cattle, which they rear 
with some care and diligence ; and some of them, or their women, 
engage also in agricultural and industrial pursuits, part of their produce, 
as well as their tanned hides, tissues and silver trinkets, stirrups, curbs, 
etc., bringing good prices as curiosities." They make also blankets 
which are much valued by the Patagonians. Between the two races, 
however, there is usually a stirring feud which prevents much inter- 
course, even with those Araucanians who have abandoned their tribal 
relations and live in trading settlements. 



462 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The Araucanians have gods of War, of the Good, of Mankhid, of 
Evil, but build no temples to them, make no idols and support no priests. 
They carry their ideas of political independence into their religion, and 
scarcely pay their deities due respect. The Araucanian heaven is beyond 
the Andes. They are so intensely national that no foreigner is allowed 
to settle among them who retains his own name. The Spanish language 
— anything which has the least suggestion of Spanish — is barred out of 
Araucania. Their own language is spoken throughout Chili and Pata- 
gonia to Cape Horn, and east to Buenos Ayres, and is among the most 
harmonious of South American tong^ues. 

The women of Araucania "do all the home and field work; the 
men hunt, fio^ht and tend the flocks. Thev live in wooden or reed 
plastered houses, well built and often sixty feet b)- twenty-five in size, 
not in villages but in the center of their plantations. They raise wheat, 
maize and barley, peas and beans, potatoes, cabbages, and fruit, as well 
as flax, and keep numbers of cattle and horses. Before the arrival of 
the Europeans they wove ponchos and coarse woolen cloths of very good 
workmanship," 

THE CHILIANS. 

The constitution of Chili is far less democratic than that of Arau- 
cania. Although its deputies and senators are ostensibly elected by 
popular vote, property qualifications are imposed which confine the voters 
really to the wealthier classes. Yet the republic is the most prosperous 
of any in South America, for the country contains an unusually large 
proportion of European blood and the Europeans constitute virtually 
the governing power. The National Legislature is composed of a House 
of Deputies, whose members sit for three years, and a Senate, one-third 
of which retires at the end of a like period. The Roman Catholic is the 
State Church and the offspring of mixed marriages must be educated in 
the national faith. Chili was among the first of the South American 
States to develop a railroad system, its capital, Santiago, and its metro- 
polis, Valparaiso, being connected by a substantial line, which has 
branches to some of the principal towns. 

THE CENTAURS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 

In Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentine Republic are hundreds of 
Indian tribes who have their peculiarities, but seem equally at home upon 
the horse's back, and who are never truly themselves unless they are 
scouring their great pampas. They are usually of the most ignorant 
type, like the Abipones, who are east of the Parana River in Paraguay, 



THE CENTAURS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 463 

and although they are such wonderful horsemen, can count no further 
than three. They go nearly naked and practice tattooing. 

The numerous tribes of Indians who scour the plains of Buenos 
Ayres are members of the Araucanian race and of the Puelche family, 
to which also belong the Patagonians. They live, move and have their 
being upon the horse's back. Whenever they shift their quarters for 
better pasturage, they drive before them great herds of horses, which 
they 4.1 se both for fresh mounts and for fooci. They are warriors 
from the pure love of excitement and danger, and they declare "that 
the proudest attitude of the human figure is when, bending over his 
horse, man is riding at his enemy." Their most formidable weapon is a 
.spear, fully eighteen feet in length. They charge without saddle or 
bridle, hanging under their horses, with their great spears far in advance, 
yelling and shrieking in a way which throws into a panic any but the 
coolest horsemen and the best trained horses. On the other hand, their 
cries have the effect of urofinof on their own steeds, which are further 
transformed into irresistible tornadoes by a peculiar motion of their bodies. 
Between them and the Gauchos, a race principally of Spanish descent, 
the most implacable hatred exists. The Gauchos are magnificent riders, 
themselves, but admit that on the open plain they are not the equals of 
the Pampas — and of those long spears they are in constant fear. 

"In exposed districts, the white settlers are subject to raids from the 
Pampas, and often protect themselves by digging ditches around their 
frail fortifications. The Indian's horse will not leap such a startling 
thing (to him) as a ditch, and the Indians would as soon think of wear- 
ing a silk hat as of fighting on foot. But if the raid is successful, no 
lives are spared except those of comely girls. These captives become 
so fascinated with their wild, free life that a French officer of the Peru- 
vian army, who was passing through the Pampas' territory to chastise a- 
hostile tribe, found it impossible to induce some of them to return to 
their country, even offering them large sums of money if they would, in 
the meantime, act as interpreters. 

The only tim.es when the Pampas Indians come in close contact 
with European life are when they visit the towns and settlements to dis- 
pose of their peltry and ostrich feathers for knives, spurs and liquor. 
The preliminary step is to pass over all their dangerous weapons to their 
chief, and then get ingloriously drunk. They have neither money, nor 
any idea of weights and measures, but designate, by some mark of their 
own, the quantity of the commodity they require in exchange for their 
own stock. 

Before the introduction of horses and cattle by the Spaniards, the 



464 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Pampas were mountaineers, living in the eastern districts of Chili. They 
w ere even then more rude and savas^e in their manners than the Arau- 
canians, but were held in high esteem by their more civilized neighbors, 
on account of their fidelity and bravery as allies. They were called by 
them the Puelches, or eastern-men. With the possession of their horses 
and cattle, and the prolific increase of the wild herds, both subsistence 
and power were assured them, and they spread over the plains east of 
the Andes ; so that when the Spaniards built their first town, upon the 
site of the present city of Buenos Ayres, the Indians destroyed it and 
caused such terror that a second attempt at settlement was not made 
until nearly fifty years afterwards. 

THE GAUCHOS. 

The Gauchos are of pure Spanish origin, but their ways of life are 
so similar to those of the Pampas Indians, that it would be almost 
impossible to speak of one without the other. Their chief occupations 
are tending, marking and slaughtering cattle, and they have become as 
skillful with the bolas and the lasso as the wildest Indian of the plains. 
They often wield a bolas consisting of three stones, each fastened to a 
strap about six feet long, which is a fearful weapon. The three straps 
join in a center, and when the Gaucho throws the bolas he gives the 
balls a peculiar rotary motion, so that they fly asunder and go spinning 
through the air in the form of a triangle of about eight feet in diameter, or 
like some terrible devil fish of the air. If it meets with any resistance, 
the stones which are free, continue the rotary motion, the straps wind 
around the object, whether it be a man's body, a horse's or a bull's, and 
finally strike the victim with crushing effect. 

The use of both the bolas and the lasso is one of the earliest 
accomplishments of the Gaucho ; and little children armed with their 
miniature weapons make war upon the chickens, ducks and geese of the 
farmyard. In throwing the lasso the rider is obliged to be assisted by an 
intelligent and a trained horse. " Sometimes in the case of a furious ani- 
mal, the rider checks the horse and dismounts, while the bull is running 
out the length of his raw-hide rope. The horse wheels around and 
braces himself to sustain the shock which the momentum of the captured 
animal must inevitably give. The bull, not expecting to be brought up 
so suddenly, is thrown sprawling to the ground. Rising to his feet, he 
rushes upon the horse to gore him ; but the latter keeps at a distance, 
until the bull finding that nothing is accomplished in this way, again 
attempts to flee, when the rope a second time brings him to the ground. 
Thus the poor animal is worried until he is wholly within the power of his 
captor." 



THE GAUCHOS. 465 

" When cattle are caught by the lasso, which Is so thrown as to fasten 
on the horns, they will sometimes gallop round and round in a circle ; 
and if the horse be not well broken, being alarmed at the strain, he will 
not readily turn like a pivot, in consequence of which men have often 
been killed ; for if the lasso once takes a twist round the rider's body, it 
will instantly, from the power of the two opposed animals, almost cut him 
in twain." 

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost province of Brazil. It bor- 
ders upon Uruguay, and, like that country, consists principally of vast 
plains, over which great herds of cattle roam, from which is drawn so 
much of the meat supply of the empire ; and here the Gauchos and their 
lassoes are at the height of their glory. The women, also, are great 
"horsemen," often wearing a European riding habit, with body and 
sleeves. When not on horseback they wear a short skirt, tightly-fitting 
bodice, a shawl over the head, neck and shoulders, their arms being bare. 
Both sexes are tall and graceful, polite and hospitable, but give little heed 
to home life, preferring to sleep in the open air and live on horseback. 
Their dwellings are simply willow and mud huts, and, within, there are 
usually little more than a wooden bedstead with a skin mattress, over 
which are stretched two ropes to which the small children are lashed, a 
tea kettle and a few cups witli tin suction pipes. They live chiefly upon 
beef. Their lives, in fact, are like those of all the centaurs of South 
America, whether of Spanish or Indian blood. 

Although their Spanish blood makes them polite, the Gauchos are 
given to intemperance, are revengeful and blood-thirsty; so that as many 
murders are placed to their account as to that of the Indians. That they 
both have much blood to answer for is evident from the many crosses^ 
made by simply tying two pieces of wood together with straps, which are 
planted near the roadways of all the pampas; these rude crosses always 
mark the spots at which strangers or natives were murdered. In Uru- 
guay the Gauchos have virtually exterminated the aboriginal population. 
Yet there is leaven in their rudeness and wickedness ; for they are 
not only the Republicans of South America, but have steadily upheld 
democratic ideas for the past century. Especially the Basques are noted 
for their uncompromising independence, which has marked them amono- 
the Spaniards of Europe since the early years of Rome. The Basques 
who are considered the aborigines of the Spanish peninsula, form a large 
proportion of the Gauchos and of the entire population of the republics 
south of Brazil. From their ranks have come many able rulers and mil- 
itary leaders of the country. Perhaps the most noteworthy among them 

was General Rosas, of a noble family, who led the cattlemen of the 

3o 



466 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

pampas against the Indians and subdued them ; then conquered all his 
rivals, became governor of the province of Buenos Ayres, and refused 
further preferment until the dictatorship of the republic was offered him. 
This position he held for many years, his rule being cruel in the extreme, 
but able, as ability is gauged in such mixed communities. It is certain 
that under the guidance of his strong hand the country learned to walk, 
although the aristocratic, wealthy and refined classes were depressed. 

The Gauchos as a distinct class, or caste, are decreasing. For many 
years their blood was almost pure Spanish ; but they are now intermarry- 
ing, more or less, and others than Spaniards are assuming the duties of 
drivers and branders of cattle. Their rude, republican nature, however, 
has permeated the body politic, and, combined with the conservatism of 
the French wine merchants, the Italian mechanics and river men, and 
the Irish and English farmers, may eventually form a more stable gov- 
ernment than the Argentine Confederation has enjoyed. 

San Salvador, the capital of the Republic, is situated in a beautiful 
valley, far above the sea level, with extensive indigo and sugar planta- 
tions all around it. Oranges, lemons and pine apples also abound in the 
vicinity. The streets are broad and clean, and the comparatively modern 
appearance of the churches and public buildings, as well as the smallness 
of the city, is explained by the very conclusive fact that eight times it 
has been rebuilt upon its present site, because of ravages by earth- 
quakes. It was first founded in 1528. The volcano which has also 
been so destructively active is situated only three miles northwest of San 
Salvador. The Republic is foremost of the Central American States in 
the cause of education, and its capital has a prosperous university and a 
well-organized system of public schools; but the city and the country, 
as a whole, have not regained the standing which they enjoyed as a 
province of the Spanish Kingdom of Gautemala. 







THE TURKS. 

HE Turks are Tartars, and now exist in their purity in Turk- 
estan. Two or three of their great Asiatic empires have gone 
to pieces before the onslaught of the Mongols, the greatest 
one being that of the Seljuk Turks, which extended from the 
frontiers of China to Constantinople. Before the Christian 
era various Turkish tribes had wandered as far west as the 
Don. When the Seljuk empire, partly by the partition of 
its territory and partly by the power of the Mongols, went to 
pieces, in the thirteenth century, Othman, the son of the 
leader of a tribe of Turkomans, succeeded his father as chief, 
and afterwards received from the Sultan a portion of the province of 
Bithynia, south of the Black Sea. With this territory as a pivotal 
point he boldly led his forces into the Byzantine Empire, conquering 
several important provinces from the Roman Empire of the East, and, 
with his son, laying the foundation of the Othman, or Ottoman Empire. 

THE FOUNDERS OF THE EMPIRE. 




The Turkish writers have found almost a demi-god in Othman. 
He is said even to have had a vision of the future extent and glories of 
the empire, with the fall of Constantinople, which occurred 127 years 
after his death, although the Byzantine Empire, some time before, had 
been reduced to the limits of its capital and suburbs. The vision is 
thus reported : 

"As Othman reclined in slumber, the crescent moon appeared to 
rise above the horizon. As she waxed she incHned toward him ; at her 
full, she sunk, and concealed herself in his bosom. Then from him 
sprang a tree, which spread its boughs, so that they shaded the Cau- 
casus, and Atlas, the Taurus and the Him.alaya Mountains, which stood 
up as great pillars to a boundless, leafy pavilion. From the roots of 
the tree flowed forth the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile and the Dan- 
ube. All was Eden. Cities crowded with domes and cupolas, with 
pyramids and obelisks, with minarets and turrets, sprung from fertile 

467 



468 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

valleys, and the waters of the mighty rivers were covered with barks. 
Living fountains leaped from the mountains, which were covered with 
mighty forests, each leaf of which was a sword. Then arose a wind 
and drove all the points of the swords against the imperial capital, 
which at the conflux of two seas and two continents, like a diamond 
set between two sapphires and two emeralds, forms the most precious 
center-stone of the ring of universal empire.' " 

The successors of Othman were worthy of their father in warlike 
and administrative power, and nationalities and religions of the most 
diverse character were slowly welded into the body of the empire, or at 
least were content to rest under its powerful protection. His grandson 
was the founder of the janizaries, the famous royal body-guard of 
Greek soldiers who were originally taken in the wars of the Byzantine 
Empire and educated as Mohammedans and according to the military 
discipline of Turkey. To increase their number a law was afterwards 
made that every fifth year the children born of Christians living in the 
empire should be given up to the government. The law was enforced, 
and soon a splendidly drilled body of troops was in existence, some to 
guard the Sultan, others the palace, and the remainder to constitute a 
portion of the regular army. The troops were christened by a dervish, 
who in obedience to the commands of the Sultan blessed the army by 
passing his sleeve over the face of the foremost soldier and speaking 
these words : " Let them be called janizaries [new soldiers]. May their 
countenances be ever bright, their hands victorious and their swords 
keen. May their spears hang always over the heads of their enemies ; 
and wherever they go, may they return with a shining face." The new 
soldiers subsequently acquired such power that adventurers all over the 
world sought to enter their ranks, and as the regulations became more 
lax the janizaries became a dangerous body of men, plundering cities 
which they should have guarded and revolting against the Sultans 
themselves. At length, during the first portion of this century, those 
of them which were not massacred by the royal guards were sent into 
exile. 

THE APOSTLES OF MOHAMMEDANISM. 

Mohammedanism was carried into Asia Minor by the Arabian arms 
and extended far to the east, and, singular to relate, when the Seljuk and 
Ottoman Turks overran and conquered the same territory, they received 
Islamism from the subdued, instead of trying to impose their Tartar 
superstitions. The fascinating combination of religion and war which 
they found in Mohammedanism seemed to have been just what the Turks 



CHURCH AND STATE ONE. 469 

craved, and they therefore soon surpassed the Arabs themselves in the 
vigor with which they extended the faith. From the time of Mohammed 
II., who conquered Constantinople and was surnamed the Great and 
Victorious ; who brought beneath his sway two empires, twelve king- 
doms and two hundred cities, the world of Islamism has tacitly consented 
to the claim of the Turks that their Sultan is, in very truth, the successor 
of the prophet. 

He is superior to all law except the Koran, and to interpret that 
the muftis, mollahs and other priests form a body called the Ulema, at 
whose head is the Grand Mufti who is the only dignitary holding a life 
office. In all affairs of state concern, or grave importance, the Sultan is 
an autocrat, the province of the Ulema being almost confined to recom- 
mendations to the Porte, and to authority in private and family matters. 
Civil questions which come before them are decided, but such decisions 
can not be enforced except by the state. 

CHURCH AND STATE ONE. 

The power of the Ulema is not as great as it was in the first days 
of Mohammedanism ; in fact, the greatest privilege of the members con- 
sists in the exemption of their bodies and properties from punishment 
and confiscation. The Grand Mufti girds the Sultan with the sword 
when he ascends the throne, which is supposed to make that monarch 
truly the successor of the prophet. The Mufti's decision is also attached 
to the imperial decrees, although it is said to impart but little additional 
Aveight to them. It is as Lord of the faith, which is the basis of 
Turkish civilization and Turkish institutions that he is so powerful, and 
although many of his former temporal prerogatives have been taken 
away, the Ottoman Empire is still a subtle combination of Sultan, 
Grand Vizier and Ulema. Church and state are still one. 

The Grand Mufti ranks next to the Grand Vizier, who is president 
of the Council of Ministers, a body which corresponds to the European 
Cabinet. There is also a Council of State where new laws are discussed 
and which consists of fifty Mohammedan and Christian members chosen 
by the Sultan. The Chief of the Guard of Eunuchs is equal in rank with 
the Grand Vizier. 

The executive officers of the empire are governor-generals, gov- 
ernors, lieutenant-governors, mayors of villages (mukhtars), etc. Pro- 
vmcial governors, who generally hold the rank of oachas, formerly had 
the power of sentencing persons to death, but it has been taken away 
from them. The title pacha, pasha, or bashaw is applied to the governor 
of a province, a minister, or a commander of high rank in the army or 



470 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

navy. The grade of office was at one time determined by the number 
of horse tails which were carried before them in pubhc, this being their 
insignia ; but except in some of the African provinces this custom has 
been discontinued. 

TURKISH REFORMS. 

The Koran being the authority in government, reHgion and life, the 
average Turk is not prone to accord any privileges to non-believers, look- 
ing upon them as lawless characters as well as heretics. So, although 
the Sublime Porte has established mixed courts for settling cases between 
Mohammedans and non-Mohammedans, allows the latter to hold local 
offices, is establishing national schools, and has otherwise shown a slight 
regard for the broad ideas of the age, the Turkish officials, especially 
those who are far removed from the influence of foreign ambassadors, 
are as fanatical as ever. Foreigners, of whatever sect, can now hold real 
estate in their own names, some of the Armenians being among the most 
extensive land owners in the empire. Neither are non-Mohammedans 
liable to military service, but pay an exemption tax. 

The first decided impetus to the reformation of Turkish laws came 
from the efforts of Reschid Pacha, a native who was sent as ambassa- 
dor to France and England and afterwards became Grand Vizier. Many 
reforms had been inaugurated by the Sultan, but through the exertions 
of the Grand Vizier the sovereign agreed to give a constitution to the 
empire based upon a European model. On November 3, 1839, ^ S^^' 
eral congress was convened on the Plain of Roses, near Constanti- 
nople, and here, under the shelter of many pavilions, were collected all 
the pachas of the Ottoman Empire, the patriarchs of the Greeks and 
Armenians, the foreign ambassadors, the chief rabbi of the Jews, and 
numerous other persons of high distinction. In presence of the vast 
assemblage Reschid Pacha read the state paper which embodied the 
bill of rights granting, among other privileges, security of life and prop- 
erty to all persons of whatever religion. 

The successor of one Sultan, however, does not always feel bound to 
carry out all the reforms promised by his predecessor, and since these great 
promises were made there is hardly a Christian district of either Turkeys 
which has not revolted or protested, or appealed to some European 
power to see that justice was done. Sometimes the non-fulfillment of 
promises could be traced to the Turkish penchant for tortuosity, as 
exhibited in the Sultan, and often to the laxity or premeditated careless- 
ness of his governors. But the impetus was given in 1839, '^"^ each 
promise of the Porte to correct the abuses in the empire, which is put 



THE KORAN S SOLDIER. 



471 



upon record, is an additional lever placed in the hands of European 
powers to force the Ottoman Empire to advance the cause of religious 
toleration. The present Sultan is the thirty-fifth in descent from Othman 
and is intensely Mohammedan. 

THE KORAN'S SOLDIER. 

Although revengefulness is inveighed against in the Koran, and lib- 
erality, forbearance and love of peace are enumerated as among the 
virtues of the true believer, war against infidels is enjoined. He who is 
thus slain is a martyr. A deserter from the holy war has forfeited his 
material life and life eternal. 

Modern expounders of the law have based their teachings, more or 
less, on the humanitarianism which gleams from so many pages of the 
great book. Formerly enemies taken in 
battle by the Mohammedans were murdered. 
Then they were given a choice of embracing 
the faith or paying a tribute. The Koran 
nowhere teaches that man's end is foreor- 
dained from the beginning — that doctrine 
which has somehow taken hold of the Turkish 
nature and made it so reckless on the field of ^ 
battle — caution, in fact, is urged; foolhard- 
iness prohibited. 

WHAT FOREIGNERS HAVE DONE. 



The Turkish troops are divided into 
the regular army, the first reserve and the 
sedentary. The imperial guard at Con- 
stantinople hold the same rank as did the 
Janizaries before they disgraced themselves 




A TURKISH SOLDIER. 

But through the wise 
policy of the Porte in taking advantage of the best European ideas it 
can gather from English, German, American and French officers by 
employing them in the army and navy and advancing them to the high- 
est stations, the rank and file of the military are arriving at a good state 
of discipline and proficiency. The various military schools are also 
continually adding solidity and intelligence to the desperate courage of 
the Turkish soldier. 

The military, naval, artillery and medical schools, with their pre- 
paratory institutes, are all gratuitous. 

The present Sultan seems to trust much to German skill in the 



472 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

carrying out of reforms in his military organization, having engaged 
experts of that nation, also, to assist him in arranging reforms in other 
departments "which would develop the Mohammedan character of the 
Ottoman state, and at the same time satisfy Europe, and preclude future 
interference." Whether this can be done remains to be seen ; but it is 
not going too far to say that foreigners have made the modern army and 
navy of Turkey what they are, and are still improving them. 

SCHOOLS. 

The Mussulman public schools are of three classes, the primary or 
district schools, the rushdiyes, or high schools, and the schools of the 
mosques. The alphabet and reading of the Koran in Arabic are taught 
in the first, which are supported by private contributions, but open to 
all ; in the second the scholars learn to write in Turkish and are taught 
arithmetic, geography and Turkish history. From the schools or uni- 
versities of the city mosques are graduated, at thirty-five or forty years 
of age, the muftis, cadis, mollahs, and other Mohammedan teachers, 
who are usually proficient in Turkish, Arabic and Persian. 

THE KORAN'S LAWS. 

The Koran urges strict faithfulness in the discharge of private con- 
tracts, but recommends the creditor to remit all debts. Bankruptcy or 
inability to work ccmpletely discharges the claim. Usury is prohibited 
and the drinking of wine. All games of chance are forbidden and a 
gambler's testimony is not received in a court of law. Chess and games 
of skill are allowed, if they do not interfere with religious devotions. 
Murder is either punished by death or a fine, except the slain be a child 
or an infidel. The Koran orders theft of no less value than half a crown 
to be punished by cutting off the chief offending limb, the right hand ; 
next in order are the left foot, left hand, and the right foot. An 
unchaste woman is to be imprisoned for life, the man to bring four 
witnesses to the fact, and, in case he can not, to receive four-score stripes. 

The letter of the law, as promulgated in the Koran has not been 
strictly followed, but modifications have been made to meet a different 
order of things than that which existed in Mohammed's time. As to the 
drinking of liquor many Moslems are intemperate, but the bulk of them 
refuse even to make use of the proceeds of the sale of wine or grapes, 
and some are so strict as even to include opium, coffee and tobacco in 
the prohibition. Under the Turkish law the murderer is punished with 
death, whether his victim be a child or a Christian. There is no cutting 



WHAT PART THE WOMAN PLAYS. - 473 

off of limbs for theft, but the bastinado, imprisonment, fine and hard 
labor have been substituted. Many of the punishments for crime which 
the Koran orders should consist of stripes are still in force. The bas- 
tinado is therefore a product of the Koran. 

WHAT PART THE WOMAN PLAYS 

Like all other institutions of Turkey the Harem has its authority 
for existence in the Koran. Mohammed claimed, and the Koran speci- 
fied that a true believer miorht have four wives and a number of concu- 
bine slaves ; that God allowed him more as a special privilege. The 
decree of divorce is promulgated by the husband who need only say, 
" Thou art divorced"; but if he ventures to pass this sentence three 
times he can not receive his wife back until she has become a widow, or 
been divorced from another man. Mere dislike is a sufficient ground 
for divorce, on the man's part. The woman, on the other hand, unless 
she can prove some gross abuse, is bound to the man forever ; if she 
legally and justly obtain a divorce she loses a part or the whole of her 
dowry. A legal marriage consists merely in a declaration of intention 
by persons of suitable age before two witnesses and the payment of a 
portion of the dowry, to the amount of at least five shillings. A Mos- 
lem man may marry a non-believer ; a woman never. Whatever the 
wife's faith the children are Mohammedans; if she is a non-believer she 
cannot inherit at her husband's death. 

With such regulations as these in force it seems a mockery of every- 
thing sacred in family life when we learn that the harem isthe "sanc- 
tuary"; and this without taking into account the degradations and cor- 
ruptions of the life there passed. But the Koran furnishes a pretext 
for its establishment in the following passage : " And speak unto the 
believing women, that they restrain their eyes, and preserve their mod- 
esty, and discover not their ornaments, except what necessarily appear- 
eth thereof ; and let them throw their veils over their bosoms, and not 
show their ornaments unless to their husbands, or their fathers, or their 
husbands' father, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, 
or their brothers' sons," etc., etc. 

It is the testimony of many Mohammedan women that they con- 
sider their seclusion a tribute to their value ; but they are gradually set- 
ting their faces against polygamy, although " in frequent instances the 
wife who will not tolerate a second spouse in the harem will permit the 
husband to keep concubines for the sake of having them wait upon her." 
This statement gives the clue to the position of the average Mohamme- 



474 * PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

dan woman in the Turkish world. Centuries of education have forced 
her to the conclusion that she is a creature merely to be amused, waited 
upon, bathed, perfumed, kept from the world's gaze, hoarded for her hus- 
band. So she is often placed in the upper rooms of a building which is 
shabby enough below, but fitted up above with baths and fountains, rich 
couches and silk draperies ; everything which can please her senses and 
those of her luxurious and aesthetic lord. 

THE TURK AT HOME. 

Once a week the Turk's araba, or family coach, drawn by white 
oxen whose foreheads are dyed red or pink, appears at his home and 
the negro duennas conduct his wife, painted also and veiled, and his 
children with their small red fez, to the strangfe lookino- vehicle with 
its canopy which is likewise of red. The araba has a scaffolding of poles 
around it and is cushioned within, so that when it commences to slowly 
bump along over the abominable streets something will be left of the 
precious freight, which appears from without like a great jumble of veils, 
silks, fans, negresses and fezzan. The ridiculousness of this solemn 
airing is intensified by the meekness of the steeds, who, besides drawing 
the load, being weighed down by huge wooden collars, are covered with 
great black and red tassels and steel ornaments, and with red cords which 
run to the oxen's tails where they are artistically looped. If the Turk 
is of very high standing he will have in attendance a mounted black 
eunuch, dressed in a costly fez, handsome cashmere clothes, patent 
leather boots and overalls— with swollen, pale black lips, lusterless 
eyes, and a savage looking face. 

To tell the truth, although a division of the matter has been made 
to designate the time when the Turk Is not away from his house, if he 
is a gentleman of high degree he has no such place as home, in the 
Anglo-Saxon sense. The poor Mussulman has only one or two rooms 
for himself and family, and is obliged to stay with his wife and children. 
Those of the middle class commence by setting off two or three rooms 
from the women's quarters, which they call the selamlik — the apartment 
for the men and place of reception. As the ascent is made, socially, 
into the ranks of the pachas, ministers or army officers, the line of 
demarkation and the severe separation of the husband from his wife, 
becomes more marked. 

The selamlik of a grandee is a separate building from the palatial 
harem, with its iron gates, grated windows and a garden surrounded by 
a high wall. A passage way, inclosed with iron gratings, often connects 
the two. This is closely guarded by a eunuch who allows no one to 



THE BRIDE OF THE HAREM. 475 

pass into the harem but the proprietor, his sons or other near relatives. 
The women, on their side, have their own receptions, intrigues and 
private affairs, and the pachas, with their friends and domestics, live 
their own lives also. During the day the husband is out visiting his 
friends and retainers, or engaged in political discussions. Toward eve- 
ning he repairs to his harem, being accompanied to his own building by 
his aides-de-camp and gentlemen of his suite, and is admitted to the 
•'Dwelling of Bliss" by a eunuch, who throws open the door with much 
ceremony. In the hall he is received by his favorite wife, or directress 
of the harem, and introduced to the inner chambers where he usually 
remains long enough to put on his dressing gown and pelisse of ermine fur. 

He then returns to the selamlik, reclines upon a divan and is ready 
to have the hem of his robe kissed by his friends and flatterers who take 
their places in line before him. After drinking his bottle of " raki," 
eating his dried raisins and filberts, and smoking several pipes, he con- 
ducts his troop to the dining hall. There they do him continuous 
reverence and he is ever crying in a loud and patronizing voice, " Eat my 
friends, eat!" After dinner they all return to the reception room, coffee 
and pipes, social and political gossip follow until late in the evening, 
when the pacha returns to the harem to sleep. 

The eunuch watch-dog receives him again, and, with lights in his hand, 
precedes him to his wife's apartment. Late in the morning he is 
dressed and bathed by his slaves and then remains for a few minutes to 
talk to the members of his harem, hastily departing to rejoin his 
sycophants. 

THE BRIDE OF THE HAREM. 

Having determined upon the marriage of their daughter, the 
betrothal ceremony is inaugurated by the parents of the girl, who order 
their Circassian slaves to surround her like a prisoner of state. The 
maiden disappears into the inner apartment, and is soon brought forth 
attired in a rich robe, her head and neck covered with jewels, and con- 
ducted into a large room, where are assembled friends and relatives of 
the contracting parties, but not the principal himself. He sends instead 
splendid cashmere shawls and embroidered carpets, which are laid at 
the feet of the future bride. This is succeeded by a prayer and the 
reading of the marriage contract, to which two witnesses of the future 
husband require the girl's assent. Whether the maiden, or one of her 
parents, or a relative gives consent to the marrriage, these convenient 
witnesses do not care to know, so are usually placed behind a folding 
door or a screen. The future mother-in-lav/ next steps forward and 



47^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

crowns the future happy or unhappy bride wi a diadem of jewels, after 
which the guests attack the sweets and sherbets, fruits and other refresh- 
ments which are placed before them. 

Upon the eve of the marriage a grand reception is given in the 
harem, at which are assembled her friends and acquaintances, and, it 
may be, the sister wives. She is conducted by them to the bath and 
the tips of her fingers are painted, which ceremony is supposed to indi- 
cate her joy at her approaching change in life. Around the harem she 
is then led, with lighted candles, and the rollicking females conclude 
the festivities with a supper. 

In the morning of the great day the girl is again loaded with a 
richly embroidered dress, a diadem, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and 
shoes are placed upon her feet, sometimes sparkling with pearls and 
diamonds. All this is done that she may be conducted to her father, 
that he may clasp a belt round her waist, give her his blessing and 
invoke the protection of Heaven upon her. As she leaves his presence 
the spectators are showered with money, which is supposed to bring 
her good luck, financially. From her father she goes to her mother-in- 
law elect, who covers her face with a rose-colored veil. 

In the meantime relatives and invited guests of both families have 
assembled either in the selamlik of the father or future husband, and 
the priest has said his prayers and particularly blessed the bridegroom. 
Scarcely have the last words left the lips of the holy man before the 
groom has broken away from his friends and been pursued by many of 
them toward the door of the harem. He usually allows them to over- 
take him and receives, laughingly, several blows upon the back — their 
way of bidding him adieu as a bachelor. 

Being admitted to the harem he finds awaiting him a veiled and 
dazzling figure, which he conducts to the nuptial chamber, with its divan 
of red velvet embroidered in gold, its doors and windows draped with 
silk curtains, and richer than all else a rose-colored canopy, sparkling 
with golden stars and surmounted with a wreath of flowers. Having 
seated " it " upon " its " throne, the Turk retires, for the time has not 
yet arrived when he can raise the rose-colored veil. After his departure 
the crowd press around the girl and also enter a second apartment, ''the 
chamber of the trousseau," wherein are spread her riches, such as toilet- 
table, massive silver dinner service, linen embroidered in gold, mirrors, 
slippers, cups covered with diamonds, clocks and costly velvets. 

Before the bridegroom can lift the veil from the face of the figure 
he is oblieed to follow the invitation of the " mistress of the ceremonies 
of the nuptial chamber," who spreads before him a praying carpet, gold- 



ON THE STREET. 477 

embroidered and magnificent. His short prayer finished, he approaches 
the figure upon her divan throne and beseeches her three times to grant 
him the favor of seeing her face ; having accompHshed his object, he 
rewards her by presenting her with a rich gift, often fastening in her hair 
some jeweled ornament. The bond is not considered firmly cemented 
until gifts have been exchanged, after the marriage, between father-in- 
law and son-in-law, and between mother-in-law and bride ; and usually 
the next day succeeding the marriage, the bride is introduced into mat- 
ronly society by means of the " Fete of legs of mutton," of which feast 
all the married ladies of her acquaintance partake. 

Lying side by side with his peculiar ideas of sanctity and the mar- 
riage relationship, is the unaffected veneration and love of the Turk for 
his mother. Wife and children are quite secondary. . " But there can be 
but one mother," he says ; and wdien she dies, Turk though he be, he 
does not attempt to dissemble his grief. 

ON THE STREET. 

Before the Turk returns to his home, it matters not what his occu- 
pation or errand, he will invariably lounge at some favorite fountain, and 
in Constantinople they are a legion. They stand in the court yards of the 
mosques, at the river sides, in the public squares, and the smaller ones, 
which often descend to the modesty of mere water taps, from every con- 
venient wall. The larger ones always have a broad overhanging roof, 
which furnishes the deep shade in which bathe the beggars with their 
alms-dishes and brisk tongues ; soldiers chatting with water carriers or 
the keepers of the fountains in their cool inner chamber ; red-sashed 
Greek servants watching the water slowly rise to the rims of their copper 
vessels ; black nurses with their little charges ; pigeons, street arabs, 
stupid opium eaters ; old dreamy Turks seated on the stone benches and 
leaning on their canes, and fruit venders with their baskets of peaches 
and grapes, whom our Turk patronizes if he has not his pockets full 
already. 

The fountains of Turkey, and especially of Constantinople, are 
a striking evidence of that humanity and kindness of heart which are 
found in the Turkish nature side by side with so much natural cruelty. 
It is on a par with their treatment of dogs and pigeons, and seems to be 
a universal and delicate way of bestowing pleasure and alms upon the 
world and the beggar. In all the villages of the Bosporus they also 
abound, covered with inscriptions and carvings, but no human figure is 
ever outlined — the Koran forbids that. The fountains even are a part 
of Mohammedanism, and inscribed upon a panel in front of the building 



478 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

may often be read something like this : " Rest, O traveler, for this is 
the fountain of enjoyment ; rest here, as under the shadow of the plane 
tree, for this roof casts a shade as deep as that of the cypress, but with 
more of joy. Sultan , he whose glory is as the sun, and his gener- 
osity perpetually increasing, like the tree of life, has reared this kiosk 
and stamped it with his signet ring. The water flows unceasingly like 
his benevolence, as well for the king as the beggar, the wise man and 
the fool. The first of all the blessings of Allah is water." 

If our Turk has far to travel over the uneven, loosely paved streets 
of the city, he will stop before a little stand near the fountain, whose 
presiding genius is a grave Armenian vender of sherbet and iced lemon- 
ade. Over his crushed cherries and currants, his lemons, ice, funnels 
and tumblers, is spread a green umbrella, and there in a tight white 
jacket, brown breeches, bare arms and dirty fez, the merchant sits on a low 
stool dispensing his drinks, methodically and calmly, as if his sole desire 
were to do his duty without thought of self. The Turkish letter-writer 
is near by, if our Turk upon the street has some particularly delicate 
piece of correspondence of which he wishes to acquit himself with credit, 
he will sit down beside the open-faced professional, state his case and 
see his letter written. 

If his errand is to purchase a pipe or a pair of slippers, or anything 
under the sun out of that booth, behind the sloping counter of which 
sits a cross-legged Turk, he will be detained for many a long minute ; 
for although the proprietor is assisted by either a Greek or an Armenian 
boy, who hauls clown the goods from the shelf, leaving the Turk to do 
the heavy financial work, if he consider that his sale is doubtful he will 
send out for cooling drinks, or offer his customer a fragrant pipe of 
tobacco or cup of coffee before proceeding to business. Near by this 
scheming Turkish financier are shops where the wanderer (whose busi- 
ness we can not ascertain) may buy wooden clogs, to be used by his wife 
or wives in his bath rooms, a crimson fez with a blue tassel for himself, 
or a cup of coffee and a single "smoke " out of a long Turkish pipe. 

The Turkish bazars, as all those of the East, are divided into sec- 
tions occupied by different trades. All the shops are under one roof, 
and the whole city of trade is divided into streets, with the fountains, 
coffee booths and fruit stands which are seen outside. Entrance to the 
bazar is through a low stone archway, which, when the day's business is 
over, is closed with cumbrous iron doors. If our Turkish wanderer 
enters here he will not reach home before nightfall. And when he is 
fairly on his way, such bowlders as he has to walk over ; the streets are like 
the dry beds of mountain torrents, which he is obliged to traverse ! This 



THE TURKISH GRAVE-VARDS 47g 

is not the greatest of his trials, either, although being a thorough-going 
Turk, he will not suffer such bewilderment as the uninitiated. " Imagine 
a continuous stream of ox-carts, water carriers and oil carriers, ass drivers, 
bread sellers, carriages with Turkish ladies, pachas and their mounted 
retinue, pack-horses, children and Circassian loungers. Then on every 
vacant spot strew praying dervishes, sleeping, couchant or rampant wild 
dogs, melon stalls and beggars, throw up above a ball of solid fire and 
call it the sun, and you have some small idea of the delight of walking 
in the "Dying Man's City." 

THE TURKISH GRAVE-YARDS. 

And as one speaks of the " Dying Man's City " he is forcibly reminded 
of that "dead man's city," which with its dark cypress trees encircles the 
whole of Constantinople. In this belt of grave-yards the Turk is buried 
as a Mohammedan, not as a private individual, and famil}^ lots and family 
vaults are unknown. His grave is left open, or, at least, only loosely 
covered with boards, the body, uncoffined, being lightly covered with 
earth. This apparent carelessness is religiously observed, that the angels 
who examine him as to his faith may not be delayed in reaching him, 
If he prove a believer they depart and he sinks into Paradise, while if 
his tendencies prove to be heretical he is beaten with iron maces, and 
his great sins and little faults change respectively into dragons and 
scorpions which torture him throughout eternity. That his fate may be 
decided as soon as possible, and also that the pall-bearers may perchance 
have several of their sins forgiven (which is promised to him who carries 
the corpse of a true believer but forty paces), the body is borne to the 
grave eagerly and with great haste ; often the bearers run with their burden. 

The grave-yard seems an interminable expanse of white stones, 
crowned with stone turbans or painted red fez, tipped at all angles and in 
all stages of decay, and cut by wide dusty roads, with the gloomy cypress 
minarets rising everywhere and pointing to the sky. New graves are 
being dug ; veiled mourners are bowing over earthen mounds, watching 
the jasmine flower or the rose Avith its "paradise of leaves," set in the 
little chiselled-out water saucers or the tombstones that are scooped out 
for that special purpose; the omnipresent coffee shed is near by, for the 
refreshment of the mourners ; over other tombs dervishes are writhing 
and praying ; and along the dust)' roads go travelers of all nations on their 
way to Constantinople. 

WITHIN THE MOSOUE. 

In religious ceremonials the Koran is followed to the letter. Im- 



480 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

mersion upon special occasions and ablutions before prayer, either with 
water, dry dust or sand, are strictly enjoined. The ground or the 
carpet, upon which the Mohammedan kneels five times a day, must also 
be clean. His seasons of prayer are about sunset, at nightfall, about 
day-break, about noon and after noon. We specify "about" in the 
case of sunset, day-break and noon, for if the believer were to pray 
exactly at these times he is fearful that he would be confounded with 
those who worship the sun. The worshiper's face is turned toward 
Mecca, the interior wall of the mosque marking that direction being 
distinguished by a niche. Women are not actually forbidden to enter 
the mosque, but their presence is considered harmful to true devotion 
and they are practically excluded. 

The times of prayer are announced from the minarets of the 
mosques by the mueddins, or officials appointed for that purpose. 
" Their chant, sung to a very simple but solemn melody, sounds har- 
moniously and sonorously down the height of the mosque through the 
mid-day din and roar of the cities, but its impression is one of the most 
strikingly poetical in the stillness of the night." At intervals the mued- 
dins chant these words : " Allah is most great. I testify that there is 
no God but Allah. 1 testify that Mohammed is the apostle of Allah. 
Come to prayer. Come to security. Allah is most great. There is no 
deity but Allah." In the morning is added, " Prayer is better than 
sleep." The mueddins are generally blind, as, otherwise, they would 
have too free a view of surrounding terraces and harems. 

The five daily prayers are said at home on week days. Friday is 
the Moslem Sabbath and on that day the mosque is crowded by all classes. 
Within are no seats, the floor being covered with mats or carpets. 
Sentences of the Koran are inscribed upon the whitewashed walls, and 
in the direction of Mecca is the niche toward which all faces are turned 
in prayer and before which the congregation arrange themselves in par- 
allel rows. Toward the southeast is a pulpit, and opposite the pulpit a 
desk upon which is placed the Koran. On entering, the Moslem 
removes his shoes, carries them in his left hand, sole to sole, and placing 
his right foot first over the threshold, performs his ablutions, and con- 
cludes by putting his shoes and any arms he may have with him upon 
the matting before him. He is faithful in his devotions, but having 
prayed he is authorized by his faith to engage in trade, if necessary, and 
it is even not required that he should conduct his business outside of 
the mosque. When services are not in progress a group of Moham- 
medan merchants will often be observed trying to turn an honest 
penny. 



OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE. 48 1 

OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE. 

In the center of the outer court is usually a square solid fountain 
basin, guarded by slender pillars and a tent-like roof, which is also 
crowned with a star or crescent. The water escapes by taps, and the 
water-carriers are sitting- upon the steps to gossip, while the pigeons 
which make their homes in the thousand cornices and niches of the 
mosque, are flitting round the fountain. Near by will sometimes be 
seated a ragged old Turk, and beside him a chest of millet seed. For a 
slight consideration he dips out a cupful and rattles the iron hasp of the 
chest ; dark clouds of the birds respond by dropping from every dome, 
minaret, crescent and niche of the mosque and fountain, and crowding 
and pushing for their spoils. 

Another beggar, before the mosque is left behind, obtains his point 
by pure Mohammedan eloquence. "Alms quench sin," he cries, "as 
water quenches fire. Alms shut the seventy gates of hell. At the 
gates of paradise stands an angel crying continually, ' Whoso giveth 
alms to-day shall be rewarded of God to-morrow.' Generosity is a tree 
by which men climb into" — 

FASTING AND PILGRIMAGES. 

None are exempt from fasting except the sick, travelers, and sol- 
diers in time of war ; in other words, every one is to fast whose health 
will not be injured by it. The great season of fasting is during the 
month of Ramadan, which often falls in mid-summer, so that it is espe- 
cially hard for the devotees to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, 
bathing or inhaling refreshing perfumes from daybreak until sunset; 
after that time until morning they can feast to their satisfaction. At 
the end of the sacred month it is customary to bestow a measure of 
provisions upon the poor. There is also annual alms-giving of cattle, 
money, fruit and wares. The duty of giving alms is next to prayer ; 
then comes fasting and the pilgrimage to Mecca. 

Mecca, the holy city, is in the midst of a desolate country forty 
miles from the Red Sea. Within its great mosque is the " Kaaba,'' a 
square stone temple said to have been built by Abraham, and within 
the Kaaba is the black stone which the true Mohammedan believes was 
brought by the angel Gabriel. When the pilgrim has arrived at the 
goal of his desires, he passes seven times round the Kaaba, reciting 
verses and psalms in honor of God and the prophet, and kissing each 
time the sacred stone. The pilgrimage to Mt. Ararat, thirty miles south 
of the city, is also undertaken by the truly zealous. 

31 



482 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

It was formerly the custom after the great fast of Ramadan for 
three immense caravans from Cairo, Damascus and Arabia to set out 
for Mecca. During some years these pilgrims have numbered 100,000 
souls, with 150,000 camels. They have always combined business with 
their devotions, carrying with them camels loaded with the choicest of 
goods to exchange for the spices and riches of the East. Mecca has 
therefore been a city of no small commercial importance, although 
since the mosque was stripped of its magnificence and the tomb of 
Mohammed destroyed by the Arabian dissenters, the Wahabees, it has 
declined both as a sacred and a commercial city. 

THE DERVISHES 

These singular and fraudulent monks of Mohammedanism, the der- 
vishes, are found wherever the faith is. The dancing or whirling der- 
vishes are said to have had as their founder a Persian poet, who spun 
around for four days without nourishment, while his companion played 
the flute. The howling dervishes howl, writhe, and foam at the mouth 
during their religious paroxysms, in remembrance of a crazy sheik some- 
body who did the same thing centuries ago. They gather in communi- 
ties, monasteries, or villages, in charge of a sheik, and twice a week 
throw open their churches to whoever wishes to come in and see the per- 
formances. A wire gallery or apartment is often reserved for Turkish 
ladies who may wish to attend. Loungers and curiosity-seekers, Per- 
sians, Americans and Englishmen, repair to the dancing dervishes, and 
enjoy a season of Punch and Judy. The flute furnishes the music, and 
the dervishes, who twirl, and twist, and glide about in their church arena, 
continue this kind of worship until the music or their breath ceases. 

" Deeper grew the mystery, deeper the expectation," says a witness 
of the spectacle, "as the Koran reader above the gallery began the 
appointed chapters of Mohammed's fervid rhapsody, half ejaculation, 
half hymn ; and the brotherhood commenced slowly pacing procession- 
ally round the enclosure, past the sheik, who gave them each his bene- 
diction as they went by. But before this each of the dervishes had 
peeled off his dressing-gown robe, untwisted his scarf-girdle, and handed 
them to an old brother, who seemed to act as master of ceremonies ; and 
they appeared lithe and active, though differing in age and degree of 
corpulence, from the mere stripling to the heavy twelve-stoner, already 
perspiring by mere anticipation. Now crossing their arms on their 
breast, placing the right hand on the left shoulder, they began to file 
past the sheik, bowing as they passed him ; then turning to bow to the 



THE DERVISHES. 483 

next comer, who, in his turn, bowed too, both to his predecessor and 
successor. Now, the master of ceremonies having, collected on his arm 
piles of cloaks, the barefooted men prepare for the dance by tucking 
one flap of their white jackets within the other, and stretching out their 
arms horizontally, the right hand pointing downwards, and the left 
stretched upAvards for balance and counterpoise. Then slowly pivoting 
round, one after the other, the dervishes began to get in motion, their 
naked feet performing skillfully a sort of waltzing step, which increased 
in speed as the music of the flute grew faster and faster. The most 
astonishing part of the mystical circling dance was that, although the 
dozen or fourteen men twirled all around the enclosure, they never 
touched each other — no, not even the fringe of each other's garments." 
One order of the dervishes either dress in costumes of many colors, 
or in sheepskins about the loins, the upper part of the body being painted 
in a way to inspire curiosity or awe. The dervishes mortify the flesh, 
pray and rave on the corners of the streets, or take the parts of jugglers 
and mountebanks, and wander from country to country, being lodged 
and fed in convents of their order. They are always bare-breasted and 
bare-legged and wear coarse robes, as badges of their poverty and 
liumility. Begging is generally forbidden among the orders, one of 
their rules (which goes somewhat lame) being that each dervish must 
support himself by the labor of his own hands. In some respects the 
dervishes are like monks ; in others the distinction is sharp. With the 
exception of one order they may all marry and reside with their families, 
being only required to act with their religious fellows two nights in the 
week. Their dwelling places may be within or without the monasteries, 
l)ut they are always grouped' into companies under charge of sheiks. In 
addition to the Ramadan, they observe a weekly fast, peculiar to them- 
selves, " Religous orders similar to the dervishes are traced in the East 
beyond the Christian era, and tradition assigns many of the existing 
brotherhoods to the earliest days of Islam, the foundation of some 
being sttributed to the caliph Ali ; but it is doubtful if any of them are 
older than the ninth century. The Marabouts among the Mohamme- 
dans of the Barbary states (and Arabia) are similar to the dervishes." 
Wherever Mohammedanism holds sway in Western Asia the dervish is 
found working at his trade. He is as easily recognized on the shores of 
the Mediterranearf Sea as of the Indian Ocean. And the Turk is a 
Turk the world over, certain statements applying to him whether he is a 
European or an Asiatic, 



484 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

SAVING REMNANTS. 

But within the Ottoman Empire there are races which have traits 
pecuHar to themselves. They are not Turks and never will be. They 
have faces and ideas of their own and are merely living in the empire ; 
they are no part of it, considered as a Tartar despotism. They are peo- 
ple who descend from the primitive Semitic stock ; who cleave to one 
wife and punish impurity with decapitation ; who are among the earliest 
followers of Christ as they understand his teachings ; who worshiped 
their God and believed in their prophet thousands of years before Jesus 
or Mohammed came to the world ; who have seen mighty empires and 
races of men sifted over the face of the earth and yet are able to hold up 
their heads as strong people, albeit they are politically nothing. They 
are the saving remnants of the Semitic race, representing the survival of 
the fittest and the weather beaten rocks which have withstood their 
worst storms. Wherever the original home of the race may have been, 
the events which prove most momentous to Indo-European civilization 
were enacted on the shores of the Mediteranean Sea, within the present 
limits of Syria. 






THE SYRIANS. 

HEN Greece was young and Rome was not born, Syria 
was a M'ealthy land, her coast cities being centers of a vast 
commerce and civilization. Tyre and the Phoenicians include 
their greatest features. Berytus, or Beyrout, was among her 
famous ports ; and although Sidon and Tyre have disappeared, 
and her ancient prominence has been dimmed by the ruth- 
less hands of many conquerors, the city bids fair to rise to 
eminence now that the Suez Canal is drawing the trade of 
two hemispheres through the Mediterranean Sea and the 
Persian Gulf. Nineveh and Babylon are fallen, but the 
Tigris, the Euphrates and the Jordan remain as possible arteries of 
trade, while all around is the country which the Turks say is " the 
odor of Paradise," the Hebrews, "a garden planted by God for the first 
man," and the Arabs, a land "where the mountains bear winter on their 
heads, autumn on their shoulders, spring in their bosoms, while summer 
is ever sleeping at their feet." 

Beyrout is the natural commercial port of Syria and a favorite city 
of the Roman emperors. It was called the Nurse of the Law, for the 
Roman jurisprudence was ably taught in its schools. Portions of beau- 
tiful pavements and columns are still seen in its gardens and on the sea 
shore. It was destroyed in the Roman wars and rebuilt by Augustus, 
who still considered it a gem of his empire. It was from Beyrout, also, 
that the vir^rin was sent to the drasfon, whom St. Georgfe slew about ten 
minutes' walk from the city. Out in the sea is Cyprus where the lovely 
goddess rose from the ocean. Spots of historic interest, better authenti- 
cated, are grouped all around. Tyre and Acre are on the coast. Opposite 
is Carmel, and a few hours away Nazareth, Mount Tabor and Genes- 
areth. The Druse and Maronite villages cover the mountains for many 
miles east and north of it. Twelve hours distant is Damascus, and 
Baalbek is forty miles away. 

The modern city is built upon the slope of a hill which overlooks 
the sea, having as a background the bold peaks of Mount Lebanon, 
Mulberry gardens, orange and citron groves, palms, mosques, light flat- 

485 



486 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



roofed houses painted in lively colors, terraces filled with flowers, blend 
into a charming picture. Its bazars are filled with goods of the East and 
the West, and Armenian, Druse, Maronite, Turk, Greek and Arab are 
all there or strolling along their favorite sea-shore walk. Besides being 
a commercial point of no mean standing the city is becoming quite a 
resort for tourists and invalids. Its citizens are wide-awake, metropoli- 
tan and always picturesque. The accompanying cut gives a good idea 
of their average appearance. 

The plain of Beyrout stretches out to the east, covered with every 
variety of foliage — the orange, date, fig, pine, — and sweet with 
hyacinths and gillyflowers ; and still beyond it is Mount Lebanon, cut 

up into deep ravines and charming valleys, 
the particular home of those mysterious peo- 
ple the Druses and Maronites. One of 
their mixed villages called Beit-Miry is a 
summer resort for many of the Europeans of 
Beyrout. Other villages, more distant, are 
frequently visited by tourists ; but those 
occupied by the Druses alone are not so 
often entered. 

THE DRUSES. 

In the northern and central portions of 
Syria are the Druses, who are supposed to 
be a conglomeration of Kurds, Persians and 
Arabians. They hold exclusive possession 
of about 1 20 villages and share 200 more 
with the Maronites. Among the mountains 
of the Lebanon a religion slowly grew, which, in the eleventh century, 
was personified in a caliph of Egypt, who proclaimed at Cairo that the 
spirit of God was incarnate in him. The new faith was not wel^ 
received outside of Syria, and the caliph's confessor and one of his dis- 
ciples, a Persian, retired to the mountains and deserts of the Lebanon, 
and there established the religion Avhich the Druses now profess. It i$ 
a strange combination of Judaism, Christianity and Mohammedism,^ 
but is founded upon the unusual basis of strict exclusiveness, separa- 
tion from heretics, veracity to each other only, and mutual protection 
and assistance. The unity of God is the great tenet of their faith. 
They call themselves, in fact. Unitarians. 

For eight hundred years they have retained a distinct religion and 
nationality, not seeking to extend their power, but to hold fast to that 




A SYRIAN. 



THE DRUSES. 



487 



which they have. They are, however, divided into two classes, those 
initiated into the mysteries of the faith and the uninitiated. The former 
are moral and abstain from all luxuries and personal adornments. The 
latter are free from all religious duties and are, if anything, prone to 
dress. Polygamy is unknown, and the general morality of the Druses 
is said to be above the average of eastern sects. The. wife's rights are 
maintained. She can own personal property, chooses her own'^husband, 
and if divorced retains her half of the dower. 

The Druses have their princes, chiefs and common people. They 
pay a stated sum to the Sublime Porte, but are as nearly independent 
as any people who live in 
the empire. Their villages 
are usually placed at the 
entrances, to passes, the 
houses rising tier upon tier, 
sometimes one village 
almost overlapping another, 
and the whole mountain 
side being covered with 
habitations and artificial 
gardens. Their churches 
are usually some distance 
away, jealously guarded 
from intrusion, and their 
u k k a 1 s (who are the 
initiated, or religious teach- 
ers) see to it that neither 
stranger nor infidel pene- 
trates the mysteries of their 
worship. The people are simple in their habits and generally well 
educated and industrious. The sheiks often labor with the common 
people, but sometimes live in state. Some of them are artisans, but the 
bulk of the population cultivate the mulberry, olive and vine upon their 
terraced hill-sides, and the women spin and weave at home. Silk is 
the chief manufacture. 

The Druses are divided into a number of tribes who are often at 
war with each other, but when danger threatens from without they unite 
under the leadership of the emir, or prince, and from their mountain 
homes bid defiance to the Sultan himself. Questions of peace and war 
are determined, in a way, by popular vote, the prince calling a general 




VILLAGE OF SYRIA. 



488 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



assembly on some mountain height, in which every sheik and peasant of 
any standing is entitled to a voice. When war has been determined 
criers often ascend the summits of the mountains, shouting in aloud 
voice : " To war ! to war ! Take your guns. Take your pistols. Noble 
sheiks, mount your horses. Arm yourselves with lance and saber. Gather 
to-morrow at Dair el-Kamar (once their capital). Zeal of God ! Zeal of 
combat ! "• 

The hardy peasants, with their muskets and little bags of flour, their 
legs bare, and wearing short coats, promptly assemble under their chosen 
leaders. They are skillful marksmen, intrepid when brought to close quar- 
ters, but fighting mostly from behind rocks and bushes, and trusting to 
their success in skillful ambuscades. 

The common dress of the men is a coarse black woolen cloak, with 
white stripes, thrown over a waistcoat, and loose, short trowsers of the 

same stuff, tied around the waist by a white 
or red linen sash. On the head is worn a 
flat, turnip-shaped turban. The women wear 
a coarse blue jacket and petticoat, without 
any stockings, and a sort of winding hood 
and veil, their hair being plaited and hang- 
incr down behind. 

The Druse women generally have fair 
complexions, dark blue eyes, long black hair 
and white teeth. The dress of those of 
high standing who have no religious scruples, 
as well as that of Maronite ladies, is very 
striking and elegant. The most prominent 
ornament is the tantoor, a conical tube of 
silver from a foot to two feet in length, 
secured to a pad on the head by two silken 
cords which hang down the back and termi- 
nate in large tassels or knobs of silver. It 
supports a long white veil, which falls over the shoulders or the face, as 
required. The tantoor is worn by only married women. Other items 
of dress are a silk pelisse, fringed with gold cord, over an embroidered 
silk vest, a rich shawl bound around the waist, a diadem of silver and 
gold, earrings and necklaces, loose silk trowsers and soft leather shoes. 
The life which they lead in the mountains gives them a vigor and anima- 
tion, which add to their natural charms of form and feature. 

The men marry at from sixteen to eighteen years of age and the 
■women generally three or four years earlier. After the consent of the 




A DRUSE LADY. 



THE MORONITES. 489 

parents has been obtained and the dowry decided upon, the bride pre- 
:sents her future husband with a dagger. With this he binds himself to 
protect her during Hfe, if she prove a true wife to him. Should she 
prove unfaithful he sends her back to her father's house, and with her 
the dagger without the shield. She is tried for her offense by her father 
and brothers at her husband's house, and, if found guilty, one of the 
brothers usually acts as executioner. The tantoor and a lock of bloody 
hair are afterwards sent to the husband, as an evidence that the awful 
duty has been performed and the family dishonor wiped out with the 
deed. 

THE MARONITES. 

The Maronites, who dwell in the same district as the Druses, are 
•Christians who have invariably supported the Roman Pontiff, and the 
patriarch of their church is subject to his confirmation. They were friends 
of the Crusaders, and, with the Druses, have always been enemies of the 
Mohammedans ; they both, however, have been so far reduced by the 
Porte as to pay tribute to a Turkish governor who resides at Dair el- 
Kamar. They have even had their bloody conflicts with the Druses, 
the difficulty between them having been that the Maronites were too tardy 
in fighting for their independenee to suit their more energetic neigh- 
bors. 

The villages which the Maronites solely occupy are chiefly situated 
in the country east of Tripoli and Tyre to the lake of Genesareth. 
They formerly held the entire chain of mountains from Antioch to Jeru- 
salem, and their homes were long the asylums of the Christians who were 
persecuted and driven away by the Saracens. Their ways of living are 
similar to those of the Druses. As with the latter, property is sacred 
among them. Their priests marry as in the early days of the Christian 
church, their dress being a black cossack, with a hood and leather girdle. 
The communion is celebrated by throwing the pieces of bread into the 
wine and feeding them to the communicants with a spoon. Among the 
relics of barbarism which the Maronites have retained is that of retalia- 
tion — the custom by which the nearest relative of a murdered person is 
bound to avenge him. 

SMYRNA. 

Most of the nationalities and religions of Turkey are represented 
at Smyrna, on the western coast of Asia Minor and, perhaps, next to 
Constantinople, the most important commercial port of the empire. 
There are Greeks and Turks, Jews and Roman Catholics, Armenians 



490 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 











JiT 



AN OLD TURK. 



and Americans. The city 'runs down the gentle slope of a hill to the 
water's edge, the Armenians living upon the lower ground, while be- 
.^r--- ------ - — ^ tween them and the Turks is the Jewish. 

quarter. Smyrna is the Christian city of the 
Ottoman Empire, and here reside Arch- 
bishops of the Greek, Armenian and Roman 
Catholic churches. 

THE HEBREWS AND JERUSALEM.. 

The Hebrew, or Jew, is to be viewed' 
merely as a native of Palestine, or as a pil- 
grim to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem. 
Frum all quarters of the globe the people 
of a great, and yet almost invisible, nation 
come to wail over their fallen state. Of 
ancient Jerusalem little remains. Warriors 
of Europe, Asia and Africa, and representa- 
tives of nearly every religion, have besieged 
and devastated it, and were It not for the 

mountains and valleys which are so associated with Christian remem- 
brances and surround it, the identity of 

the Holy City might almost be questioned. 
Within, are crumbling Avails and dirty 

narrow streets, and various unsatisfactory 

reasons are adduced for fixing upon spots 

where were the scenes in the life of Christ 

with which the Christian is so familiar. 

Constantine, for example, is reported to 

have recovered the Holy Sepulcher, over 

which the pagans had heaped a mound of 

earth, and to have erected a basilica to mark 

the spot. But while the Christians were ban- 
ished from Jerusalem there is no evidence to 

show that the locality was allowed to be thus 

marked, or that the present Church of the 

Holy Sepulchre was erected therein. 

The site of Solomon's Temple, on the 

other hand, has been fixed with tolerable 

certainty as being to the east of the modern city, upon a ridge guarded) 

by valleys on every side. Still further east is the Golden Gate, su 




A MAN OF JERUS.A.LEM. 



THE HEBREWS AND JERUSALEM. 



491 



double passage way, through which the Mohammedans are convinced 
that the King of the Christians may ride victoriously into Jerusalem. 
The gate is therefore walled up with solid masonry. 

Running from one of the ruined walls of the Temple area have 
been excavated a series of piers upon which were arches, the remains of 
the bridge mentioned by ancient historians as spanning the valley and 
connecting the Temple with Jerusalem. Within the Temple area is the 
Mosque of Omar, or the Dome of the Rock, a magnificent structure 
rising in its dome-like grandeur from a great marble platform. There 
are other mosques within the area, but none equal to this, " next after 
Mecca the most sacred, next after Cordova the most beautiful, of all 
Moslem shrines." Beneath the foundation of the Temple area are 
various subterranean chambers, one of them, according to Mohammedan 




AT JERUSALEM'S WALL. 

tradition, being the birthplace of Jesus, and used as a chapel, which is 
dedicated to him. The site of the Temple, itself, is a matter of warm 
dispute. Some incline to the belief that the Mosque of Omar stands 
over the altar of the Temple and that its marble platform marks the 
site. Another theory is advanced, and voluminously supported by cir- 
cumstantial evidence, that a certain cave in a mysterious rock which the 
mosque incloses is the Holy Sepulcher. It will thus be seen how the 



492 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

minds of the Hebrew and the Christian must be torn with conflicting 
emotions in their vain endeavors to fix upon the exact locaUty of the 
:spot which each considers so holy. 

At the western wall, near where the piers and bridge arches were 
discovered, is the wailing place of the Jews; and here gather the pil- 
grims from all lands, as well as the residents of Jerusalem, to bewail 
their national misfortunes, and especially their exclusion from the Tem- 
ple where their fathers worshiped and which is now in ruins. This 
locality is near the squalid quarter of the city which is occupied by the 
Jews, and they seem to have chosen it because of the fine state of pre- 
servation in which they found the wall, retaining as it does a trace of 
the massive and perfect character of the Temple's architecture, and 
bringing to their minds something of its past glories and sanctities. 
" Many of the stones are twenty-five feet in length, and apparently have 
remained undisturbed since the time of the first builder. Here the 
Jews assemble every Friday to mourn over their fallen state. Some 
press their lips against the crevices in the masonry as though imploring 
an answer from some unseen presence within. Others utter loud cries of 
anguish. Here is one group joining in the prayers of an aged rabbi ; 
yonder another sitting in silent anguish, their cheeks bathed in tears. 
The stones are in many places worn smooth with their passionate kisses. 
The grief of the new-comers is evidently deep and genuine, but with the 
older residents it has subsided into little more than a mere ceremonial 
observance and an empty form." 

Lying north of the Temple area is the Valley of Jehosaphat, on 
the other side of which is the garden of Gethsemane, and, beyond, the 
Mount of Olives. Both Jew and Mohammedan believe that the valley 
is to be the scene of the final judgment ; the Mohammedan that his 
prophet will stand upon the Golden Gate, and Jesus upon the Mount, of 
Olives, and together judge the world. The valley is therefore a con- 
tinuous grave-yard. The garden is about 80 yards square, contains a 
number of neat flower beds and gnarled olive trees, and is fenced with 
sticks. A rambling church building is perched upon the summit of the 
mount. 

THE ROAD TO JERICHO. 

Taking the road which carries us past the Mount of Olives, in a 
northeasterly direction, we journey along the bases of wild mountains 
and robber-like glens, toward Jericho and the plains of the Jordan. We 
have, in fact, a guard, for the Bedouins are frequently desperate. In the 
middle of the journey are the ruins of an ancient "khan," a resting place 



BETIILEHEMITES. 493 

for trav^elers, and which has stood in the same- place from time im- 
memorial, the only one on the road ; in fact, the inn where the Good 
Samaritan, who so tenderly cared for him who had been wounded and. 
robbed. 

Jericho, the ancient, a great commercial city, stood upon the plain 
of the Jordan. Joshua destroyed it when he entered into the promised 
land. Three times more it became mighty and the residence of kings, 
and was thrice leveled to the ground, by Romans and Mohammedans.. 
A Turkish hamlet next sprung up, and of this there only now remain 
a few wretched mud huts and a ruined Saracenic tower. 

BETHLEHEMITES. 

The men, many of whom are shepherds tending their flocks, usually- 
are seen with their musical pipes of reed with mouth pieces of hardwood^ 
all of home make. But the truth must be told, the words being bor- 
rowed from an English traveler and Christian, that although the Bethle- 
hemites are all professedly Christians, they are a turbulent, quarrelsome 
set, ever fiorhtin<.r amonsjst themselves or with their neisfhbors. In the 
disturbances which take place so frequently at Jerusalem, it is said that, 
the ring-leaders are commonly found to be Bethlehemites. About five 
miles from Bethlehem, in the side of a limestone mountain, andi 
approached by a narrow path through a rugged ravine, is a black slit 
through which one person can crowd, only to find before him a series of 
vast vaulted chambers. This has been fixed upon as the retreat of 
David and his followers, the cave of Adullam. 

Just outside of the village is the Church of the Nativity, situated 
upon the limestone hill which is the site of Bethlehem, being a noble 
structure with stately columns. The inn, or khan of the East, is gener- 
ally without the town, and that of Bethlehem, upon whose site the church 
stands, was upon ground which had descended to David and to David's 
adopted son, Chimham. Long after the time of David it was known as 
the khan of Chimham, being the first resting place from Jerusalem on 
the road to Egypt. The chapel of the Nativity is a grotto, and there is 
strong evidence to prove that the Saviour was born in a cave which 
might have served as a stable to the inn. 

NAZARETH. 

Rapidly passing over the steep hills that encompass Nazareth the 
little village itself is reached. Before a visit is paid to the Church of the 
Annunciation, supposed to have been built on the site of Joseph's work 



494 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 



shop, it is proposed to glance a moment at the women of Nazareth. As 
of old they are still bearing jugs of water to their homes, washing their 
clothes in little streams, engaging in the fields or in household duties. 
They are tall, erect and handsome, with Grecian features, seeming to 
have a touch of pride in their carriage, although they are courteous and 
pleasing. They do not veil their countenances, and instead of wearing 
gold and silver coins in their hair their faces are framed in a sort of cap 
to which is attached a pad covered with the coins, the lower row of 
which usually falls over the forehead. A similar fashion prevails among 
the Kurdish maidens. 

The chief attraction, artistically speaking, of the Church of the 

Annunciation is a painting which 
hangs over its altar. The central 
figure is Joseph, the carpenter, with 
his axe upon a block of wood, but 
his fatherly and wondering eyes are 
fixed upon the child Jesus, who sits 
on a low stool by the bench and 
is reading to him and to Mary, who 
likewise is seated and forgetful of 
all but her love and her wonder. 

THE ARMENIANS. 



Armenia is a province of indefi- 
nite extent, whose original inhabi- 
tants occupied a region lying within 
the present limits of Turkey in Asia. They call themselves Haiks, 
from Haig, a traditional great grandson of Noah, who was one 
of the directors of the Tower of Babel ; but being dissatisfied 
with the Babylonian form of worship he went north and founded 
cities and established a kingdom. His successors conquered a large 
part of Asia Minor, and one of them was sought in marriage by 
Semiramis, the great Queen of Assyria, who defeated him in battle and 
killed him on account of his refusal. The Armenians became subjects 
of Assyria ; afterwards acquired their independence under powerful 
monarchs ; fell under the Roman, Persian and Arabian yokes, and were 
split into little kingdoms, which were cut into smaller fragments by 
the Turks, Mongols, Kurds, Persians and Russians, until they cease to 
exist as a nation. But as a people they are strong, commercially as 
well as intellectually, and are respected throughout Turkey and Russia 




AN ARMENIAN. 



THEIR POWERFUL CHURCH, 



495 



as are no other race who are without a government or poHtical power 
of their own. Not only have the wars for the possession of their terri- 
tory caused thousands of them to emigrate to Europe, Asia and Africa, 
but the Assyrians carried them into their kingdom as slaves, and as cap- 
tives they were borne to Constantinople, to Persia, to Greece, to Arabia, 
and to Russia, while the Tartars, who repeatedly overran their territory, 
dragged them to the four quarters of the ancient world. 

Like the Jew, when the Armenian has once left his native land, his 
taste runs to finances. Thousands, even now, migrate from their moun- 
tain homes to the large cities of Turkey, where, if they start as porters, 
water-carriers, or mechanics, they are almost sure to develop into mer- 
chants, or, better still, into bankers It 
matters not how distant the scene of their 
transactions, they prefer to conduct their 
business in person, so that almost every 
important exposition, fair or market, from 
London and Paris, to Leipsic, St. Peters- 
burg, Bombay and Calcutta numbers among 
its customers or visitors the Armenian mer- 
chants. It is said of him that "he differs 
materially from a Greek. As in his national 
character there is more sense and less wit, 
so in his trade there is more respectability 
and less fraud." 

THEIR POWERFUL CPiURCH. 

The Armenians claim to have been the 
first Christian nation of the world, their pre- 
vious religion having been a jumble of 

Scythian, Indian and Grecian superstitions and idolatry. The Arme- 
nian church has been anathematized by both the Greek and Roman 
Catholic churches. A branch of the church, however, acknowledges the 
Pope's supremacy, and there is still another split, of fifty years' stand- 
ing, by which a faction severed themselves from the main body because 
of its errors. They are known as Protestant Armenians. Three or four 
million communicants yet remain with the parent church. Services 
are conducted in their ancient tongue, one of the oldest of the Indo- 
P2uropean languages. 

The head of the church is the Catholicos, who resides in the Rus- 
sian province of Erivan. Beneath him are the four patriarchs, the most 
powerful of whom is the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is virtually at 




AN ARMENIAN BISHOP. 



496 ANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the head of the Turkish Armenians and independent of the CathoHcos.. 
The Patriarchate of Constantinople embraces eighteen archiepiscopal 
dioceses. 

In general the Armenians agree with the doctrines of the Greek. 
Church. Unlike the latter, however, they are not Trinitarians, but be- 
lieve in the doctrine of the two natures made one in Christ. They there- 
fore make the sign of the cross with two fingers. The mode of baptiz- 
ing infants and those converted from other religions is the same, viz.: 
by partial immersion and pouring water upon their heads three times. 
The church rejects purgatory, but regards confession and absolution as 
essentials to salvation. Their feasts and fasts number at least five hun- 
dred. They adore the Host, and worship saints and their pictures as 
well as the cross. 

Proud of their nationality and their church, and yet possessed of a 
worldly character which is thoroughly saturated with finances and trade, 
the Armenians are a strong and united people, dispersed though they be. 
The Patriarch at Constantinople is highly honored by the Sublime 
Porte, and through him the whole people. He ranks as a great pacha, 
being elected by the ecclesiastics, Afmenian bankers and merchants, and 
higrh Turkish officials, residents of the citv. 

The Armenians, however, do not confine themselves to the drudgery 
of trade for a livelihood. They have considerable musical talent, and 
often form traveling companies, both for pleasure and profit. 

THE KURDS. 

Kurdistan, or the country of the Kurds, is a great tract of Central 
and Eastern Turkey, even extending into Western Persia, which lies 
principally in the valley of the Tigris. The Kurds are the descendants 
of an ancient warlike people who, for centuries, bid successful defiance to 
Persia. Both men and women are elegant in form and feature, with 
dark, intelligent eyes and beautiful mouths. The people are still war- 
like and retain the same character for boldness and dash which they 
possessed when Xenophon was obliged to fight his way through their 
country in conducting the famous retreat of Ten Thousand. The men 
wear a cloak of black goat's hair, and a red cap from which a silk shawl 
falls upon the shoulders. They have mustaches, handsome hands and 
feet, athletic frames, are expert horsemen and generally frank and noble 
in their bearing. The women are treated with marked respect, and unless 
of very high rank go unveiled. 

Unlike the Druses, the Maronites, and other people who live m the 
mountainous districts, the Kurds have their villages and fortifications 



THE KURDS. 497 

separate, retiring to the mountains when there is a quarrel between rival 
chiefs, or they are threatened by Turkish or Persian forces. 

The peasantry, who are distinct from the warriors and the villagers, 
give much attention to the breeding- of horses, the animals being small 
but remarkably hardy, and in great demand for the Turkish and Persian 
cavalry. Their long-tailed sheep yield the finest wool. Cotton is raised 
to some extent and mulberry trees are cultivated for silkworms. Thus 
are obtained the raw products upon which the villagers work. "A 
remarkable vegetable production is found here, answering in most 
respects to the manna which fed the children of Israel in the wilderness ; 
it is collected from leaves of trees and occasionally from the ground, and 
is dried, pounded and eaten as a sweetmeat. Medicinal plants, especially 
gall nuts of superior quality, are largely exported byway of Alexandretta 
and Smyrna." 

The forays of the Kurds into Persian territory have several times 
threatened to cause war between the Sultan and the Shah. A few 
years ago one of their most powerful sheiks, who had nearly captured 
the Persian city of Tabreez, upon the summons of the Sultan, went to 
Constantinople as a hostage and an earnest of peace. After a year's 
stay he returned to his tribe, but afterwards consented to live in retire- 
ment at Mosul. But the Kurds did not propose to lose so valiant a. 
leader without a struggle, and while he was being conducted to his new 
home, a band of them, led by his son, pounced upon the guard and carried 
him off to one of their mountain strongholds. The country of the 
Kurds is especially adapted to their style of warfare and living, for the: 
northern districts are covered with mountains, some of which are 12,000 
feet in height and covered with snow for half the year. The southern 
portion of Kurdistan, on the contrary, is generally low and the soil fer- 
tile, the grains and fruits of the temperate zone flourishing ; so that 
Southern Kurdistan is their garden and granary, and Northern Kurdis- 
tan their fortress. This combination of great fertility and repulsive 
ruggedness has made Kurdistan a country which is well nigh impregna- 
ble. Their store houses, those of the wealthy being surmounted by 
towers, have the appearance of tiny castles. Xenophon, whom they so 
harassed when marching through their country, gives an account of 
the Carduchi, who are supposed to be their ancestors. In his time the 
bow and arrow constituted their national weapon, and with this they 
were as skillful as the Parthians. The story told by the Greek histo- 
rian and leader of the sufferings of his little army, many of whom died 
in drifts of snow, being assailed on all sides by the barbarians, recalls 

the equally famous retreat of modern times over European wastes of 

■i-i 



498 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

snow. The loss to the Greeks, however, was hght compared to that 
suffered by the French, and also in proportion to the number who under- 
took the desperate enterprise. 

In the Kurds are seen some of the purest specimens of the Indo- 
European or Iranic race which the world can show. They are Persians 
in the rough. But as they are Mohammedans, their language has been 
corrupted by both Turkish and Arabian words. The Persian-Arabic 
alphabet is in use by a very small number of the Kurds, either reading 
or writing being considered a superfluity. There have, however, at rare 
intervals been poets and scholars of the race. 

Although nomadic, the Kurds do not wander far from home, and in 
their proneness to bind themselves to a country which they may call their 
own, is found the dividing line between them and the Semites, the 
Hebrews, the Phoenicians, the Armenians and the Arabs. Partly from 
necessity and partly by nature they are at home with all people ; and 
among the branches of the Semitic race none has shown more wonder- 
ful adaptability and the power of extending religion, literature and 
individuality over the world than the Arabs. The career of the Moors, 
or the Arabs, in Spain, is particular evidence of their genius for prose- 
lyting, establishing as they did a new civilization among a distinct race 
which endures in a noteworthy degree to this day. 



.. . .^r^^^g^i^zL,, ,. 




THE ARABS. 




DECLINE OF MOHAMMEDANISM. 

HERE is little doubt that the country which gave birth to 
Mohammed and his religion exhibits less zeal and more skep- 
ticism than any other eastern land which professes the faith. 
Some of the mountain tribes even go to the length of givinaf 
their allegiance to a prophet who preceded Mohammed and 
cursed him and his followers. 

With the decline and fall of the idea that religion can be 
spread over the world by the sword, the i\rabs, and particu- 
larly the wandering tribes of Arabia and Syria, have gradually 
been losing interest in the Faith. They have fallen from their 
position as the scourges of Europe and Asia, and although they have 
never been conquered they are divided into tribes of a few hundred to 
20,000 or more, wandering about with their flocks and herds, sellinor 
their horses and camels to the " dwellers in clay houses," or falling upon 
a caravan for plunder; but they are without organization or great 
leaders, and their roving lives have influenced their religious beliefs. 

Although the Koran lays down a fragmentary code of laws as well 
as morals, the Bedouins do not even acknowledge them in their lives. 
The only law which they acknowledge is that of retaliation, which is also 
found among many of the African tribes. It rages most fiercely among 
the Abyssinians, and under it the relatives of a murdered person take 
the punishment of the murderer into their own hands. The offense, 
however, is often condoned by the payment of blood money. Amono- 
the Arabs the price varies, a sum from $150 to $1,500 being- paid for the 
murder of a man and about one-third as much for that of a woman. Thouoh 
the Bedouins are naturally fierce and blood-thirsty, the existence of this 
law has operated in a way to curb their propensities ; for they know not 
but that one act of theirs may result in the extermination of whole fami- 
lies. The Koran sanctions both the avenging of blood by the nearest 
kinsman and the pecuniary commutation. But what has been said of the 
decline of Mohammedanism among the Arabs has no bearing upon its 

499 



500 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

wonderful spread over Africa and the islands of the sea, it having pene- 
trated the peaceful natures of the Chinese, so as to be an established 
religion in the empire. 

THE MARABOUTS. 

These form a class of Mohammedan priests who are especially 
numerous in Africa, having much influence with many negro tribes of 
Soudan and the Bedouins of the Great Sahara. They are also found 
among the wandering tribes of Arabia, and even work upon the super- 
stitions of the settled population so that they often have dome-like 
temples erected over their tombs. Great chiefs believe that they owe 
their power to the influence and charms of these priests. They travel 
over the deserts with their talismans of beads, or of paper upon which 
are magical figures and Koran verses, selling them to the Bedouins as 
protections in war and in the chase. Wives and children, horses and 
camels, are decked with them and the fetiches of Africa are repeated 
among the Arabians. 

The Arabian women are not excluded from the ranks of the Mara- 
bouts and are the gypsies of the country — old and wrinkled fortune- 
tellers, discoverers of secrets, workers of miracles and encouragers of 
all forms of superstition. 

The Marabouts cling to certain forms of Mohammedanism even 
among the children of the desert, but have seen the folly of attempting 
to propagate it, systematically or faithfully. As one of them once said 
to a traveler who found him with a Bedouin tribe, "Our horses are 
our lives and our religion"; and the Bedouin masses add : " In the 
desert we have no water; how then can we make the prescribed ablu- 
tions? We -have no money, and how can we bestow alms? Why 
should we fast in the Ramadan, since the whole year is with us one con- 
tinued abstinence ? And if God be present everywhere, why should we 
go to Mecca to adore him?" 

THE CHIEFS. 

Not only are the Bedouins of Arabia split into many tribes, but the 
territory which contains permanent inhabitants, cities and villages, is 
ruled by military chieftains. The most extensive of these districts and 
one of the most powerful of the native states is that of the Wahabees, 
a sect of Mohammedans, who, during the last of the century, became 
apostates from the true faith, denying the divine nature of Mohammed 
and the inspiration of the Koran, prohibiting the worship of the 
prophet's tomb as a form of idolatry, and propagating these doctrines 



THE CHIEFS. 



501 



greatly by the power of the sword, so that under the leadership of 
powerful chiefs they subdued Mecca itself. The Holy City was after- 
wards surrendered to the Porte, but the empire of the Wahabees still 
includes the central and eastern portions of Arabia, several hundred 
towns, and villages, and with the Bedouins, who have been subdued, 
a million and a half of people. The land of pilgrimage, through 
which millions of Mohammedans have passed along the shores of the 
Red Sea to Mecca, is bounded east by the great Arabian desert and by 
a fierce tribe of Bedouins who levy contributions on the pious pilgrims. 
Their profitable occupation is, however, greatly curtailed since the open- 
ing of the Suez Canal and the consequent running of vessels and steam- 
ships from Turkish ports to Mecca. This is 
also said to have had the effect of increasincf 
the number of pilgrims of late years and caus- 
ing quite a revival among the Mohammed- 
ans of Turke3^ 

South of the land of the pilgrims is the 
district of Yemen, in which is Mocha, the 
center of the famous coffee country. Here 
is also Aden, now a British port. The 
country of frankincense and myrrh is Had- 
ramaut, a great district Ij'ing on the shores 
of the Indian Ocean and stretching into 
the interior to the desert. 

The Sultan of Oman is the most 
powerful chief of Arabia, and has tributary 
to him a number of other sheiks. The 
efforts of the Sultan to extend not only the 
foreign trade of Oman, but of the whole country, have made him known 
more generally than any other Arabian leader. Besides claiming 
authority over this district, he has extended his sway over the islands 
of the Persian Gulf, a portion of the Persian coast, and the extensive 
tract of Eastern Africa known as Zanzibar. Beyond Oman, on 
the Persian Gulf, are the pearl fisheries. Farther to the north 
the territory of the Wahabees is reached, a country of grain, dates 
and fruits, and horse and cattle-raising, its broad plains, which are 
covered with grass and shrubbery, lying between mountain ranges. 
Beyond this and including the whole of Northern Arabia is the great 
desert, which stretches also into Syria, and whose fertile spots are par- 
celled out amoncf the wild Bedouin tribes. 

The sheiks are the leaders of bands which form tribes, and select 




A WOMAN OF ADEN. 



502 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

from their number one whom they call Sheik of sheiks. Their leader 
is expected to lead them in war and maintain the independence of the 
tribe against all others. He may be deposed any moment or abandoned 
by his allies to the mercies of his bitterest rival. Families, even, may 
desert a band in the same manner. There is no bond of union, and the 
most insignificant thing may cause a rupture. In disputes which arise 
between members of the same tribe the sheik and the elders are 
usually resorted to as arbitrators, although the most that they can do is 
to advise. 

THE BEST BREED OF HORSES. 

Next to the spices of "Araby the Blest," which come from the 
shores of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, its horses are famous,and, in 
the minds of people generally, arouse the most enthusiasm. They com- 
bine fieetness with endurance and docility, and their blood is in the most 
valued breeds of Persia and Turkey, Europe and America. The 
Arabian horse may be seen in his perfection in Nejed, the district of the 
Wahabees. 

The "kochlani" are the horses whose genealogy has been carefull}r 
preserved since even the days of Solomon ; the "kadeshi " those whose 
pedigree is unknown. The former are reared with the Arab's children 
sharing their master's tent, are fed with bread, milk and dates, and petted 
arid treasured as honored guests. Barley and pounded straw is the 
kochlan's principal food. He becomes both the friend and companion- 
in-arms of his master, and shares with him the honors of the song and. 
ballad. 

In their meetings outside the tent the elders of a tribe always have 
some wonderful stories to tell of the bravery and faithfulness of their 
blooded steeds, which do not desert . them even with the death of 
those who have so tenderly cared for them. In one of the stables of a 
pacha of Egypt stands a noble looking animal, covered with scars. His 
master was a renowned Arabian sheik, who, with a hardy band had 
rushed upon a camp of the Egyptians who had marched into their 
country to chastise them. The last to fall in the mad charge against 
such overwhelming numbers was the sheik, who was beheaded in the 
fight by a Turkish soldier. When he felt his back lightened of its pre- 
cious load, the horse's eyes seemed to flash fire, and despite the fact that 
he was covered with wounds he dashed at the slayer of his master with, 
such resistless force that he bore the soldier to the ground and trampled 
him under foot 

The unvarying care which the horses receive has the effect of 




AN ARAB WARRIOR. 



BLOODED CAMELS. 503 

making them gentle as well as affectionate. The sheik possessed of a 
first prize in horse-flesh can not forbear to show off these good points 
whenever he is at leisure. A dozen times a day he will suddenly mount 
his steed, dash across a valley, up the sides of a hill, down again, come 
toward the camp at full gallop with his long spear poised and his head- 
dress flowing out behind him, rush round and round like a whirlwind, 
and with a touch of the hand, or a whisper, bring the beautiful animal to 
a walk or a stand-still. 

BLOODED CAMELS. 

Nejed likewise produces the best camels of Arabia, Bedouin and 
merchant journeying thither to obtain their supply. The district is 
called by the Arabs " the mother of camels," and the natives are as careful 
to maintain the purity of their breeds as in the case of their most valu- 
able horses. The camel is one of the family as long as his education is 
incomplete. As soon as the young dromedary will stop when his 
master dismounts and plants a lance in the sand, and not renew his 
gallop until the weapon is removed, then he is considered competent to 
engracre in travel. 

This blooded camel has been both refined and hardened, when 
compared to the common stock, being cleaner limbed and better able to 
endure hunger and thirst. If grass is abundant he will pass the winter 
and spring without drinking. In autumn he drinks but twice a month. 
In summer it is enough, even on a journey, if he drinks once in five days. 
He will maintain a pace of eight or ten miles an hour for twenty hours 
in succession ; but his pace is so rough that the rider is obliged to 
secure himself from serious injury by tight bandages. 

Unlike the horse the education of the camel does not stir in his 
breast any feelings of affection, and he remains throughout life a stupid, 
groaning, selfish, revengeful beast; loudly complaining when the load is 
placed upon his back ; going on and on, seeking his own pasturage, 
and never stopping should the rider fall off and not have time to fix a 
spear in the sand ; committing murder — deliberate, cold-blooded murder — 
if he feels that he has been unjustly beaten. Some Arabs of this region 
tell of a horrible sight which they witnessed — that of a huge camel, who 
had been whipped by a boy on a previous trip, calmly facing his perse- 
cutor in the middle of a great plain, making a sudden stoop forward, 
seizing the unlucky youth's head in his monstrous mouth, lifting his 
enemy up in the air, and flinging him down again upon the earth with 
the upper part of his skull completely torn off and his brains scattered 
on the ground. They had no compunctions in killing such a fiend ; for, 
dead or alive, the camel is wealth. 



504 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

As an Arabian prince once said : " Living he carries the tents and 
provisions ; war and trade are carried on by means of him ; he fears 
neither hunger nor thirst, heat or fatigue ; his hair supphes our tents 
and our burrows ; the milk of the female supports rich and poor, 
and nourishes our horses — it Is a well that never fails. Dead, the flesh 
is good ; his skin makes bottles, proof against wind and heat ; shoes 
which can tread on the viper without danger and protect the feet from 
the burning sands of the desert ; stripped of the hair and welted, it 
adheres to the wood of the saddle, without nails or seams, like the bark 
to a tree, and makes the whole so solid as to endure war, the chase or 
the fantasias." 

THE BEDOUINS. 

We have already caught glimpses of these restless Arabs in the ' 
deserts of Africa, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, but have 
reserved a more intimate acquaintance until they could be met at home. 
They scorn all ways of living but their own, and pride themselves on 
the purity of their Semitic blood, which first flowed in the veins of Ish- 
mael. From hard living and constant exposure their persons are lank and 
thin, and during their plundering expeditions their clothing is often 
reduced to a single cotton shirt, bound around the waist with a leather 
girdle, in which are stuck the light arms, pipe and apparatus for striking a 
light. 

When living in their tents their common dress consists of a skull- 
cap and slippers, with a striped woolen or cotton garment, which, cover- 
ing the whole body, reaches to the calf of the leg, and has a hood for 
the head, and holes for the arms to pass through. The sheik, however, 
cuts a far different figure, with his long scarlet gown, silver-mounted 
dagger and pistol in his girdle, and sword swung across his shoulder, 
boots of morocco leather, and for a head-dress a woolen or silken shawl 
embroidered and fringed with gold lace. Place him on a gallant Ara- 
bian steed and he cuts a great figure. 

A loose wrapper completely covers the women, over which, when 
they go abroad, they wear the same kind of cloak as the men ; if they 
can afford it they string gold and silver coins across their foreheads, 
and if they can not, they substitute lead. They stain their eyelids with 
a lead pigment, color their hands and feet with henna, and decorate 
their arms and legs with rings. 

The Bedouins are all for war and adventure, and their domestic 
duties are almost confined to milking. Boys and girls tend the camels^ 
sheep and goats, and the women and slaves do all the rest, even to dress- 



THE BEDOUINS. 



505 



ing the beautiful locks o. the warriors. Their wives, however, are not 
made to labor in the fields or at other heavy occupations, for, with 
the proceeds of their forays, and from their legitimate sources, some are 
enabled to engage peasants from neighboring villages, boarding the 
laborers while they are cultivating the land or gathering the crops of 
millet, wheat, barley and other grains, besides paying them one-third of 
the produce. Others derive their food almost entirely from their herds, 
eating only a few vegetables and not hesitating to devour locusts and 
lizards. A common substitute for bread are cakes made of millet, mixed 
with camel's milk and slightly baked. 

The Bedouins are poets and fictionists, and a thousand and one 
Arabian Nights' Tales are still current among them. Each tribe has its 

bard, who celebrates the deeds of its robber 
chief and great leaders, and every Bedouin is 
an aspirant for the position. Their pastimes 
include story-telling, singing, dancing, ball- 
playing, feats of horsemanship, drinking coffee 
and smoking. Their favorite amusement is 
throwing the "djereed," or the fantasia, which 
is a heavy, blunt spear made of hard wood. 
The sport consists in casting this by no means 
harmless toy at a rider, who shows wonderful 
address in avoiding it, and then pursues his 
|! adversary. Their manner of fencing is for 
the combatants to first rest their spears in the 
sand, and then ride round and round, using 
them as a pivot, and keenly watching for an 
opening to strike. Occasionally the spears are 
raised, crossed and struck together ; then there 
is chasing, turning and circling around again, with their long weapons 
as pivots. 

When the Bedouins decide to indulge in the recreation of chasmg 
the ostrich, they put their horses, for a week or more, upon a slender 
diet of barley and water, and exercise and wash them well. Then lightly 
dressed, and armed only with a stick, they assemble at the resort of the 
birds and simply run them down with their fleet horses, knock the game 
on the head and cut their throats. 

The wandering habits of the Bedouins makes it impossible for them 
to seclude their wives, as do the more settled nationalities of the East. 
They often appear before strangers, and even in the villages, with little or 
no covering to their faces. Like the Persians the women have great power 




A BEDOUIN 



506 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

in their families, and if ill-used they have a right to demand a divorce. 
As a rule the Bedouins do not practice polygamy, although it is said 
they have established in its place the custom of a constant interchange 
of wives. 

IN THE TENT. 

The spirit of hospitality is as much a part of the Bedouin's 
religion, as his horse and his love of war. Outside of his tent he will 
rob a stranger whom, within, he can not serve too much. As long as 
you are the Arab's guest you are safe. When the shadow of his dark 
cloth tent, woven of goat's or camel's hair, falls upon you, you should 
call with a loud voice, " tarike " (retire), as a signal that the women may 
withdraw behind the carpet which divides the house into two apart- 
ments. 

Without ceremony the traveler unloads his camels at the first tent 
of the first encampment he reaches, although the Arab's spear is planted 
before his door and his war-horse stands ready to mount, gives this 
notice of his arrival and sits down by the fire. If the proprietor is at 
home he courteously greets his guest and, without question, offers his 
pipe to him, replenishes the fire, and commences to roast and pound 
coffee. Bags of grain and other provisions stand near the carpet parti- 
tion, with saddles and weapons not in use. The apartment in which he 
finds himself is furnished with mats and sheep-skins, with crude looms, 
earthen vessels, goat skins of water and sour milk, and if the master is 
quite enterprising, he exhibits a coffee-mill, formed of two stones, one 
within the other and turned with the hand. 

The coffee which the Arab grinds forms an important item of the 
meal which is being prepared beyond the partition. As soon as all is ready 
the wife brings in the result of her labors — coffee, a large wooden bowl 
of camel's, goat's or sheep's milk, boiled corn and milk, lentil soup, or 
melted butter with bread to dip into it. She then decorously retires, 
leaving her husband to do the honors of pouring the water with which 
the guest washes his right hand, and of heartily repeating, throughout 
the entire meal, " Eat all, eat all." If the stranger is an Arab he 
knows better than to eat all, for his host eats only what remains. 

If the master happens to be out when the stranger arrives at his 
tent the wife or daus^hter receives and entertains him with the same 
courtesy. From all accounts they are not only courteous, but kind 
hearted and ever ready to relieve the needy. 

The sheiks themselves entertain with the same faithfulness as their 
humblest warriors. How truly they consider it a duty is illustrated by 



IN THE TEXT. 



507 



the touching deception ot one, who, after warmly welcoming a friend 
and serving him to rice, boiled camel's meat, and the best his table 
afforded, was asked as to the whereabouts of a favorite son. " My son 
is asleep," quietly replied the host; and continued to do the honors of 
his position, notwithstanding that his boy was lying dead in an adjoining 
apartment. 

Quite a triumph in the culinary line is a sort of a rice pyramid, 
surmounted by a piece of camel's meat, which Arabs of standing 
often place before their guests. This is placed in a gigantic wooden 
bowl upon a mat, and, the company having seated themselves — the feast 
is commenced by the most aged or honored of them usually — a patriarch 
with a long white beard dyed red, who scoops out a hollow in the rice 

with his hand, pours therein some 
sour milk, and drops into the milk 
small bits of the meat, which he 
divides with his fingers. Each goes 
throuo^h with the same motions and 
the conclusion of the matter is that 
the whole pyramid is eventually 
moulded into rice-balls, through which 
are scattered bits of good camel's meat 
and which furthermore disappear with 
great rapidity. Either previous to 
the hearty meal, or to the drinking 
of coffee, without sugar, the smoking 
of pipes, singing, or music upon tam- 
borines and native violins of camel 
skins,and listening to the professional 
BEDOUINS. story-teller who stands in the center 

of a large circle of rapt Arabs — either previous to the feast or to the 
dessert and amusements, the guests are expected to wash the hands, 
mouth and beard in a large trough of camel's skin which is provided for 
them ; this ceremony, of course, is indispensable if the sheik is a true 
Mohammedan. 

The Bedouins retire early and do not trouble themselves to remove 
their clothing. That of the desert tribes is never washed except by the 
rain nor changed until it falls to pieces, and night in a large encamp- 
ment is anything but a season of repose to any but those initiated to its 
distractinor sounds. "The laucrhter and chatterinsj of the women 
mingles with the neighing of the horses, wuth the baying or rather the 
furious howling of those abominable dogs who guard the door, and with 




5o8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the bleating of the flocks. At daybreak, when the wearied dogs cease 
their clamor, all the varieties of fowls take up the chorus. And if one 
of the hungry dogs finds his way into your tent in search of the bones 
remaining from a feast, you may have the pJeasure of hearing the crunch- 
ing of his jaws within a few feet of you, in addition to all the rest of the 
disturbances." 

BOTTOMLESS GULFS OF SAND. 

In the country of the Bedouins, in Central Arabia, have been dis- 
covered strange natural phenomena in the shape of great pits or gulfs of 
th^ finest sand. They are not the common variety of quicksands, but 
appear in regions which were formerly volcanic, and, it may be, extinct 
craters. The sand is as fine as powder, and a weight sinks in it as rapidly 
as in water. Attempts to find bottom have so far failed. 

AS A COMMERCIAL PEOPLE. 

The character of the Arab inclines him to commerce rather than 
to the more patient domain of manufactures. One town only in Arabia, 
Loheia, on the Red Sea, can be said to possess manufactories. Here 
silk and cotton turbans, sashes, canvas, arms, and gunpowder are made 
by machinery, forming the exception to the general rule. But her mer- 
chants are in every land. They travel into Egypt for her oil. They 
scour the Eastern coast of Africa for slaves, ivory and amber. Their 
caravans creep across the Great Sahara Desert, laden with the gold dust, 
ivory, grain and palm-oil of Western Africa, and bound for the Barbary 
States. Their operations extend to the rice fields of Madagascar, and 
the coffee and sugar plantations of Java and Sumatra. They are the 
nomads of the Eastern commercial world. Their turbans are seen in 
every desert of Asia and Africa, and their barks are upon every Eastern 
sea. Much of the " Mocha" coffee which they export to Europe they 
buy in Egypt, Nubia and Abyssinia. Arabia also sends from Muscat 
wheat, horses, raisins, fish and drugs, Hindu merchants monopolizing 
her pearl trade. Silver, iron, copper and lead, and a large proportion of 
her firearms and gunpowder come from Europe. 

For ages Arabian merchants were the mediums by which the pro- 
ducts of India reached Egypt, and were the principal means of commu- 
nication between Europe and Asia ; and from the days of Sinbad the 
Sailor up to the present time, the lives of Arabs, vho engage in mer- 
cantile pursuits, have been full of variety and adventure. When they 
monopolized so much of the inter-continental traf^c they were considered 



DESERT TRAVEL. 5O9 

the wealthiest class of people in the world, and their luxurious habits 
and surroundings would seem to uphold the supposition. They cooked 
with scented woods. The pillars of their houses glistened with gold 
and silver, while the doors were of jeweled ivory. Their furniture, man- 
tles, bracelets, armlets and utensils of all kinds were lavish combinations 
of inlaid wood, the finest of silks and furs, gold, silver, brass and iron. 
The days when they were the richest and most enterprising merchants 
of the world, have gone by, although they are the same untiring crea- 
tures, glorying in their profession. Even in our days there are Arabian 
merchants who have bank accounts of a million dollars. 

DESERT TRAVEL. 

Merchants engaged in the inland trade combine to the number of 
a dozen or thousands, and, at stated period's make the journey across the 
desert to Cairo, from Egypt to Soudan, usually to Khartoum or Tim- 
buctoo, where they purchase attar of roses, gold-dust, indigo, ivory,, 
ostrich feathers, skins, etc., with their cotton goods, cutlery, wea- 
pons, etc., and then, it may be, strike across the great desert for 
Algiers and Morocco, braving storms, Bedouins and Touaricks with 
equal fearlessness. Having chosen a leader, or conductor of the 
caravan, and the camels being loaded partly with merchandise and 
slaves, and partly with provisions, the party start on their long journey, 
and, if they are good Mohammedans, have not forgotten the mueddin 
to call them to prayers at the proper times, or the " iman " to offer the 
prayers. The " khebir," or leader, has under him many subordinates, 
both to protect the caravan and to spy out the best route, and, if many 
merchants have combined in the enterprise, a secretary to record their 
commercial transactions as they stop at regular stations and marts. 
The khebir must be able to direct the general course by the stars ; must 
know where are the principal roads, wells and oases along their route of 
a thousand miles, or so, and avoid the favorite haunts of maraudings 
tribes ; must be acquainted with all the chiefs through whose districts 
it is necessary to pass ; must determine when to fight and when to com-^ 
promise ; and be acquainted with the best remedies for the bites of ser- 
pents and the stings of scorpions. If the stars fail him, he must be so 
intimately acquainted with the country that the examination of a hand- 
ful of earth, the taste and smell of a handful of grass, will tell him the 
locality in which they are. Besides arming themselves with guns, 
pistols and sabres, each man takes with him one hundred and eighty 
pounds of "kouskous," a dish made of a sort of highly seasoned rice and 
mutton, two hundred and seventy pounds of dates, a skin of butter, one 



5IO 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



of dried meat, two skins of water, a leather bucket for the camels, 
two pairs of shoes, needles and thongs for repairing, and a steel and 
tmder. 

When encamped for the night, the leader appoints a certain num- 
ber of guards, the tents and baggage being disposed around his tent. 
But he does not sleep. From hour to hour his voice will be heard in 
the vast solitude of the desert, " Ho, guards are you asleep?" As they 
proceed on their journey they are often obliged to pass near the resort 
of tribes of desert robbers. As they approach a dangerous locality, 
the khebir orders a halt to 
give these instructions: 
" Speak only in a whisper or 
not at all. Bind the mouths 
of your camels, and if possi- 
ble, do not pass by them, lest 
they groan at the sight of 
their masters who have 
loaded them. We must 
neither make fire, nor fetch 
water, nor smoke. The 
marks of our feet mioht be 
discovered — and the odor 
of tobacco is, on the desert, 
carried to great distances — 
some men can smell it ten 
miles off. Have your arms 
ready and' be on the watch." 

If the caravan is laro^e 
it is divided into sections ^ loaded camel. 

of forty or fifty camels each, which miove across the desert in parallel lines, 
like a disciplined body of troops. Despite all these precautions, seldom it 
is that a journey is ended without a dash being made into the caravan, and 
rich m.erchandize or valuable slaves seized from off the camels' backs, or 
the animal themselves, under cover of some dark night, mysteriously 
spirited away. And when the caravan reaches an oasis, or a series of oases, 
which, for ages, has been held fast by Touaricks, the tribute is paid, it 
matters not how strong the force of armed men ; for if the merchants 
neglected to do so, their enemies would thereafter give them no rest, 
day or night. The caravan is first stopped by small parties of Toua- 
ricks, who, being assured by the khebir that he- is on his way to their 
chief, allow a free passage, but usually hang upon its outskirts prepared 




TOWN LIFE, 5 I I 

for mischief in case the tale is false. The tribute thus exacted for 
passing through their country is for each person three Spanish dollars, 
some tobacco and various articles of dress. This being paid, the cara- 
van is often accompanied for the balance of the journey which lies 
through the robbers' country, by an armed Touarick escort. 

TOWN LIFE. 

After our merchant has accomplished his journey of seven or 
eight months', or even a year's, duration, we must imagine that he 
returns to his native town ; or he may have many vessels at his com- 
mand, being a resident of a Persian Gulf, Red Sea, or Indian Ocean 
port. At all events his is a substantial stone house ; and if he resides at 
the capital of one of the native states, it may be situated within the 
walls of a fortified town. It is built around a court and approached by 
a high horse-shoe gateway, on either side of which are seats of beaten 
earth or stone. These are occupied by persons who are seeking admis- 
sion to the outer court, and, through a second entrance, to an inner 
court, on one side of which is a stable and on the other two or three 
rooms for servants. 

Opposite the inner entrance is the reception room, a large hall, 
perhaps 50x20 feet, the walls being painted brown and white, and the 
floor strewn with sand. Around the sides are placed strips of carpet, 
upon which are cushions for the accommodation of visitors and coffee 
drinkers, who are synonymous. Furthest removed from the large 
door is a large square stone, hollowed out and filled with charcoal. 
This is brought quickly to a high heat by means of the tube which runs 
in below, and which is supplied with a bellows blast. On the stone fur- 
nace, or in an open fireplace furnished with wood, is placed a great array 
of copper coffee-pots, of every conceivable design, their number and 
elegance being an index to the wealth of the householder. If the mer- 
chant has no black slave to make and serve his coffee, he does it him. 
self, often assisted by his sons. The roasted berry is pounded in a 
stone pestle, and after it is boiled, the master drinks the first cup, 
to show that it is not poisoned, this portion of the lunch having been 
preceded by dates dipped in butter. Commencing with the guest near- 
est the fireplace, the host then makes the rounds with his large tray of 
tiny glasses, filled about half full ; for this is Arabian as well as Amer- 
ican etiquette. As the cup, or any article of food is presented, the 
Mohammedan says, " Semm " (" Say the name of God"); whereupon 
the guest answers " Bismallah." 

Beyond the Arab's reception room are the private apartments of 



512 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

his family, which are Turkish in their appearance ; but the Arabian him- 
self is far more of a family man than the Turk, and it is not only among 
the higher classes that the woman has influence, but among the middle 
ranks of society. Family ties are also strong, especially between mother 
and son and brother and sister. 

" Sisters, when unmarried, reside, after their father's death, with 
their brothers, and so well established is this custom, that a young Arab 
being asked what would become of her if a brother did not choose to 
keep a sister with him, did not understand the question, and on its being 
repeated still did not comprehend it, looking to his companion for an expia- 
tion. When at last he took in its meaning, he answered, with a look of 
wonder: ' It is impossible ; she is his own blood.' The question was 
pressed in various forms, and the possibility suggested that the brother's 
wife might dislike her, but still the answer was the same : ' It is impos- 
sible; she is his own blood.' " 

The Arab's important meal is eaten a little before sunset and the 
chief dish is similar to the pyramidal conglomeration which has already 
been dissected (by hand) in the tent of the Bedouin chieftain. The Arab 
of means adds to the boiled rice, or wheat, and meat, vegetables, cucum- 
bers and hard boiled eggs. After supper comes the smoking of a quiet 
pipe under a soft sky, the houses of those in comfortable circumstances 
having large gardens and plantations attached to them. 

If the city is the residence of an emir, or prince, in the center is the royal 
palace, a stone structure thirty or forty feet in height, five hundred feet 
square, and pierced near the top with narrow, unglazed windows. It 
fronts upon a square, around which are also the mosque, the market 
place and the residences of the government officers ; also the govern- 
ment warehouses and small apartments for guests. The prince himself 
receives distinguished visitors, being attired in a white Arabian shirt, 
over which is a delicately-worked cloak of camel's hair, fastened by a 
broad belt of the same material, and a gold-mounted sword by his side. 
His head-dress is a silk handkerchief embroidered with gold thread. 

The valley in which the capital is situated, with its twenty or thirty 
thousand people, contains smaller villages and many modest houses, each 
with its fruit or vegetable garden, which is industriously cultivated. At 
sunrise hundreds of the peasants issue forth and drive their asses before 
them, laden with watermelons, gourds, egg plant, fruits and other pro- 
duce, being on their way to the market of the capital. The loaded camel 
is also seen stalking along with his measured pace, loaded with rice, flour, 
coffee and spices, whose destination is also the market. The shoemakers 
and blacksmiths of the city will soon be at work in their little shops, and 



NATIVE JUSTICE. 513 

a group of Bedouins are already standing about in the square, forced to 
make some purchases of grain in town, and looking decidedly uncom- 
fortable and out of place. Later, the market-place is crowded from end 
to end with villagers, townsmen, Bedouins, merchants and sheiks ; negro 
slaves, gaily dressed, and making purchases for their master's table ; 
court officers on their way to the palace ; camels loading and unloading 
before the warehouses and booths ; purchasers standing or sitting at the 
doors, " arguing the point " with the proprietors within ; everybody is 
independently jostling everybody else. Here in the market-place the 
democracy of the Arabian character is brought out in strong colors — a 
characteristic which separates the Arab from other Mohammedan people, 
and which makes the hold of Islam rather weak upon him. 

NATIVE JUSTICE. 

If you wish to see how justice is administered in an Arabian town, 
you will direct your steps to the court of the mosque. In the center is 
the invariable fountain, with two pavilions, the whole surrounded by 
shrubs and banana or palm trees. Approaching the larger one, you 
remove your shoes and sit upon the steps which lead up to the court 
house, awaiting your turn to be heard by the kadi, or iman, who pre- 
sides over the lower court. You may look in through the folding doors 
and see at the back of the small, whitewashed hall, the Court seated at 
his desk, on a raised platform, over him a low canopy of green cloth. 
On each side of him is a row of benches, at which sit the clerks. 

The kadi is dressed in white, black and gray, his body covered to 
the waist with a muslin scarf which falls from his turban. His scribes 
wear globular caps of white cotton, which bob around in a ridiculous fash- 
ion if clerical duties are pressing, and their figures are completely envel- 
oped in robes of silk. The suitors enter the court room together, sit down 
upon some mats before the judge, and state and plead their own causes— 
this statement to apply when both of them are men. If there be a woman 
in the case she must lay her matter before the iman through a barred 
window, the unfortunate complainant or defendant standing in a gallery 
built in the audience hall adjoining the court room, and, being closely 
veiled, she has no means of making her story dramatic, except by skill- 
ful inflections of the voice and the thrustincr of her finsfers through the 
bars of the grating. 

Should suitors not be satisfied with the decision of this court, they 
may appeal to the mufti, the expounder of the Koran and the law-giver 
of high rank, who sits in the next pavilion. He is apt to be a venerable 

Arab, dreaming under a canopy, withdrawn like a hermit into his small, 

33 



5H 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS., 



dark, cool retreat, and attired in yellow slippers, a green pelisse and a 
purple head-dress — these, at least, are the most prominent articles of 
his costume. 

But the coffee house is a much more common place of resort to the 
town and city Arab than either the iman's or the mufti's court. It is 
often an elegant building, covered with vines and shaded with trees, cut 
up into secluded alcoves, and is the resort of young and old. Friends 
go there to gossip, merchants to quietly drive their bargains, boys to 
drink their cool sherbet, others to play games of chess, to listen to 
singers or the meddahs (professional storytellers), who often appear 
in the character of bards as well as reciters. 



ARABIAN ARCHITECTURE. 

Not only do laws and governments hang upon the Koran, but it 
has given birth to a style of architectural ornamentation. By the 
Mohammedan's creed he was forbidden to represent either human 
figures or those of animals, lest he should be tainted with the sin of 
idolatry. But his love of the beautiful was strong and his great mosques, 
which at first were built by Christian architects from Constantinople, 
must have some innocent form of decoration. He had obtained hints 
from Greece, Rome and Egypt, and finally there was developed that 
style of ornamentation known as the Arabesque, which employs leaves, 
fruits, flowers and tendrils, artistically blended with geometrical figures, 
and in the case of the Mohammedan, with inscriptions from the Koran. 
To the Arab, or Moorish Mohammedan, is the architectural world also 
indebted for the beautiful horse-shoe arch, which is still a distinctive 
feature of his mosques and gateways. Otherwise Mohammedan, or 
Arabian architecture, is a combination of Grecian and Roman styles — 
that which was generally prevalent in the Byzantine empire. 











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PERSIANS AND AFGHANS. 

THEIR INTIMATE CONNECTION. 

HE Persians and Afo^hans form the connectinor link between 
the Indians and Europeans. They are the Iranians of the 
Aryan famil)'. The Belooches, or tribe which inhabits 
Beloochistan, are a less important division of the family, who 
may be called the connecting link between the Indians and 
Iranians, or the Hindus and the Persians. At an early age the 
Iranians and Indians probably formed one family, and the Iran- 
ians afterward emig-rated and extended their dominion to the 
Caucasus mountains. The Medes separated from the Per. 
sians, as a tribe or people, and after being subject to Assyria 
for many centuries, established an empire. The Persians afterward 
became dominant, and Media was incorporated into the empire as a 
province. Persia was overrun by Arabian, Mongolian and European 
powers, but continued to maintain a secure foothold upon her lands. 
These convulsions, however, probably separated her from the fair Cir- 
cassians in the north. The Kurds, the Armenians and the Tajiks are 
also her children by right of blood and speech ; and wandering over her 
desert places and through her few fertile valleys are numerous tribes of 
nomads, who are Persians of the old days. 

RUINS AND HISTORIC SPOTS. 




In an extensive and beautiful plain surrounded by lofty mountains, 
stood Persepolis, with the great palace of Xerxes and the residences of 
Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes near by. Few traces of the 
ancient capital, which, in wealth and magnificence, stood next to the far- 
famed Susa, now remain to protest against the desolation caused by 
Alexander the Great. The ruins usually spoken of as those of Persep- 
olis are those of the royal palaces which lie in the plain at the foot of 
the mountains. They all stand upon an immense platform, or super- 
structure, 1,500 feet long and nearly 1,000 wide, supported on three sides 

515 



5i6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



by walls, the fourth side abutting on the hills. Of the three terraces 
which compose this platform, the central is the longest and highest, being 
over 40 feet high and measuring 770 feet in front. Colossal stone bulls, 
fluted columns, and sculptures of chariots, warriors, priests and kings 
ornament the staircases or lie upon the platform. Back of the ruins, 
among which may clearly be traced the walls of the palaces, are seven 
tombs cut from the rock, that of Darius only having an inscription. Of 
the city itself, two miles north of the royal palaces, there only remain 
several enormous blocks of stone, supposed to be portions of one of the 
city's fortified gates. 

Near the western boundary between Persia and Turkey are the 

ruins of Susa, 
anotherevidence 
of the severity of 
Alexander's 
hand. It was the 
treasure city of 
the Persian 
empire, but its 
ruins are chiefly 
uni nteresting 
mounds of bricks 
and colored tiles. 
At the foot of 
one of these 
mounds stands 
the tomb of the 
prophet Daniel, 
guarded by a 
number of der- 
vishes who are 

the only inhabitants of the city which was once one of the grandest of 
the earth. 

The town of Hamadan, in Western Persia, has many times been the 
capital of the empire. It is picturesquely situated, its approach from 
the west being over a great mountain, which holds numerous glaciers in 
its hollows ; from them descend several clear streams, which are warmed 
to the proper temperature as they descend to the great plantations 
and choice gardens which surround the town. Villages have sprung up in 
the fertile plain, and within the town the caravansaries, bazaars, mosques 
and public baths testify to its present importance. Its manufactures of 




BRONZE WORKERS. 



THE COUNTRY. - ■ -; 5 I 7 

copper and bronze are held in' favor, and from the mountain streams the 
inhabitants, particularly the Jews, collect quite a little gold in skins, the 
contents of which they wash. 

These few particulars are stated merely to give the reader an idea 
of the country in which are the tombs of Esther and Mordecai. They 
are near the center of the town, are, made of hard, black wood, and are 
so low that the huge stone-like structure; in the interior, occupies nearly 
the entire space to the ceiling. . The monument was erected twelve cen- 
turies ago by "the two benevolent brothers Elias and Samuel, sons of 
the late Ismael of Kachan" ;so says a'n inscription on the dome over the 
tombs; and not an iftch of. space is 'left on the whitewashed walls on 
which Jewish pilgrirns have not inscribed their names. 

t 

THE COUNTRY. I 

A-matter-of-fact Scotch traveler who visited the country describes 
it as being divided into two portions — " one being desert with salt and 
the other desert without salt." Three-quarters of the surface of Persia 
is desert land and salt marshes, destitute of rivers and streams. The 
greatest of the salt deserts is in the province of Khorassan, in Central 
Persia, being 400 miles in length by 250 in breadth. The level country 
is principally along the shores of the Persian Gulf, and consists of grav- 
elly plains or downright desert tracts. The regions which may be hon- 
ored with the name of fertile lie between the mountain ranges, in the 
west and north, and the provinces along the/Caspian Sea. In the latter 
districts, mountain rivers and streams are plentiful, and the climate being 
hot, so great a moisture prevails that trees and plants take on almost a 
tropical luxuriance of growth. The coasts are low, and it therefore 
unfortunately happens that the most fertile tracts of Persia are breeders 
of fevers and general sickness. 

Here the mulberry tree is cultivated, the basis of silk manufacture, 
which is also the basis of what commercial prosperity Persia possesses. 
Thousands of laborers, both peasants and manufacturers, repair to the 
Caspian provinces, but return to their houses when the deadly heats and 
fogs of summer set in. Satins, brocades, velvets, plain and striped silks 
in every conceivable combination of colors, are produced. A pure 
silken garment is considered unlawful by the Musselman, and there- 
fore large quantities of goods are manufactured in which cotton is inter- 
woven with the silk. 

In almost every habitable part of Persia silk is produced, and the 
wealthiest merchants of the country are engaged in the trade. Most of 



i8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the silk is sent to Russia and Turkey, since the careless way in whic{^ 
the thread is made, being uneaven and knotty, and the manner in 
which the skein is wound, the material is considered inferior in Euro- 



2 

r 
D 

X 
> 

•2. 

D 

t/5 




pean markets. The rich and durable Persian carpets are made in man- 
ufactories, as well as by the villagers and nomads. Tea, sugar, jewelry, 
cutlery and glassware come from Europe, and from the East, muslin, 



AGRICULTURE. 519 

leather, nankeen, china, precious stones, saffron, indigo, etc. The interior 
trade of the country is carried on by means of caravans, and, hke the 
Arabs, the Persians travel into all countries in the furtherance of their 
enterprises. They are a numerous class, and form as a whole the most 
wealthy and cultivated element in the empire. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The climate of Persia is a constant succession of fierce heats, with 
unhealthy vapors or blasting winds, and dreary, penetrating cold. The 
fertile districts are the most unhealthy, except a tract now and then in 
the mountains of the west ; the unproductive parts are where the people 
must live, thoroughly enjoying their gardens a few months of the year 
and the balance of the time seeking protection within doors. With 
such an unfavorable climate to contend with, and with so small a portion 
of the country capable of cultivation, it would logically follow that agri- 
culture would not reach a high state of perfection. 

Yet in those sections which are fertile, the profits of the husbandman 
are high, food is cheap, and the wages of the field hands are good. Rice, 
wheat, barley and maize are the principal cereals grown. The plow 
usually consists of two pieces of board, on which is fastened a stool, and 
is drawn by an ass, horse or camel. After the grain has been threshed,, 
it is taken by the laborers, put into sieves and cleaned. Most of the fields 
are irrigated by streams which are led down from the mountains, and a 
water privilege commands exorbitant prices. Where the irrigation is 
plentiful two crops a year may be raised. 

PERSIAN NOMADS. 

These are known as "iliyats," or the " clans," and consist of Turko- 
mans, Kurds, Leks and Arabs. Each tribe is governed by its hereditary 
chief and when one knows the Turkoman of Turkestan, the Kurd of 
Asiatic Turkey and the Bedouin of Arabia, he has no need of a second 
prolix introduction to the same people of Persia. The Leks, however, 
are of nearly pure Persian blood. 

In their annual migrations some of the tribes travel hundreds of 
miles to reach their favorite pasturage grounds. The Kashkai is the 
most powerful tribe, numbering over 30,000 tents. These nomads 
pitch their tents on the shores of the Persian Gulf in winter, and in the 
spring, pasture their great flocks and herds near Ispahan. They do not 
move in a body, but in divisions whose size depends upon the luxuriance 
of the pasturage which is reported by the advance scouts. When a 



520 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

company finally decide to remain, they pitch their encampment in the 
form of a square, with the tent of the chief in the center, and their 
camp often presents the appearance of a city of tents. Many of the 
clans which form this great tribe of Turkomans winter on the low land 
of the coast. During this season of the year many of the famous Per- 
sian carpets and rugs, the only manufacture for which the country is 
noted, are made in the tents of these nomads by the women and chil- 
dren. Four stakes fixed in the ground, which serve to twist the woolen 
thread, comprise the machinery for their manufacture. 

Some of the Turkomans go to Laristan, or Looristan, the country 
of the Loors, who are a clan of the Leks and also live on the gulf in 
winter. Others dwell among the Bakhtiarees, another clan of the Leks, 
who live in the mountains, especially on Mount Padina, which is always 
covered with snow. In summer, as has been seen, these nomadic tribes, 
representatives of the primitive races of Turkestan and Persia, separate 
and move northward. Although thus temporarily combined, the two 
races have little in common, either in appearance or disposition. The 
Turkoman is grave, Yugged and manly in looks ; the Lek has been com 
pared to the wild cat, being wild, restless and ferocious in appearance" 
They both call themselves Old Persians, and it is possible that the 
Turkomans did emigrate eastward to the present territory of Turkestan. 

Of all the Leks, the Loors, whose winter homes are among the 
mountains of Laristan, in Southern Persia, are the most ferocious. 
Many years ago an Englishman took a notion to find out something 
about these savage robbers, who have killed several European curiosity 
seekers. So he courted a Loor woman, married her, became a Mussul- 
man dervish, and not only lived among them, but wandered all over the 
East in his disguise. He says: "In Looristan proper there are no 
houses. Half the year the people live in the higher mountains in 
arbors formed of twigs and bushes, the other half is spent in tents 
below the mountains in the germseer, or hot region, during winter; six 
months of the year they live on acorn bread, steeped in mud to remove 
the acid taste," Their condition has improved somewhat since then, 
though they are still the wildcats of Persia, 

When on the march nothing is at first observed but a mob of loaded 
camels, men on horse-back, or camel-back, women on foot, dogs, sheep, 
cattle, cats and children. Closer observation indicates that the camels, 
from a few hundred to thousands, are carrying tents and cooking utensils ; 
that the dogs are large and shaggy and cling to the women ; that the 
girls are masculine and wiry, and the matrons ugly, with their faces 
unveiled and showing an unfeigned indifference to observation ; and 
that, in fact, the wild,free nomadic life is not a paradise. 



BRAVE AND HARDY WOMEN. 521 

BRAVE AND HARDY WOMEN. 

It is not the invariable rule, however, that the women thus humbly 
tramp along on foot, followed by the dogs. They often exhibit a bold 
and skillful horsemanship, and when danger threatens the tribe use the 
gun and the spear with masculine effect. Many of the Iliyat women, 
among the Kurds especially, do not wait for war in order to show their 
independence, bravery and intelligence, but take a leading part in the 
affairs of the tribe. In Mazanderan, one of the provinces bordering on 
the Caspian Sea, was a powerful tribe v/hich was governed by the wife 
of its former chief. They dwelt in their summer residence, or yeilak, 
which was a town built into the side of a great mountain, except from 
October until late in the spring, when they emigrated to the warm shores 
of the Caspian Sea, to live in their winter abode — a village lying in a 
plain, at the foot of other mountains, and surrounded by dense woods 
and groves of oranges and lemons. 

It was in this strip of country, even nearer the sea, covered with 
morasses, jungles, rice plantations, mulberry trees, and dense forests of 
timber, and lying beyond the province of Mazanderan, that the Kurd- 
ish tribe of Kadjars, or Kajjars, had their origin. But few remain in 
that locality, although one of their powerful leaders became the first 
Shah of the reigning dynasty of Persia, under whose sway Persian 
women have played no minor part. But the rugged outdoor life of the 
Kurds has left its impress upon the descendants even of the Kadjars 
and the Persians are only civilized and modified Iliyats. 

The walls of the Shah's harem are frescoed. One of the pictures 
represents an encampment in a green plain ; with goats and sheep graz- 
ing, women carrying water, milking and cooking. The Shah's mother, 
who had charge of his establishment, once conducted the wife of an 
English official around the palace, and stopping before this picture, of 
all others, said to her visitor: "Ah, there is a happy life — there is a 
charming picture." " Yes," added in effect all the wives of the Shah's 
harem, " life under a tent, with fine air and good water, and fresh lamb, 
is the best of all things." 

The capitals of Persia have been founded with special reference to 
their location as a central point from which to summon the hardy soldiers 
which the Shah was in the habit of draftinp- from the nomadic tribes of 
his empire. With the formation of a regular army, the location of the 
capital with reference to this consideration became of secondary import- 
ance, although at the present time about the only tax paid by the Iliyats 
consists in the quota of troops which they furnish the Shah. To secure 
some sort of internal tranquility the tribal system had to be suppressed, 



522 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and with its suppression the Persian cavalry lost its reputation. The great 
kahns of the Iliyats have disappeared, and with them the immense 
studs and bodies of superb horsemen which they maintained. The 
scattered tribes remain, governed by hundreds of minor chiefs — that is 
all. 

Gipsies form quite an element in the floating population of Persia 
Gipsies are gipsies everywhere. They pay a heavy tax to the Shah, 
heavier than he levies upon Christians or Jews. They are therefore 
called "slaves" in Persia; also "fortune-tellers" and "sieve-makers.' 
The latter name gives a clew to their principal occupation, the women, 
selling the sieves from, door to door. The men often indulge in sleight- 
of-hand tricks and gymnastic feats when they meet a caravan or band of 
pilgrims who look prosperous in worldly goods. 

TOWN LIFE IN PERSIA. 

Nearly everybody sleeps on the ground, whether in house or tent, 
and this notwithstanding the prevalence of scorpions and tarantulas. 
Nervous foreigners guard against these dangers in various ways, one 
young lady being mentioned who hired a Cossack, with sword in hand, 
to watch her room all night. During the daytime the bedding is tied 
into a bundle and piled up in the corner of the room, covered with a 
gaudy silk sheet. When the weather is cold the Persian family in 
moderate circumstances resort to a very simple but effective means of 
keeping warm. A quantity of charcoal is burned so as to exclude the 
gas and placed in a flat copper dish, which is covered with a large wooden 
frame, open at the sides. A large wadded quilt is thrown over the 
whole arrangement ; also over the legs and arms of the family, who sit 
around their " Koorsee" during the day and lie around it at night. The 
better class of houses have fireplaces over which are hung texts from the 
Koran or the Persian poets. 

The living-room of the family is covered with felts, one corner 
being given up to the bedding; another to chests, and jars of grain, peas 
and beans. Grapes, apricots and onions hang in festoons from the ceil- 
ing ; and the shelves which are cut into the earthen walls hold stores of 
apples, pears, quinces and melons, besides the family crockery. 

THE WATER SUPPLY. 

Most of the villages are furnished with water from a series of artifi- 
cial wells and shafts, the source of the supply being usually in the hills or 
mountains, which are often thirty or forty miles distant. The whole 



VILLAGE OCCUPATIONS. 523 

system is called a "kanat," and takes the place of the fountain in Turkey 
As "water is the greatest gift of Allah," rich Persians who desire a place 
in Paradise, construct these kanats and place them under the protection 
of priests. They are offerings to God, which fact, however, does not 
prevent them from being prolific sources of contention between the 
villagers who desire to purchase them, or to divert the stream to their 
own gardens and fields. A fight usually follows which often leads to 
bruised bodies or mortal wounds. 

Some of the cities and larger towns have wells, but the kanats 
form the main dependence. A lord of the water is appointed to over- 
see the distribution of the precious fluid to the householders, and special 
days are often appointed for supplying extensive gardens or public in- 
stitutions. The stream enters one side of the town and passes quite 
through, with manifold taps and conduits to private and public cisterns. 
Not only is there the lord of the water, but numerous guards are 
stationed along the line to see that no man gets more than his share, or, 
upon these special days, that the whole supply reaches its destination 
But these precautions are useless. The watchman may be absent or 
bribed, and, for a few minutes, nearly the whole supply will be turned 
into some rich man's cistern or garden; or some cunning scoundrel will 
dig an underground passage from his house to the main pipe, and, when 
the stream is turned on, will rapturously hear his "blessing from the 
mountain" as it pours into his secret reservoirs and wells, and trickles 
weakly on toward its intended destination. 

VILLAGE OCCUPATIONS. 

Gardening is one of the great occupations of townsmen. They 
either are in the service of a noble Persian, or have gardens of their 
own. Roses are grown in profusion, from which is made rose water. 
In winter the villagers are also fond of cultivating tulips. But there are 
many difficulties in the way of gardening. In the spring and summer 
the Persian sun is intense, so that the season of roses is only about a 
month ; the rapidity with which they blow and wither soon draws away 
the vitality of the bush. And then, the earth is first baked and next 
flooded from the kanats. For two months of the year the ground is 
covered with snow, which really leaves only a few months of the early 
spring and winter when cultivation can be carried on to any advantage. 
In a word, neither the climate nor the country is what fiction makes it 
out to be. 

In nearly all the large towns of Persia much wine is also made, 
despite the prohibition of the Koran. But the common report is that 



524 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



it is made for Armenians and other Christians. Those who can afford 
it, however, import European wines, remembering, no doubt, how the 
native article is crushed from masses of sound and decaying grapes and 
stems, with dirty naked feet. 

There is one district, however, in Southern Persia, situated in a 
fertile valley near ancient Persepolis, which has been celebrated even in 
poetry for the excellence of its wines. Shiraz is the center of the dis- 
trict, and the products of its wines are powerful and astringent, but con- 
sidered by many Persians rich in flavor. Its grapes are extensively cul- 
tivated for raisins, and its dates are celebrated for their flavor. Tobacco, 
opium and roses also add to the fame of Farsistan, in which Shiraz is 
located, as the most fertile of the mountain districts. ' 

UNATTRACTIVE ARCHITECTURE. 

Farsistan is preeminently the vineyard of Persia. Unlike the dis- 
tricts of the Caspian Sea it is a healthful, delightful region in which to 
reside, and being the center of the wine trade it is the home of many 
wealthy and cultivated merchants. But even here, the flat, unattractive 

style of Persian architecture prevails. 
The following will give an idea of the 
arrangement of an averasfe house : 

"The interior court is entered 

through a narrow corridor from the 

'k'^irBHWif f street, and usually contains a small 

^SBJ^rnl' /mRB flower-bordered water tank. Simple 

blank walls enclose two sides of the 
court ; the other two sides, opposite one 
another, are occupied by the two dis- 
tinct buildings which make up the 
house, one beinor devoted to the use of 
the master and the men in his household, 
and the other being the harem. Each 
consists of a large saloon, separated 
from the courtyard by glass windows, 
with two smaller apartments on the 
WEALTHY MERCHANTS. ground floor, and a balcony chamber 

above. The flat roofs arereached by an uncovered flight of steps, and are 
places of frequent and favorite resort in the warm season after nightfall." 
The bazaars of Persian cities and towns contain the only thorough- 
fares that deserve the name of streets. " Some of them are spacious, 
lofty, solidly built, and, comparatively speaking, magnificent. A paved 







^sru 



CLEVER WOMEN AND MANAGERS. 525 

pathway, from ten to sixteen feet in width, runs between two rows of 
small shops or cells, where the venders of commodities sit on a platform 
with their goods beside them. The vaults contain the rest of their stock. 
The whole is arched over with masonry or clay, or, in very inferior 
establishments, with branches of trees and thatches, to keep out the sun. 
Smiths, braziers, shoemakers, saddlers, potters, tailors, cloth-sellers, etc., 
are generally found together. Attached to the bazaars, in the larger 
towns, are usually several caravansaries for the accommodation of travel- 
ino; merchants." 

The exterior of Persian houses is in fact as unattractive as the huts 
of the poorest peasants. They are seldom of more than one story, and 
have the same appearance of muddiness. Inside, however, many of 
them are the perfection of elegance. One court leads into another, the 
floor of the reception room being covered with fine cashmere shawls, with 
gold-embroidered cushions placed around the wall. All the rooms are 
on the ground floor, and underneath are the " zeerzemeens " — immense, 
dark, cool apartments, where the family live in warm weather. High 
mud walls usually surround the most elegant of mansions, and around 
them, even to the very entrances, are clustered the hovels of the poor. 

Outwardly Persian towns are generally alike, the difference lying 
principally in the faithfulness or carelessness with which the gardens are 
kept. It may be, also, that one village will boast of a more imposing 
mosque than another. 

CLEVER WOMEN AND MANAGERS. 

Persian women are often more restless, energ-etic and ambitious 
than the men, and not only manage their own private affairs, but are 
deep in political wiles. They are extremely self-possessed and courte- 
ous, and in the higher circles of society are known through life by some 
grandiloquent or descriptive title, such as " the Lady of the Era," "the 
Lady of Sweetness," or "the Lady of Courtesy." Unlike the women 
of Turkey, although the amusements of the harem are much the same, 
Persian ladies have frequently an intimate acquaintance with the lite- 
rature of their country, and are experts in the culinary department. A 
very dainty dish which they prepare for their lords when especially solic- 
itous to gain a point, if they can not do it with their eloquent tongues, 
consists of a young lamb, roasted whole, decked with flowers, with a rich 
stuffino- of chestnuts. 

This contrast has been well drawn between the Ottoman and 
the Persian courtier : " Both are perfectly like gentlemen, but in a dif- 
erent way. The Osmanli is calm, sedate, polished, perhaps a little eftem- 
inate ; the Persian is lively, cordial, v/itty and amiable ; perhaps a little 



526 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 



boisterous, for he is still an Iliyat. The Turkish courtier spends his time 
in roaming up and down the Bosporus, leading a life of luxury and ease, 
never quitting the capital. The Persian courtier is constantly on horse- 
back, hunting with his sovereign in weather of all kinds, or accompany- 
ing him in journeys from one end of Persia to the other. The Osmanli 
may be more refined, the Iranee is more original." 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC CUSTOMS. 

Persian women of quality are dressed with much magnificence, 
although the costume has little grace about it. Their trousers are 
many, sometimes a dozen pair ; as they have no crinoline they are 

obliged to fall back upon this substitute. 
They are very wide, the outer ones made of 
stiff gold brocade so that they serve every 
purpose of the petticoat. They are fastened 
at the waist with a running string and edged 
with pearls or other gems. 

Persian women who are thrown in con- 
tact with Europeans, for the first time, 
evince much curiosity to see these strange 
sisters who wear " trousers with one leg," 
which is the way they describe their proper 
skirts. 

To continue a description of the ladies' 
costumes : A small velvet jacket reaching 
to the waist ; shawl pinned under the chin ; 
hair plaited in small bands ; handsome neck- 
laces and bracelets ; gloves with spreading 
wristbands, or hands exposed, with the 
palms and the tips of the fingers dyed red ; the inner part of the eyelids 
colored with antimony to increase the size of their naturally large eye- 
brows ; cheeks painted a bright red ; and their small feet encased in 
•cashmere stockings and daintily resting upon a rich Persian rug — this 
is an average picture of ladies of high degree who are waiting to receive 

company. 

The pipe is an invariable accompaniment of social and domestic 
life in Persia, as well as Turkey. Its importance may be appreciated 
when it is stated that in the courts of royalty there is an officer of the 
hookah, who keeps this complicated pipe in repair, and, at the proper 
time, presents the amber mouth-piece to his master. The bowls of the 




SMOKING A WATER PIPE. 



CALLING AND GOSSIPING. 527 

Persian pipes, or hookahs, are of large size and rest upon water 
vessels which stand upon the sitting-rug, or carpet, the long stems being 
made of wire covered with a thin coating of leather or other flexible 
substance. The bowl of the pipe is set upon the air-tight water vessel, 
into the side of which the smoking tube is inserted, a small tube connect- 
ing the bowl with the water vessel. By this arrangement, when the air 
is exhausted the smoke is forced down under the water and entering the 
space above it passes into the stem, freed by its contact with the water 
from the nicotine and, other deleterious properties of the tobacco. The 
hookah is often richly ornamented with silver chains, or strings of 
precious stones, especially if it is the pet of a favorite Persian wife. 

CALLING AND GOSSIPING. 

It is the custom of Persian women to sleep in all their clothes. The 
bedding is untied and drawn out from the wall, and into the wadded quilt, 
which serves them for a blanket, they roll themselves, veil and all. The 
only time they undress themselves is when they bathe, or after they have 
^one out calling, attired in their best clothes. 

The unaccountable energy of Persian women would make it impos- 
sible for them to endure the stricter seclusion of their Turkish sisters. 
They go abroad closely veiled, but it takes very little encouragement, if 
none of their own people are near, to induce them to reveal their rouged 
faces and stupendous eyebrows. They have many pretexts by which 
they escape the monotony of their home life, such as visits to friends, to 
the doctor, or to the shrine of some saint outside of town. 

The lady of rank often mounts a tall Turkoman horse, and, with 
lier female attendants around her, and her servants before and behind, 
likewise on horseback, she canters away with much bustle. A remark 
was made concerning the doctor. The lady is not apt to visit a native 
physician, if she can avoid it, for he gives the most sickening draughts 
and in tremendous quantities. In the capital and the larger cities there 
are European physicians, and to them and their mild remedies hundreds 
of fair dames and damsels resort, suffering under no malady under the 
sun, except with an inextinguishable fever to meet each other outside 
the doctor's door, squat upon a soft rug and gossip and chatter. 

WIVES AND CHILDREN. 

Persian marriages are of two kinds. That sanctioned by the 
Koran, which allows the taking of four wives, is called " akd." In the 
other the marriage is for a certain period, which can be renewed, but is 



528 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

never to exceed "ninety years." The so-called " seegha" wives are the 
servants and slaves of the harem. The sons, however, of the second- 
ary wives are equal in rank to those of the akdee wives. 

The ceremony consists in the bridegroom elect, with his family and 
a mollah, going to the house of the bride and having the priest ask the 
woman if she is willing to marry him. Behind a curtain are the lady and 
her female relatives. Etiquette requires that the "yes," which is 
given by somebody, shall be preceded by a long delay. The marriage 
contract is signed, the bride receives a lot of sweetmeats, and in the 
evening she is conducted in procession, with pipes and drums and all her 
earthly goods, to her husband's house. If she is one of several wives, 
her coming is the cause of many uncomfortable thoughts in the minds 
of her sisters ; for, if the husband, has not great wealth, he will, on 
New Year's day, cut down the allowances of his other wives, both of 
money and of clothing. And then the new one is generally the young- 
est one and is always viewed in the light of a rival and an interloper. 

But the most shocking phase of Persian family life is the way in 
which children are treated. When they are of tender years their mothers 
turn them over to the care of nurses, who have a habit, when their 
charges are troublesome, of feeding them with bits of opium. A poor 
woman will also resort to this dangerous practice with her own children. 
None but the strong survive, and a French physician, who was for years 
in attendance upon the Shah, expresses his conviction that not above 
three children in ten outlive their third year. 

A PERSIAN HAREM. 

The Turkish harem and the Persian harem are as dissimilar as the 
people. The Persian, as he goes, is a family man, and enjoys the society 
of his wives and children. They are not even guarded abroad with the 
same police-like severity which stamps the conduct of the Turk towards 
his wife. A Persian lady, closely veiled, it is true, will often be seen on 
the streets alone on her way to the public bath, bazaar or mosque. Except 
for enjoying her husband's company to a more becoming extent, life 
withintheharem is much like that already described as being led by the 
Turkish lady. With her hookah, her tea, coffee, fruit, ices and cakes, 
she has also her books, and is able to correspond with her friends with- 
out the assistance of a secretary. She is not hemmed around by forbid- 
ding black eunuchs, but is surrounded by comely maids and slaves, dressed 
often in home-like flowered calico, and having their hair "banged " like 
brisk American servants. The harem usually fronts on a spacious court 



MODERN FIRE-WORSHIPERS. 529 

(supposing the Persian to be wealthy), in the center of which is a tank 
of water bordered with flowers. The apartments of the women open 
upon the court. There is a general reception room, furnished with 
chairs and sofas, for it must not be imagined for a moment that Turkey 
and Persia have nothinor but rus-s and divans within their dominions. 

MODERN FIRE-WORSHIPERS. 

There are, perhaps, no people in the world who have retained their 
national unity through so many ages and vicissitudes as the Persians. 
Egyptians, Babylonians, Grecians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Mongols and 
Afghans have come in contact with the Persians, and nowithstanding 
that some are dead as nationalities, and others have been merged and 
almost lost in various peoples of the world, the Persians still go sailing 
along over the ocean of time, a distinct people, upholding the same old 
despotism which existed more than two thousand years ago. Even the 
fiery zeal of the Mohammedans was unable to destroy the ancient relig- 
ion of Persia, and Zoroaster still lives in several thousands of Guebre 
priests who are found all over the empire and have a famous temple at 
Baku, on the Caspian Sea. They are generally known as Parsees, both 
here and in India. 

• Baku is now a Russian province. It is traversed by the eastern- 
most ranges of the Caucasus mountains and abounds in mud volcanos 
and naphtha springs, many square miles of the country around Baku 
being impregnated with inflammable matter. Below is a graphic de- 
scription of the region and the temple of the fire-worshipers : "About 
fifteen miles northeast of the town is a fire temple of the Guebres a mile 
in circumference, from the center of which rises a bluish flame. Here 
are some small houses and the inhabitants, when they wish to smother 
the flame, cover the place inclosed with walls by a thick loam. When 
an incision is made in the floor and a torch applied, the gas ignites, and 
when the fire is no longer needed it is again suppressed by closing the 
aperture." 

" Not far from the town there is a boiling lake which is in constant 
motion and gives out a flame altogether devoid of heat. After the 
warm showers of autumn the whole country appears to be on fire, and the 
flames frequently roll along the mountains in enormous masses and with 
incredible velocity. The fire does not burn, nor is it possible to detect 
the least heat in it, nor are the reeds and grass affected by it. These 
appearances never occur when the wind blows from the east. In former 
times the burning field was one of the most celebrated ' ateshgahs ' 
(shrines of grace) among the Guebres." .^ 



530 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

" Previous to its occupation by the Russians, a voluntary human sac- 
rifice was annually offered here — -a youth v^ho leaped with his horse into 
one of the fissures. A few adherents of this sect still make pilgrimages 
to the great ateshgah to worship the fire and perform penitential exer- 
cises, chiefly by night. The place is a walled quadrangle with an altar 
raised on a flight of steps in the center. At each of the four corners 
stands a chimney twenty-five feet high, from which issues a flame three 
feet long. Round the walls of this sanctum are a number of cells in 
which the priests and Guebres reside." 

The Guebres of Persia maintain a connection with their brethren of 
India. They are represented as an industrious people, but crafty from 
oppression and somewhat given to the theft of fat turkeys and fresh 
vegetables. Their mode of burial is to expose the body, at the summit 
of a hill, and after birds of prey have stripped the flesh from the bones 
to throw them into a common pit. 

PERSIAN MOHAMMEDANISM. 

The Sunnis are the Orthodox Mohammedans, who believe not only 
in the Koran but accept as second only to it the oral sayings and tradi- 
tions of Mohammed, his wives, companions, and the successors to the 
caliphate. The Turks, and the African and Arabian Mohammedans, are 
Sunnis. But the Persians believe that Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, 
should have succeeded him ; whereas he was the fourth in succession. 
They therefore ignore the sayings and teachings of the first three caliphs 
and to the Mohammedan formula of faith that "There is no God but 
Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet," they add " Ali is the vicar of 
God." 

Hussein was the son of Ali and was murdered by the Caliph Yezid — 
he, and his wives and children were attacked by the Caliph's soldiers as 
they were marching through the desert and all perished, some by the 
sword and some, who escaped into the sandy wastes, from hunger and 
thirst. The event is commemorated, as part of the religion of the Shiahs, 
or the party of Ali, as the Persian Mohammedans have become known. 

The performance is in ten acts and takes place in a large tent, or a 
temporary building erected by the Prime Minister in the public square 
Te heran. It is in the month of Moharrem, or December, that ten 
days are devoted to the dramatic representation of the tragedy, which 
ends with the death and beheading of Mohammed's grandson, his true 
successor. 

Every day the great building is crowded, part of the pit being given 
up to women of humble circumstances, decorously veiled, but who often 



THE NESTORIANS. 53 1 

Strike each other upon the headwith the iron heel of their sHppers to 
obtain a favorable seat upon the ground. The Shah and his family are 
in their private boxes, and as the realistic scenes are enacted by which 
Hussein and his party are cut off from the Euphrates river and from 
hope, and after several clays of brave fighting perish so miserably, both 
royalty and the immense concourse of people give vent to their grief in 
loud lamentations. The spectators are sometimes vi^orked up to such a 
frenzy of grief and rage that the Persian representing the foul fiend who 
cuts off Hussein's head barely escapes from the stage without bodily 
injuries. 

THE NESTORIANS. 

In the northwestern districts of Persia, among the mountains of 
Kurdistan, are all that remain of this religious sect which, before the 
establishment of Mohammedanism, was the dominant one of the 
empire. Once they not only were in the majority in Persia, but were 
spread over Mesopotamia in Turkey. The Jews and Kurds, of both 
countries, have traditions, in common with the Nestorians, that they 
form a relic of the ten tribes of Israel, carried into captivity by the 
King of Assyria ; they are said to have spread from C ha Idea, and were 
long- known as Chaldeans. 

The Turkish Nestorians early united with the Church of Rome, 
-while those of Persia cling to their ancient faith, which they claim to 
Jiave received from Saint Thomas and which was re-confirmed in Nes- 
torius. Bishop of Constantinople, from whom, in the fifth century, they 
received their present name. Kurds and Mohammedans have attempted 
to crush them, the former as late as 1843 killing or selling 10,000 of 
them into slavery. But over 100,000 of them still live, and though so 
ignorant and suspicious that it is almost impossible to obtain a clear 
idea of their religion, they still worship in their dark, little churches, 
with their dwarf -like doors. They swing the incense, applying the vessel 
to the Syriac bible, which few understand, to a figure of the cross, the 
Bishop's beard or the priest's face, and to the faces of members of the 
congregation as they arrive. A Nestorian bishop is described as wear- 
ing " an enormous red-and yellow pair of trousers, an immense red-and- 
black turban and a tattered camel's hair cloak." 

MUSIC AND RELIGION. 

The Persians play upon musical instruments, but they are not 
musicians. They aim to keep correct time, but have little idea of 
melody, allowing voices, fiddles, guitars, harps and dulcimers to enter 



532 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the concert lists together and force them to keep together. Their fav- 
orite musical sound is the imitation of a nightingale by the human 
voice, and if they can find an accommodating youth who is an expert, 
they make him warble for hours, listening with the keenest enjoyment. 
Another musical note which is listened to with much pleasure by 
townsmen is that which heralds the chant of the Persian master-mason, 
as the bricks are cast to him along the line of workmen who serve 
under him. Religion even takes a part in his song ; and there is noth- 
ing in Persia or Turkey which is not touched in some way by Moham- 
medanism. A great portion of the song is devoted to showering curses 
upon Omar, one of the caliphs who seized upon All's birthright. 

PERSIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 

The Persians are superstitious, from His Excellency, the Prime 
Minister, who consults the astrologers, to the poor neglected wife who 
endeavors by charms and talismans to regain the heart of her husband. 
If "the hour is good" the high functionary undertakes his business. 
The wife attempts to deck her cool mate with charms, unbeknown to 
him, or to administer a love potion, one ingredient of which must be a 
frog. If all these fail she offers a sheep to God, by dividing it among 
the poor; she supplicates Hussein, the martyr. 

A superstition which is the first to come to the attention of travelers 
in Persia — at least to those of distinction — consists in the public sacri- 
fice of cattle and sheep, that all possible misfortunes may fall upon their 
heads. As the party approaches a town, the cow or sheep, which is held 
close to the roadside, is decapitated by a man with a huge knife who 
crosses the path of the distinguished person with the dripping head of 
the brute in his hand. This blood is supposed to work the potent 
charm. 

THE SHAH. 

The Shah of Persia comes last under our pen, because he is the 
antipodal to everything American, Anglo-Saxon, European even, and 
humane. He possesses the divine right of levying upon the land and 
products of the poor man, upon his camel and his horse, upon the water 
(Allah's greatest blessing) in his well, or of cutting off the head of his 
Grand Vizier. In conversing one day with a British envoy, he wished 
to illustrate the difference between a European and an Asiatic monarch. 
Near by were his officers. "There," said he, "stand Solyman, Khan 
Kajar and several more of the chiefs of the Empire ; I can cut off their 
heads, if I please — can I not?" suddenly addressing them. "Assuredly, 



THE SHAH. 533 

Point of the World's Adoration, if it is your pleasure," was the reply. 
"Now that is real power," continued the Shah ; "but it has no perma- 
nence. My sons, when I am gone, will fight for the crown, and it will 
fall into the hands of the best soldier." 

Persia is governed by the Shah and the Koran, or the priests ; 
there are no regular civil laws except those which have become a part 
of Mohammedanism. Fines, floggings, decapitations, stranglings, stab- 
bings, and tortures which would make the North American Indian jeal- 
ous, are the different forms of punishment which are in vogue. Upon the 
perpetration of some such extraordinary offense as an attempt upon the 
Shah's life, the autocrat of Persia has been found ready to originate other 
forms which are not even authorized by custom. 

A party of religious fanatics, in the early part of the Shah's reign, 
attacked him in his capital and slightly wounded him, their intention 
having been to kill him, seize the reins of government and inaugurate 
the reign of the saints on earth. About thirty of the conspirators were 
put to death in various ways by the priests, members of the Shah's 
cabinet and household, and by the high officers of his army. The Shah's 
French physician was invited to show his loyalty by becoming an execu- 
tioner, but offended his majesty by declining to assume the office. The 
chief of the conspirators was bored full of holes, into which were placed 
lighted candles, and when they had burned down to the flesh, was cut to 
pieces with hatchets ; others were cut in parts and blown from the mouths 
of mortars. One of them who thus suffered death was a mollah, who 
had abandoned Mohammedanism for the strange faith, and he was turned 
over to the mollahs and priests of Mohammedanism. The princes. 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, secretaries of the department, brothers and 
sons of the Prime Minister, nobles of the Court and the Shah's personal 
attendants all took part in the bloody work, which was designed to dis- 
tribute the vengeance among them which would fall upon the Shah 
alone had his regular executioners performed the task. 

The Shah has a way also of putting out the eyes of his rivals or 
otherwise mutilating them, which indicates what "real power" is. He 
is truly a law unto himself, and were it not for the fact that he is 
obliged to give his personal attention to so many affairs his power for 
mischief would be incalculable. His religion obliges him to rise early, 
and his affairs of state, as well as judicial duties, occupy nearly every 
hour of the day. One of his principal duties is to hold a morning levee, 
or session, receiving petitions and deciding cases in his hall of audience. 

The bastinado is the most common form of punishm.ent, and for- 
merly none were exempt from it ; officers who were defeated in battle, 



534 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the Shah's own cousin, and delinquent governors were bastinadoed 
either in the royal presence or the public square of the capital. Now it 
is chiefly reserved for more common offenders. The punishment is often 
continued for hours, and although the culprit often faints there is no 
case on record of a death caused by it. The bastinado is simply a long 
pole, which is held by two officers, the prisoner's ankles being attached 
to two loops in the middle ; he is thus thrown on his back with his feet 
turned up. Two other ferashes, or officers, then flog him on the feet 
with thin wands, which are replaced by fresh ones as needed. 

The Shah draws his principal revenue from the land, and, if he had 
set deliberately to work, he could not have perfected a more complicated 
and oppressive 
system. Ihe 1iJi5vj-_''" *- 

rate of assess- 
ment is not uni- 
form, nor the na- 
ture of the arti- 
cles assessed, 
but, all in all, 
they include 
taxes on gar- 
dens, vineyards, 
shops,melon, cot- 
ton, rice and to- 
bacco lands, 
sheep, asses, buf- 
faloes, bullocks, 
c a m el s , wells, 
kanats and mills. 
In one province 
a poll-tax is the bastinado. 

levied for males over fourteen years of age ; in another there is a house 
tax ; in another military service is required. The nomads pay no land 
tax. Land dedicated to religious purposes is exempt. 

The system of "teeool" is similar to that existing in Abyssinia. By 
it the Shah has exclusive right over eggs, fowls, firewood, fodder, fruit, 
and other property and products which may be found with the peasantry. 
Everything is his by royal might, and he may sell the privilege of levying 
upon a district or a village upon any of his nobles or great men. Sol- 
diers and tax collectors are quartered upon the sections which have thus 
been farmed out, so that the peasantry, as in so many other lands, bear 
much of the burden of the nobility, besides the regular taxes. 




THE SHAll S TIME. 



535 



When a governor, or other public official, is' traveling through the 
country, with his enormous retinues, he has the same right to extort 
food and other favors from the long-suffering peasantry. An officer and 
his troops may also quarter themselves upon them. To add insult to 
injury, by custom it has become almost law that these oppressed " ryots" 
shall present these parasites with valuable gifts. 



THE SHAH'S TIME. 

The government of Persia has a very singular fashion of reckoning 
time, which is said to have been introduced from Tartary, but is obsolete 
in both Turkistan and Turkey. Illustrations of this method will be 
found in firmans and grants which issue from the Shah. Time Is divided 
into cycles of twelve years. The cycles are not named, but the years 
are, viz. : — the years of the Mouse, Bull, 
Leopard, Hare, Crocodile, Snake, Horse, - 
Ram, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Hog. The 
name of each year represents a cycle. So 
that if the object were to designate an 
event which occurred 156 years ago, "the 
Hog" would be named, which would be 
equivalent to twelve cycles and twelve years. 

THE INDEPENDENT AFGHANS. 

The Afghans are the Arabs of the 
Iranian stock. They are bold and straight- 
forward, even brutal in their manners. In 
character and religion they are directly op- 
posed to the Persians, with whom they have 
been at constant war. Persian history is 
prone to accord them a Jewish origin, claim- 
ing that they owe their name to Afghan, 
son of Eremia, son of Saul, King of Israel, whose posterity were car- 
ried away at the time of the captivity and settled in the mountains of 
Afcrhanistan. The Afghans call themselves "Ban! Israil." Four 
distinct ranges of the Hindu-Koosh system fortify the country on 
every side but the Persian. In their mountain strongholds the Afghan 
tribes bid defiance to absolute monarchy, and except they have united 
to cast off the Persian yoke, conquer that empire, or resist an European 
army, have always acknowledged a general ruler, in a very unsatisfac- 
ory manner. 







AN AFGHAN. 



536 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

In person the Afghans are usually of a robust frame, lean and mus- 
cular, with high cheek bones, long faces, and a brown velvety skin. 
Their hair is generally black, and they wear long, thick beards. The 
common masculine attire consists of loose trousers of dark cotton stuff, 
a large shirt like a wagoner's frock, and a low cap or a loose turban. 
Over the shoulders is thrown a cloak of soft gray felt, or tanned sheep- 
skin, with the wool inside. Boots are almost universally worn. 

The woman's costume consists of jacket and pantaloons of velvet, 
shawl cloth or silk, and, as to ornaments, gold and silver chains and 
earrings. 

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. 

To the great outside world, the Afghans are only known as a col- 
lection of rude tribes, holding a mountainous country and rather barring 
the way to India. Their four chief cities, Cabool (the capital), and 
Jelalabad, in the north, and Candahar and Herat, in the south and west^ 
command the only feasible internal routes of travel. These are the keys 
to India, and if the character of the people were not so independent and 
turbulent, so that they could unite into a compact nation, they might 
hold them quite securely. The kingdom is divided into provinces, over 
which is placed a tax collector, but his duties are not onerous, and the 
tenure of his office is most unstable. 

THE CLANS. 

Of the fourteen clans into which the Afghans are divided, the Dur- 
ranis, the Ghilzais and the Yusafzai are the most important, numbering 
too-ether over 2,000,000 souls. The former, a distinctively military tribe, 
holds Southwestern Afghanistan, and is forever fighting with its rivals, 
the Ghilzais who are intrenched in the east. The death of Dost Moham- 
med, in 1863, a skillful, politic ruler, and who left seven sons and many 
nephews, resulted in almost continuous civil warfare, in which these two 
tribes have taken the leading parts. The last decisive struggle, seven 
years ago, between a claimant to the Ameership, who was supported by 
the Durranis, and the Ameer who was of the Ghilzais party, resulted in 
upholding the ruling chief. 

The Durranis are the tribe of Afghans who give a name to the 
entire people of Afghanistan. The Ghilzais, who belong to the so-called 
Pukhtun tribes, which have given the language of Afghanistan its name, 
are also known as " Povindia," or packmen ; for they are the people 
who drive the caravans and monopolize the whole carrying trade of the 
country, as well as being a martial race. A large portion of this tribe is 



THE CLANS. 537 

Still nomadic, their winter quarters being on the borders of the Sistan 
•desert in the southwestern part of the country. Thither they emigrate 
with their large flocks. 

In Western AfQ^hanistan are a number of Mono^ol tribes who are 
independent and are called collectively Hazarahs. They are worthy 
descendants of a warlike Kahn, who subjugated Afghanistan and planted 
them there as military colonists. Although this people have occupied 
their present territory for six hundred years, so isolated is their position 
that they retain the strongest features of their race. They are naturally 
undersized, but their proportions indicate great strength and they are 
b>rave to the verge of rashness. The women, too, are proud of being 
.able to mount a horse and use firearms or a sword with an intrepidity 
■equal to that of the men. In times of peace they do the housework, 
•cultivate the fields, and weave a cloth called " barek " from an exceed- 
ingly fine silky wool which grows on the stomach of the camel. It is 
not dyed, but is so soft and warm that it is made into robes and worn in 
-winter, by both Afghan and Persian nobles. This manufacture, with the 
profits arising from their blooded horses, and fine flocks and herds of 
:sheep, goats, buffaloes and camels ; occasional attacks upon rich cara- 
A-'ans from and to Persia, the capture of Persian women from the villages, 
for the purpose of selling them to various Tartar tribes — from these 
-sources the Mongols of Afghanistan have become quite prosperous. 

The Tajiks of Afghanistan are the inhabitants of Persian origin, 
who are everywhere devoted to the cultivation of the soil, and in the 
towns and cities carry on most of the mercantile business of the country, 
as well as providing the handicraftsmen and scribes for all the usual 
pursuits and trades of domestic industry — neither the Afghan or other 
Pukhtun engaging in any occupation but that of the farmer, the soldier 
and the merchant. In fact, throughout the country to the west of the 
Suleman range — where he is principally found — the Tajik is the ser- 
vant of the Pukhtun ; and his place on the east of the range is filled by 
the Hindki, the descendant of Arab settlers, of early Mussulman con- 
•verts. He is confined almost entirely to the Indus provinces of Afghan- 
istan. 

It will thus be seen how widely diversified are the different tribes 
and races which dwell in Afghanistan. But the prevailing character of 
the natives is military, and the soldiers are robbers from instinct. 

The result of this condition of the country is that every hamlet has 
in its neighborhood the castle of a Khan, in which are the apartments 
for his family and dependants, storehouses for his property and stables 
.for his horses. At one of the ffates is a lodo^e where travelers are enter- 



538 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

tained and where the villagers assemble to gossip and hear the news. 
Neither is the Khan absolute ruler of his tribe ; he must bow to the will 
of the " jeerga," or representative assembly. Beneath the Khan is the 
" speen zerah," or "white beard," who is at the head of a tribal branch. 

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. 

The Afghans are Sunnis, or Orthodox Mohammedans, as opposed 
to the Persians who do not admit the authority of the three caliphs who 
succeeded the Prophet ; but, unlike the Persians and the Turks, they 
have not persecuted those who profess other faiths. They are, in fact,, 
more bitter against the Shiahs, or Persian Mohammedans, than against 
other religious sects. Hindus dwell in their towns unmolested, upon 
the payment of a slight tax, and Christians are also allowed perfect 
freedom. The priesthood — the Ulema — are supported by individual 
donations. In this turbulent land they are often fierce leaders of the 
tribes, raising troops, taking sides with contending factions, and arous- 
ing their forces by playing upon their superstitions as well as their mili- 
tary pride. 

In the mountainous country formed by the prolongation of the 
HinduKoosh, in Western Afghanistan, are a number of Mongol tribes 
who are Shiahs of the strictest kind. They are entirely independent of 
Afghanistan, except that they have been known, under pressure, to pa}r 
a slight tribute to Cabool, Candahar and Herat. Whether these Mon- 
gols are tolerated because they can not be dislodged is a point open to^ 
discussion. Directly to the north of Cabool, on the southern slopes of 
the mountains, is " Kafir country," the country of the pagans. It 
s entirely independent and has always remained unmolested. It is. 
inhabited by descendants of the ancient Indians, who are divided intO' 
small communities, speaking different dialects of the Sanskrit. 

THE BELOOCHES. 

Their appearance and language stamp them as a mixture of the 
Tartars and Persians, although they themselves claim to be the descend- 
ants of the earliest Mohammedan conquerors of Central Asia. Their 
tribes have not even the unity of the Afghans, and they can not be 
truthfully divided into the settled and the nomadic. They are ever 
shifting from place to place and are never so happy as when they can 
be striding over the country under a burning sun, at a pace which would 
tire the best horse. Their complexion is olive ; they are impulsive, 
well-formed, nervous ; have no law but the vendetta, and will pursue 



THIEVES ON PRINCIPLE. 539 

an enemy with the swiftness of a falcon and the patience and ferocity of 
a blood-hound, through a thousand miles of desert and mountains, and 
for generations of time ; and if unarmed enemies accidentally meet they 
will tear each other like tigers, with nails and teeth, or strangle each 
other without a cry. 

THIEVES ON PRINCIPLE. 

They claim to be robbers from principle rather than instinct, and 
reason that as God divided the good things of the earth, some thousand 
years ago, in an unequal manner, sending them into the world with vir- 
tually nothing, they have the right to equalize matters by taking what 
they can now get of their just share. Neither is this all tradition, they 
say, their very name, whose origin they can not trace, proving their state- 
ment. For does not "be" in Persian signify "without" and "leuct," 
"naked" or "stripped"? These words have drifted mysteriously into 
their vocabulary, been corrupted, and they have become doubly branded 
as " Belooches " — people who came into the world without anything 
"naked," " stripped." The Belooches are firmly persuaded that Europ- 
eans have been taught by the Devil how to make gold and how to find it 
in the ruins of old cities. They are therefore particularly eager to strip 
any European Avhom they find on the southern roads of Afghanistan or 
in their own arid country. And among them that trite saying that there 
is honor among thieves, does not hold good; for in traveling together 
friends and relatives, even, w^hen the time for sleep arrives, will be care- 
ful not to cast themselves upon the ground within a'hundred feet of one 
another. When traveling on dromedaries, especially if they are on a 
foraging expedition, they sit back to back that they may sweep the coun- 
try in all directions, and as they are so keen of sight few good sub- 
jects will escape them. 

BRAVE SOLDIERS. 

The weapons of the Belooches are the lance, sabre and, occasionally, 
firearms. They are braggarts of great power, but unlike most of that 
class back their words with their deeds ; for there are no better soldiers, 
in Asia than they. They are not only brave in the assault, but are firm, 
in withstanding it. When fighting under native leaders they attack in 
small parties of about a dozen soldiers, who tie their cotton tunics 
together, and in case one of their number is wounded, those behind untie 
his tunic, fasten the front file together again and remove the injured to 
the rear. In their conflicts with the Afghans, British soldiers have had 



;540 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

■occasion to test the metal of the Belooches ; since their country is on 
the direct route from India, and Bolan pass in Northwestern Belo- 
chistan is the only open gate, of convenience, to Afghanistan. This 
and the pass of Gundwana are the only doors to both Beloochistan and 
Afs^hanistan from the lower Indus. 

Upon one occasion the British spent six days in forcing Bolan 
pass, which is a series of ravines rising gradually for fifty-five miles, 
the last one being nearly six thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
Both passes guard the approach to Kelat, the capital — notwithstanding 
which, the British have several times occupied it. 

The capital is a city of 12,000 or 15,000 people, built on a hill and 
■surrounded by high mud walls. Spears, swords and muskets are the 
chief manufactures, its trade and that of the country in general being 
monopolized by Afghan merchants. The Khan of Kelat rules the city 
and the province, and is usually acknowledged as the leader of the 
Belooches in time of war. He is a mere feudal chief when lance, sabre 
and gun are put away, his authority beyond Kelat extending only to his 
personal retainers. Neither Belooche nor Afghan, with all their intre- 
pidity, will be a serious obstacle to either England or Russia, until 
some Khan arises who is an organizer, a tyrant, a general and a 
■diplomat. 







EAST INDIA ISLANDS. 



THE HINDUS. 




HE claim is made, based principally upon physical character- 
istics, that the Hindu, or native of Hither India, is an amalgam- 
ation of the Mongol and the Aryan. On the other hand 
those who place paradise and a submerged birth-place of races 
in the Indian Ocean start a great emigration from the south- 
west, rolling through Ceylon and Southern Hindustan and 
leaving in its track the Dravidas, or aborigines ; the Aryan 
stock spreading northwest from the Himalaya Mountains. 
But whether the Aryans came down from the north, mixing 
with such of the natives as they could and driving the balance 
into the jungles, or whether they came up from the south, to found a 
civilization on the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean 
Sea, certain it is that in the regular features, the brunette skin, the black 
hair, the long head and oval face of the Hindu stands confessed the- 
Indo-European. 

The aboriginal tribes number about twenty million people and exist- 
in the mountainous districts, in jungles or the outskirts of towns. 
Although they differ from the refined people of the higher castes, in 
physiognomy and cranial development they are quite distinct from the 
Indo-Chinese Mongolian. In their dispositions they are his antipode. 
British influence has somewhat subdued their ferocity — put it, perhaps, 
in irons — but although they have been drafted into the English army 
they are still the tigers of the jungles, with their claws cut off ; and 
although, they have had Brahmanism, Mohammedanism and Christian- 
ity near them for centuries, many of them persistently hide in the wilds 
of Hindustan and worship the Devil, as they did of old. Their human 
sacrifices, mostly of captive children, are offered to the malignant deities 
who alone are supposed to rule the world. 

But the Hindu proper, the Aryan-Indian, has not been in hiding, all 
these generations. He has developed a religious system which once was 
noble and has spread over the greater portion of Asia, modified by race 
and geographical peculiarities. He has been a gigantic manufacturer of 

541 



54^ 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



rich and delicate fabrics, silver and gold ware, furniture, swords — every- 
thing, in fact, wherein could be exercised his artistic taste, his manual 
skill and his indomitable patience. The hand of the Hindu was as cun- 
ning when Imperial Rome purchased the products of its skill as it is to- 
day. He works with the same rude tools as his father did; they are 
members of the same caste, and methods and tools are alike handed 
down from father to son. The Hindu farmer is supposed to be the first 
to rotate his crops, but the mechanism by which the rotation is accom- 
plished is crude in the extreme. The manure of cattle he will not use 
upon his land, as it is considered holy, and devoted to religious purposes. 

As architects the Hin- 
dus have showed great 
genius ; but their temples, 
distinguished for size and 
splendor, were built before 
the Christian era, and the 
structures erected by the 
Mohammedan emperors are 
of the Saracenic style of 
architecture, and therefore 
devoid of originality,though 
finely executed. The na- 
tives have constructed im- 
mense numbers of reser- 
voirs, massively built of 
stone, and the princes of 
^^ former days undertook to 
"^"^ put m operation a system 
of canals. They built a 
number which fell Into dis- 
use and the work has been 
energetically taken up by 
the British Government, 
both to the end of furnishing the country with irrigating facilities and 
improving its navigable rivers, the Jumna and the Ganges. 

THE SYSTEM OF CASTE. 




BURGHERS OF CEYLON. 



The entire population of India was originally divided into four 
great castes. First there was a division which the Aryans made, by 
which they separated themselves from the Sudras, or aboriginal tribes 



SYSTEM OF CASTE. 



543 



which they found occupying the country when they invaded it. Caste, 
in the Sanskrit, signifies " color," the aborigines being of a darker com- 
plexion than the Aryans. The Suclras remained a distinct caste (ser- 
vants), and there were also the divisions of Brahmans, who were 
expounders of the Veda, and conducted the sacrifices ; the Kshatriyas, 
warriors and subordinate priests, and the Vaisyas, comprising the peas- 
antry and merchants. These great divisions were subject to further 
separations into specific trades and professions, and into the unclean 
castes of the aboriginal population. 

Although there is still a system of caste which is all-embracing, 
through the influence of Western thought the sharp lines of division are 
being gradually obscured. A man of high caste was formerly justified 

In slaying one of a lower one, who even -^^ _,«=^ 

touched him accidentally, and the lower t: ^ 

castes were so unclean that it was consid- ^ "'^ 

ered both sinful and criminal for a Brah- 
man to instruct them. Far beneath the 
uncleanliness of the aboriginal castes 
were those who had lost color in so- 
ciety. Eighty years ago, even, the system 
was at the height of its glory. 

V^ ersons who abandoned the Hindu 
religion, traveled into foreign countries 
and ate forbidden food, or food cooked by 
an inferior caste, a union Avith women of 
a lower caste or a foreigner, the non-per- 
formance of the minutest religious rites, 
made the offenders and the offenses 
things to be spurned and spit upon. To 
give a few instances : A Brahman of 
Calcutta Avas forced by a European to eat flesh and drink spirits, and 
another ate with a Brahman of a prescribed caste ; to get back into good 
standing they were obliged to pay thousands of dollars to their brethren. 
A number of Brahmans, who secretly performed the funeral rites over 
the body of a lady who had lost caste by associating with Mohammedans, 
were themselves excommunicated when their oft'ense was discovered. 
In vain they applied for re-instatement, and at last, in despair, one of 
their number tied himself to a jar of water and drowned himself in the 
Ganges. Three brothers lost caste through the indiscretion of their 
mother; one poisoned himself and the other two fled the country. A 
Brahman, in a moment of rashness, married a Avasherwoman's daughter. 




WATER CARRIER. 



544 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



\J^. 







His act was discovered, he sold his property, fled to another city and his 
wife became a maniac. A Mussulman nobleman seized the daughters 
of some Brahmans. They complained to the judge, but were irreclaim- 
ably disgraced, and poisoned themselves. 

The outcasts of Hindu society are therefore forced to form a Ciass 
of their own. Those who are cast out of the lower ranks are put to the 

_ most menial tasks. All over 



Hindustan are found a people 
who are sprung from a mixture 
of castes, from the marriage of 
a sudra, or servant, with a Brah- 
man woman. Their occupations 
are those of the lowest day- 
laborers. They carry the dead 
to their graves, and deceased 
dogs to their last resting-places. 
They act as public executioners 
and perform other offices which 
usually devolve upon slaves or 
criminals. These outcasts are 
called Chandalahs, and are de- 
scribed by the sacred books : 
" The abode of the Chandalahs 
must be out of town. They must 
not have the use of entire vessels. 




"^'."A" 'i' 






j£ '■»•' 



4. ^*t ^ —^ 



Their sole wealth must be dogs 
and asses. They must wear 
only old clothes. Their dishes 
'for food must be broken pots, 
and their ornaments rusty iron. 
INDIAN TREE HUTS. They must continually roam from 

place to place. Let food be given to them in potsherds, and not by the 
hands of the giver, and let them not walk by night in cities and towns." 
In Southern India is a body of outcasts, inhabiting the Tamul 
country, or the land of the Dravidas. The people are called Pariahs, 
and the name has been applied, collectively, to the thousands of outcasts 
who still adhere to the country which treats them so cruelly. Formerly 
the Pariah was obliged to wear a bell, in order that the Brahman might 
be warned of his approach, and escape from the very contamination of 
his shadow. So utterly are they detested by Hindu society, that the 
most disreputable mongrel dogs, roaming about the streets and suburbs, 
or hunting in packs upon the plains, are called Pariah dogs. 



THE SYSTEM OF CASTE. 545 

It has been urged that caste was estabhshed for the practical good 
of separating society permanently into trades and professions, that per- 
fection might ultimately be attained. But we have seen how the system 
has worked in this particular, and it may be added, on the authority of a 
Hindu author, that "native carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, engravers, 
lithographers, printers, gold and silversmiths now-a-days turn out 
articles which in point of workmanship are not very much inferior to 
those imported from Europe. Of course they are materially indebted 
to Europeans for this improvement." 

Looking at the evil effects of the system from a higher point of 
view, it is a drag upon charity, mutual love and the true ideas of a 
religious life ; for the strange anomaly exists of being able to wash away 
the sins of a lifetime by simply washing in the sacred Ganges, and of 
being savagely cast out of the pale of fellowship, sometimes beyond re- 
call, because of the violation of certain arbitrary rules whose origin is 
yet in dispute. 

Where European influence is paramount, however, especially in 
Bengal, the system of caste is dying. Superior castes engage in the 
occupation of the lower ; Brahmans hold government offices, act as 
soldiers, enter the service of Europeans, Mohammedans, and even Su- 
dras ; and under the British government, an actual loss of caste can not 
be punished by disinheritance or a forfeiture of property. 

Aside from European influence, two native forces are breaking down 
this hoary and evil institution. Over fifty years ago a religious sect was 
formed, composed of Christians of educational institutions, Mohammed- 
ans and Brahmans, whose tenets are the fatherly and brotherly love of 
one God, with Christ as His most holy and spiritual representative, the 
rejection of miracles, and the abolition of all distinctions of caste and 
religion as contrary to the broad, human character of their faith. The 
sect has been established in all the large cities of India. 

A nabob, named Peeralee, succeeded in destroying the caste of 

many noble and rich families of Calcutta, and from them have descended 

the Peeralees, a people who are scattered over the country. They have 

risen to power as philanthropists, reformers and patrons of literature, 

and although still Hindus in religion, they are outcasts from society. 

Brahman priests administer the religious rites for them, and they have 

tried to buy their way back to their former caste, but without avail. One 

of their number started an English paper called the " Reformer," which 

has done much to hasten the downfall of caste, and the general elevation 

and refinement of the Hindu community of Calcutta are principally due 

to them. 

35 



546 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



A BRAHMAN. 



For ages the Brahman upheld his title as "the twice-born," by his 
religious purity and moral excellence ; but from the worship of one God 
he has degraded himself to the adoration of 330,000,000 of gods and 
goddesses, and instead of studying how he can develop his spiritual 
nature that he may impart it to the world, he has become a mercenary, 
deceitful, scheming worldling and beggar. In short, some irreverent 
hard-headed statistician has taken the trouble to analyze the criminal 
records of Bengal, where the Brahmans greatly flourish, and he has 
found that representatives of this caste in the jails of the province far 
outnumber those of any other class. 

As a relic, however, of something pure and noble, it is of interest to 

learn how the Brahman is born into 
the privileges of his order, which 
consist of being feed, fed and 
feasted upon every possible occasion 
and of being accorded all outward 
honor. 

The sacred office of priest may 
be bestowed upon the boy, at from 
nine to fifteen years of age. Upon 
the day fixed, if the weather is fair, 
the candidate for sacerdotal honors, 
havinof abstained from the use of 
fish and oil, shaved his head, bathed 
his body and donned clothes of red, 
is furnished with a tall tinsel hat, 
and appears before the priest. His 
spiritual superior reads certain incan- 
tations, and after worshiping Vishnu, 
one of the Brahman Trinity — who 
is represented by the household god 
(a small, round stone) — the boy is covered with a cloth to keep him from 
the contaminating gaze of a non-Brahman ; under the protection of the 
cloth he is invested with the mendicant's staff, the branch of a certain 
tree, at the top of which is tied a piece of dyed cloth. He afterwards 
receives the sacred thread of his caste, other incantations follow, the 
father even taking part, whispering the mysterious words to his son, lest 
some one of an inferior caste should hear them. Dressed as a beeear, 
with a staff upon his shoulder and a wallet by his side, the youth solicits 




A BRAHMAN AT PRAYER. 



CASTES AND TRIBES. 



547 



alms of his relatives, who give him a small quantity of rice and some 
money. Burnt sacrifice is then offered by the father, and other forms 
are exhausted, after which the youthful aspirant, who has been squatting 
upon the fioor, rises in ecstacy and declares his intention of leading the 
life of a religious mendicant. But the boyish actor is persuaded to 
abandon a pretended determination, and which all parties to the comedy 
know is not sincere, by being reminded that the holy Shastra inculcates 
the cultivation of a clean heart and a religious spirit rather than outward 
humiliation. Casting down his beggar's staff, the boy assumes a thin 

bamboo staff, which he throws 
over his shoulder as an evi- 
dence that he has decided to 
remain with the world. He is 
taught to commit certain ser- 
vices, fasts, and for three days 
is prohibited from seeing the 
sun or the face of an inferior 
beinor. On the morningrof the 
fourth day he goes to the sa- 
cred stream of the Ganges, 




throws the two staves into the 
water, bathes, repeats his pray- 
ers, returns home, and resumes 
his ordinary occupations. 

This is the ceremony which 
transforms a Hindu into a 
Brahman; but as the system of 
caste bars out the majority of 
natives from being thus "twice 
born," it is evident that 
many natives of Hindustan 
are strict adherents to w4iat 
has come to be known as Brah- 

manism without having ever become Brahmans. They are simply 

Hindus. 

CASTES AND TRIBES. 

In the separation of the Hindus into castes, tribal lines have gener- 
ally been observed. Brahmans, artisans and servants, however, must be 
distributed throughout society. In some cases whole tribes seem grad- 
ually to have changed their occupations, so that the agricultural caste of 



CHIEF OF A VILLAGE. 



548 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



to-day may have been originally a military caste, and the greatest pride is 
taken in tracing the tribal genealogy back to one of the original four great 

castes. The tribes 
which have been 
fixed upon as the 
aborigines are the 
smallest in the pop- 
ulation, and usually 
live among the 
hills of Central and 
Southern India. 
One of the most 
noteworthy are the 
Gonds of Central 
India. They num- 
ber over 800,000, 
it is true, but that 
is small for an In- 
dian tribe. The 
Gonds are almost 
diminutive in stat- 
ure, but are hardy 
and brave. Near 
the Hindu bound- 
aries they are agri- 
culturists ; in the 
interior they are 
wild and savage in 
their social and re- 
li gi ou s customs. 
Universally, the 
men are great hunt- 
ers, their peculiar 
weapon being a 
small axe, which 
they throw with 
such skill and force 
as to kill both birds 
and animals. This they also use to fell trees, which they burn, plant- 
ing grain in the ashes. The chief hunters of the village also use 
matchlocks in the place of bow and arrow. The women are drudges, and 



> 

o 
w 

X 

z 




A NATIVE HUNT. 



549 



wives are bought and paid for in money or in services to their parents. 
The Gonds have intermarried with the Hindu tribes near them, espe- 
cially with the noble Rajpoots, in which case their physical characteristics 
are greatly modified. In Southern India are a variety of tribes whose 
occupancy of the hills antedates history. Some of them have dwindled 
to a few hundred. They live generally in communities, but one of the 
more populous tribes dwells in villages, with regular streets. The houses 
are of stone and mud, thatched, divided into separate apartments, and 
otherwise above the average hut, but strange to say the doorways are 
not more than 40 x 25 inches. 

A NATIVE HUNT. 

In the vast jungles lining the sacred Ganges, especially in the 
province of Bengal, lie in wait the most destructive to human life of any 

of the wild beasts — the royal 
Bengal tiger. In thickly set- 
tled districts the rifle has sup- 
pressed His Royal Highness, 
but in many parts of Bengal 
he still is the terror of the 
J ■^.vi.Avf<*..^^u5r:_n\,m,v>..t^.sr._^>^^..,.Tf > villages, attackmg cattle and 

human beings with equal 
ardor. At night the villagers 
protect themselves with noisy 
drums and with torches ; by 
day they sometimes insti- 
tute a great hunt, in which the 
natives for miles around par- 
?\ ticipate, some on foot and oth- 
ers on the backs of elephants. 



THE TAMULS. 



The chief of the Dravidian 
races, or aborigines of India, 
are the Tamils, or Tamuls, 
inhabiting a country in the southeastern part of Hindustan and por- 
tions of Ceylon. They are restless, lithe and dark brown, being 
the sailors of India, wandering along the coasts seeking employ- 
ment in English ships. Their language (the " Kuli ") has given a 
name to Indian laborers as a body. A coolie is known the world 




WOMEN OF CEYLON. 



550 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



over. The Tamuls are social and energetic, and have not that exchi- 
siveness which is a trait of several minor Dravidian tribes, who will have 
nothing to do with foreigners but live in walled villages and only inter- 
marry with their own people. The whole group of Dravidas is some- 
times called the Tamulian family. The Tamuls number over icoooooc 
souls. 

Near them are the Telugus, a populous tribe who are agriculturists, 
but were formerly of a commercial turn, holding, at one time, several 




HOUSE IN CEYLON. 

slands in the Indian Archipelago. They are tall, fair and commanding^ 
in appearance. 

In contrast to them are a hill tribe, in Central India, who, instead of 
numbering 14,000,000, as do the Telugus, muster not more than 1,400. 
They are the Kotar, but are models of industry ; for not only are they 
agriculturists, but carpenters, smiths, basket-makers and menders of 
plows. They, are in fact, a little inclined to be parsimonious, and 
dead cattle and carrion of every kind are promptly eaten by them. 

THE RAJPOOTS. 

This tribe claim to be descended from the original Kshatriya caste 
mentioned by Menu, who were to protect the people and serve as war- 



THE RAJPOOTS. 55 I 

riors, as well as offer sacrifice. The conflict seems to have been severe 
which established the supremacy of the Brahmans over them ; but while 
the latter have fallen from their high estate, this remnant of the primi- 
tive military caste maintain the ancient dignity. The territory o£ the 
Rajpoots is in Northwestern India, and includes fifteen states allied to 
the British government. Their history is made up of Mohammedan and 
native invasions which, for centuries, they resisted, but finally to be safe 
from the encroachments of neighboring states they placed themselves 
under the protection of Great Britain. 

The Rajpoots are not supposed to be pure Hindu, but show such 
force of character that their people have given chiefs to most of the tribes 
of Rajpoota. One of their tribes also dwells in Cashmere, and its chief 
is lord of that important state. 

The appearance of the Rajpoot does not belie his commanding char- 
acter, he being tall, vigorous and athletic. Woman is treated by him 
with a romantic gallantry which, with his other qualities, stamps him as 
the Norman of India. The Rajpoot lady is well informed and an illus- 
tration of the leaven which is to raise the female condition throucrhout 
India. 

THE GYPSIES' LAND. 

There are no other people in the world who have done so little for 
it, about whom so many theories have been advanced, as the gypsies. 
They received their name from the fact that the majority of early inves- 
tigators settled upon the theory that they were Egyptians ; but they have, 
by turns, been called Egyptians, Hindus, Nubians, Tartars, Assyrians, 
Ethiopians, Armenians, Moors and German Jews. The most learned 
linguists of late years have, however, found in the words and structure 
of their language evidence which proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that 
it is a branch of the Sanskrit, corrupted by additions from the vocabula- 
ries of the many countries to which they have wandered, and that they 
are the descendants of some of the lower tribes of Northern Hindustan. 
The language is necessarily split into a multitude of dialects, but there 
are certain forms common to all, and It contains such evident mixtures 
from the Persian and Greek that the course of their first emi«:ration has 
been traced. Persian and Arabian authorities identify them with a tribe 
of Northern Hindustan, 10,000 of whom were Invited into Persia to 
satisfy the passion for music which is so marked in that country ; this was 
about 400 A. D. Wave after wave followed the first and the wanderers 
soon passed from Asia Minor into Europe, besides spreading into other 
parts of the continent and Africa. They refrain from eating certain 



552 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 





animals and are believers in transmigration of the soul ; but, if necessary 
to their well-being, they conform to the religion of the country in which 
they live. 

Notwithstanding the ease with which they adapted themselves to 
the views of others, on account of their modes of life and the irmysteri- 
ous callings they were from the first a proscribed race. Both Saracens 

and Tartars drove them out of Asia, and they 
were shrewd enough to pose as persecuted Christ- 
.jB» ia"s, when from the twelfth to the fifteenth centu- 
ries they made their appearance in hordes of thou- 

"^^ — ^^'^ - ■" sands each, and 

begged, thieved 
and humbugged 
their way into 
Greece, Russia, 
Austria,Switzer- 
land, Italy, Ger- 
many, Scandi- 
navia, England, 
Fran ce and 
Spain. It seems 
to have been 
durincr this 
period that they 
s o effectually 
aroused the curi- 
osity of the civ- 
lized world as to their identity and real 
character. The whole race which had 
wormed itself into the most obscure 
cranny of Europe succeeded in adver- 
tising itself and its magic arts in a 
way which might make an enterpris- 
ing merchant blush for shame. They 
had been conquered in Egypt and forced to renounce Christianity. They 
had been reconquered by the Christians, and were now doing penance 
by their wanderings for having abandoned the true faith. Earlier still 
their forefathers had ill-treated Joseph and Mary, and they were all 
penitent, sorrowing, wandering Jews. 

Finally the ignorance and superstition of the middle ages conspired 
against these dealers in the black arts, who had so thoroughly adver- 




HINDU GYPSIES. 



OTHER GREAT TRIBES. 



553 



tlsed themselves, and further interest in them for several centuries 
was swallowed up in an all-absorbing passion to crush them out of exis- 
tence. An illustration of the severity of the laws enacted against them 
is that which remained in force in Germany down to the i8th century, 
providing that every gypsy more than eighteen years of age found in 
the kingdom should be hanged. Later they were more humanley treated, 
Maria Theresa, of Austria, being specially active in efforts to improve 
their condition. Steps were taken to educate their children and induce- 
ments were offered for them to cultivate the soil. They settled in large 
numbers in the villages of Hungary and Transylvania, special streets 
being laid out for them and buildings erected. But these attempts to 




A BAGGAGE ANIMAL. 



plant them in the soil, or bind them to any settled ways of life, proved 
generally abortive, as they always have done. In a more literal sense 
than of any other people it may be said that they are wanderers upon 
the face of the earth. 

In Europe, Asia, Africa, America and in the islands of every sea, 
they show their dark soft skin, large brilliant eyes, exquisitely shaped 
mouths, cherry lips, snow-white teeth, and elegant forms so picturesquely 
draped, being pronounced by critics to be among the fairest physical 
specimens of humanity which were ever createid. If their morals were 
as perfect as their bodies, it were well that they thus displayed Them- 
selves to the world. 

OTHER GREAT TRIBES. 
The Cashmere, of Northwestern India, are claimed by many to be 



554 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 




A BANYAN FOREST. 



THE CEYLONESE. 555 

the purest specimens of the ancient Hindus. TKey are tall, vig'orous. 
and industrious, the women being famed for their fine complexions and 
beauty. Their kingdom of Cashmere is enclosed by mountains, the 
valleys of which are wonderfully fertile. Rice is the common food of 
the inhabitants, and the lakes yield thousands of tons of a water-nut 
which may be ground into a flour, cooked or eaten raw. 

The valley of Cashmere is a picture for an artist, with its little vil- 
.lages, all containing groves of poplars planted centuries ago by Mogul 
Conquerors, and its thousands of cattle, sheep and goats grazing on the 
hill-sides and fertile plains ; and near its center the city of Cashmere, 
lying for four miles on both sides of a tributary of the Indus, bound 
togfether with numerous canals and called the Venice of Asia. The 
city contains a gigantic Mohammedan mosque in which 60,000 people 
can worship and near it is a charming lake, with floating islands, sur- 
rounded by beautiful scenery and the gorgeous palaces of former Mogul 
emperors. This is the locality which Moore selected for the closing 
scene of Lalla Rookh. Cashmere is the center of the shawl industry 
and quite a commercial point. The kingdom is a portion of the terri- 
tory which the Sikhs transferred to Great Britain, but was sold by the 
latter to a rajah, and is independent. 

The Mahrattas for a century were the most powerful of the Hindu 
tribes, being for many years in possession of Delhi, the center of the 
Mohammedan power and capital of the Mogul empire. Their states 
which were finally united stretched quite across Hindustan, but after 
their defeat by the Afghans in 1761, they commenced to decline in 
power. A long war with England completed their subjugation as a 
military power, although they are still turbulent and predatory, and 
remarkable horsemen. They are scattered over portions of Central and 
Western India. 

THE CEYLONESE. 

Their island is chiefly noted for its natural scenery and for the 
stupendous ruins of a Buddhist civilization, which are buried in the 
depths of its dense forests. The primitive inhabitants are the Vaddahs, 
a tribe of outcasts who live in the caves and jungles of Eastern Ceylon 
or in mud huts near European settlements. A few words constitute 
their lano-uage ; they have not even a mythology, eat lizards and monkeys, 
and seem irreclaimable. 

The Singhalese are supposed to have emigrated from the valleys of 
the Gano-es about the middle of the sixth century, and either brought 
Buddhism with them or were converted through the personal teachings 



556 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



of its great master. They founded a monarchy, and were in continual 
warfare with the Tamuls, or Dravidas of Southern Hindustan, whose 
kings often ruled the island and introduced the worship of Hindu deities 
into Buddhist temples. The Buddhism of Ceylon has, therefore, been 
greatly corrupted, notwithstanding the existence of its many sacred 
shrines to which thousands of pilgrims repair. Upon the summit of 
Adam's Peak will be shown the imprint of Buddha's sacred foot. His 

tooth is presented in an elegant shrine. 
In the north of the island was the 
ancient capital of Ceylon, and its 
mighty ruins indicate what must have 
been the power of the Singhalese, after 
they had obtained supremacy over the 
Tamuls and established Buddhism as 
the national faith. The most remarkable 
of these remains is a vast rockhewn- 
temple, at the right of its entrance 
beingf a reclining^ fig-ure of Gautama 
(Buddha), forty-five feet in length. The 
mere ruins of a bell-shaped temple, or 
dagoba, tower to a height of 250 feet, 
with a diameter of 360, and, from base 
to pinnacle, the monument is covered 
Avith gigantic trees. At another point is 
the sacred Bo tree (whose pedigree has 
been traced to 288 B. C), and scattered 
over the island are colossal reservoirs and 
tanks which were parts of a general sys- 
tem of irrigation. The Singhalese are 
yet the most numerous of the natives, 
being devoted to that corrupted Buddhism which the Burmese are 
seeking to bring back to the original purity. 

RELIGIONS OF INDIA. 

The trinity of Brahmanism consists of Brahma as Creator, Vishnu 
as Preserver, and Siva as Destroyer. They are priestly developments, 
having no existence in the Vedas, the collection of hymns which formed 
the basis of the early Hindu religion. 

Brahma was originally the Eternal Essence of things ; something 
to be contemplated, immaterial and invisible. After the Vedas came 
the Brahmanas, an expansion of some portions of the first religious 




BAS RELIEF FROM AN INDIAN TEiMPLE. 



RELIGIONS OF INDIA. 557 

books, by which the priests were set aside from the world as holy and 
divine, and Hindu society divided into castes. 

Prayer had ever been the all-important power, and without it the 
gods who are created in the Vedas could not rule the world. Brahman- 
aspati was the god of prayer, and therefore became the great god, his. 
priests, the Brahmans, being little below him. There is a Vishnu in the 
Vedas, but he is rarely mentioned, and is named as a minor sun god. 
But he has been developed into the creator of the earth and the: 
preserver of its unbroken order. Siva is god of the destructive forces, 
and has his minor gods. His forerunner in the Vedas is supposed to be 
Indro, the god of storms. Siva, however, was actually adopted from the 
mythology of the Dravidas, who were thus bound closer to Brahmanism. 

The very creation of the trinity of Brahmanism is ascribed to the 
opponents of Buddhism, who wished thereby to unite all the elements of 
the Aryan and the aboriginal population which were opposed to the new 
doctrine. A symbol, so to speak, was then formed, represented by the 
image of a body with three heads cut out of a single block of stone. 

The separate images of the gods which form the trinity seem to 
vary. Brahma is represented with several heads, each one of which is 
crowned. 

Siva Is usually four-handed, and has three eyes, one in the middle 
of his forehead. In one hand is a trident, in another a sling, while his 
other hands are either empty or contain an antelope and a flame of fire. 
Around his neck is a necklace of skulls, and on his head is a cap of 
elephant or tiger skin. In different images, Siva's hands vary from four 
to thirty-two. 

Vishnu is generally represented as attended by an eagle, and having 
four hands and a nurrber of heads, emblematic of his omniscience and 
omnipresence. 

One of the Vedic hymns makes the creation of the world to consist 
of three acts — first, love which was born of religious meditation ; second, 
the impulse which love gave to the creative element, fire ; and third, the 
act of creation. Manu, the first ancestor of mankind, was the father of 
the Aryans ; and this fact gave rise, later, to their separation from the 
darker tribes, and the establishment of the first system of caste. Vishnu 
assigned Manu to the earth, and the latter was the author of the most 
famous of the social and public laws of the Hindus. 

The only trinity which is authorized by the Vedas is that of " om" 
— a mysterious syllable which in the Sanskrit is formed with three 
letters; three letters and one sound — this is the real trinity of the 
ancient Hindu religion. One of its religious text books is entirely 







58 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM. 559 

•devoted to showing how " om " is immortal. Among its most lucid 
passages are these : "Om is immortal. Its unfolding is this universe, is 
all that was, is, and shall be. Indeed, all is the word om ; and if there 
is anything outside of these three manifestations, it is also om. For this 
all is Brahma ; this soul is Brahma." . 

Fire, as has been seen, is pronounced a divine and creative element ; 
hence itis Agni, thegpdof fire, who burns the body that he may recreate 
a celestial form which he allows another god to endow with immortality. 

The goddess Doorga, wife of Siva, is the Minerva of the Hindus, 
and even of greater power than she, for Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are 
all said to have propitiated her, and she was the terror of the other gods. 
Her image represents her with three eyes and ten arms, in the act of 
piercing a giant with a spear and with the fangs of a huge serpent which 
she grasps by the tail. Her other hands are filled with weapons of war. 
In honor of this monster is held the greatest of the Hindu festivals, com- 
memorative of the day on which a great king of India, now deified, 
marched against a prince of Ceylon who had stolen his perfect wife. 
Other festivals are celebrated in honor of the goddess, but this is the 
greatest of all, because superstition and national pride join hands to give 
it eclat. 

Sudra, the king of heaven holds the first place among the infe- 
rior deities, his' position being maintained only by constantly warring 
against the giants of India. He may be ejected by a Brahman. Tama, 
the holy king, judges the dead, he being a hideous green man in red 
garments who holds court in the mountains. The rivers of India are 
divinities, particularly the Ganges, which descends from heaven, and 
whose waters purify sin. 

Krishna was one of Vishnu's incarnations. Another of Krishna's 
titles is Jagannatha, or lord of the world. To him is dedicated a 
great temple, that of Jagannatha, or Juggernaut. The town situated in 
Bengal is called by the same name. But the great car of Juggernaut, 
forty-three feet high, with its sixteen ponderous wheels, no longer crushes 
any human victims. The temple, however, is still the most holy of the 
shrines of Hindustan, and is visited annually by 1,000,000 pilgrims. 

So, through the centuries, the gods went on multiplying. Every 
physical principle and force of the earth had one, and to cover the in- 
finity of the heavens hundreds of thousands, — yea, millions — of gods, 
were created, although not called by name. 

INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM. 

Although Buddhism has been all but confined to Ceylon, "The 
Divine Island," which tradition assigns as the scene of many of Buddha's 



560 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

priestly labors, it threatened, at one time, to supplant Brahmanism, and 
has in spite of its persecutions, had much influence upon Brahmanism, 
and has spread over the vast empires to the east. Buddhism abolished 
caste as a religious institution and carried its religion to all people. Purity 
of conduct was inculcated — " to eschew everything bad, to perform 
everything good, to tame one's thoughts." All sacrifices were rejected. 
Nature was an illusion. The final object is Nirvana, the deliverance of 
the soul from all pain and the body from all passions by right view, right 
sense, right speech, right action, right position, right energy, right mem- 
ory and right meditation. Buddhism left to Brahmanism the doctrine 
of the incarnation of the gods, which has been, for ages, an important 
feature of the Hindu religion. This incarnation is called by the Brah- 
mans an Avatar, Vishnu having been especially favored in this respect. 
He is said to have passed through' seven different incarnations, in all of 
which he destroyed the enemies of the human race, 

A MOHAMMEDAN. 

An Indian Mohammedan does not essentially differ from that of 
Turkey, being principally distinguished from a Hindu for his restlessness 
under restraint of British rule. He is proud and arrogant, remembering 
when he was the conqueror of India and occupied the magnificent city 
of Delhi, as the capital of his great empire. This he still calls the city 
of the King of the World, in remembrance of one of the most powerful 
Mogul emperors of India. He looks upon the great mosque, built by 
another emperor, who quelled both Persians and Afghans and further 
solidified the cause of Mohammedanism, and then he scowls upon the 
Englishman. 

In Mohammedan eyes this mosque is one of the wonders of 
the world. It stands on a rocky height near the center of the city, 
being built on a paved platform. The mosque is approached by 
broad stone steps, is lined and faced with white marble, surmounted 
by three domes of the same material, striped with black, and having at 
each end of the front a high minaret. Scattered through and around 
the city are more than forty other mosques and tombs of the emperors 
and Mussulman saints. 

In the center of the Northwestern Provinces of British India is the 
province and city of Agra, once the capital of the Mogul Empire. Its 
ancient walls embraced an area of nearly twice that of the modern city. 
Within the English fort, which limits the latter, is the palace of a former 
Great Mogul, and a pearl mosque, while near the Jumna River, a short 



THE FAKIR. 



561 



distance east, is the mausoleum erected for himself and wife upon which 
20,000 men were employed for twenty-two years. It is built in the form 
of an irregular octagon, is of white marble, and so lavishly decorated that 
the whole of the Koran is said to be written in precious stones on the 
interior walls. The tomb of another Mogul emperor is six miles from 
the city ; so that Agra is almost as much a lasting humiliation to the 
Mohammedan as Delhi itself. The Hindus greatly predominate, and 
venerate the city as the scene of one of Vishnu's incarnations. 

THE FAKIR. 

The Fakir of India is a re-appearance of the Dervish of Turkey, 
Persia and Arabia. It is an Arabian word, and this mendicant monk is 
much more of a Mohammedan than a Hindu. Mendicancy, with the 
accompaniment of personal degradation, is no part of Brahmanism 
There seems, how- 
ever, to be a cer- 
tain class of Fakirs, 
who are partial 
subscribers to 
Brahmanism, and 
who believe that, 
by great austerity, 
complete isolation 
and intense medi- 
tation, they may 
even obtain power 
over the invisible 
world ; stories are 
related of mortals 
who have thus ex- 
pelled divinities 
from the very heav- 
ens. Some hide 
themselves in the 
woods, allowing royal palace at agra. 

their hair and nails to grow, and their bodies to become covered 
with filth until they are more repulsive than wild beasts. Others 
remain with their arms raised above their heads, or their bodies bent 
double, until they assume these positions permanently ; or they go 
naked, sleeping upon the ground without shelter of any kind, never 
kindling a fire, but using the excretions of cattle for fuel, considerino- 

3^ 




562 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

this a holy act, since the cow is one of India's sacred animals. Another 
form of penance is to lay fire upon the scalp and allow it to burn to the 
bone ; to tie the wrists to the ankles, cover the body with filth, and then 
roll along, from village to village, begging and giving advice to the awe- 
stricken. Those who believe in a more passive kind of self-torture have 
been known to bury themselves in the ground and take their food and 
water through narrow tubes, for unmentionable periods. 

The primary requisite in a Fakir is, of course, abject poverty, and 
some of those who travel over the country wear robes rent into tatters, 
such as the Mussulmans fondly believe were worn by the prophets of 
old. They often carry a cudgel, a battle axe or a spear, on which are 
hung rags of various colors ; but it is said that these weapons are put to 
more wicked uses when the bearers meet travelers upon a lonely high- 
way. In the towns, they appear as religious teachers. The Fakir, who 
has a long chain attached to one leg, which he clanks as he prays, 
becomes a superior being before whom the superstitious Indians grovel 
and tremble, and to whom they come to be cured of their diseases. 

A PARSER. 

In Hindustan his home is Bombay, the western capital of British 
India. In Persia, the native land of Zoroaster, whose follower he is, he 
is oppressed and degraded by the Mohammedans as a " guebre," or infi- 
del. There, also, he is wedded to the worship of fire, and has lost sight 
of its symbolic character. This is so to a great extent in Hindustan, 
temples being built over subterranean fires and sacred flames, which 
Zoroaster is said to have brought from heaven. Priests tend the fire on 
altars, chanting hymns and burning incense. But the Parsee of India 
is not content to rest here, and a great effort is being made to restore 
the religion to its original purity ; to follow the simple faith of the Persian 
prophet to this end : — that the two principles of good and evil animate 
the universe,and are found in every created thing ; that the good is eternal 
and will prevail over the evil, and that God has existed from all eternity. 

From Bombay as a center the sect is increasing quite rapidly. Next 
to the Europeans, also, the Parsees have built not only some of the 
largest vessels in the service of the East India Company, but have even 
constructed frigates and men-of-war. But, although commercially, politi- 
cally, intellectually and socially they take rank with the Europeans, and 
are adopting many Western customs, they have not yet abandoned their 
peculiar way of treating the dead. On the summit of Malabar Hill, the 
most fashionable suburb of the city, is the Parsee cemetery, walled and 
guarded. It contains five round towers, each about sixty feet in dia- 
meter and fifty feet ,in height and surmounted by a large grate. The 



A SIKH. 563 

A SIKH. 

bodies of the newly dead are placed upon these towers, and when the 
vultures have removed the flesh from the skeletons the bones fall through 
the ofrate into the inclosure beneath. 

Between the Indus and the Ganges, in Northwestern India, are a 
race of people called the Jats, who are supposed to be of a northern 
origin, either descendants of the Scythians or Huns. They are of the 
agricultural caste, are tall and robust, with clear-cut features, and the 
finest specimens of physical manhood in India. Besides leading in 
husbandry, their history has shown that they are second to no tribe as 
brave warriors. 

A Sikh is a Jat who has adopted the best portions of Mohammedan- 
ism and-Brahmanism. The founder of the sect was of the warrior caste, 
who in his youth had been educated as a Hindu and afterwards was 
adopted by a Mohammedan dervish. He therefore imbibed the prin- 
ciples of both religions, and when he came to promulgate his own 
doctrines, toleration and the brotherhood of man were naturally its lead- 
inor tenets. Those whom he drew to his relioious standard were called 
simply "Sikhs," or "disciples." His successors as heads of the sect were 
able and bold, and were looked upon as the arch enemies of both 
Mohammedanism and Brahmanism. One of them was tortured and put 
to death by the Mussulman government. 

Then commenced a fierce war against the Mohammedans. The 
Sikhs were driven into the mountains of the Northern Punjaub where 
they formed a state of a decidedly democratic turn. All caste was 
abolished. The Sikhs, irrespective of social standing, wore a blue dress. 
Every man was a soldier and constantly carried his steel blade. The 
contest against the Mohammedans was renewed, periodically, and the 
Sikhs became so powerful that the Shah took the field against them 
personally, and almost annihilated them. This was after they had fought 
the fight for conscience' sake, for two centuries. But fifty years there- 
after ( 1 764) they had so recovered as to be able to drive the Afghans 
from the Punjaub, and for seventy-five years more existed as petty states 
and as one powerful kingdom, known as Lahore. The English subdued 
them, and they remained faithful to their conquerors during the Sepoy 
rebellion. A few states continue to be independent, situated in South- 
eastern Punjaub, 

THE HINDU FAMILY. 

As to the duties of the male and female heads of a Hindu household 
they do not essentially difter from those of the American husband and 
wife. From all accounts the women are usually models of economical 
management and the men are careful to lay in a' month's supply of 



564 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



provisions at a time. In the upper and central provinces it is customary, 
at harvest, to buy a year's supply. 

Little Hindu children with their light brown skins, dark eyes and 
hair, acquiline noses, high foreheads and intelligent faces are sheltered, 
loved and educated with true devotion; to be without children is counted 
not only a misfortune, but a sin for which religious atonements are 
required. It is in the painful seclusion which the Hindu women suffer 
and in their separation from their older sons and their husbands that 
the difference between Eastern and Western households is mostly 
observed. 

The houses are so constructed that the court-yard is always reached 

through a tortuous passage way 
which is closed by a low door. 
There is an outer and an inner 
apartment, below. The rooms 
above are reached by small 
contracted staircases. 

Not satisfied with shut-' 
ting them out from fresh air 
and sunshine, when meal time 
comes custom requires that 
the women shall eat separately 
from the men. In the morn- 
inof the children are served 
first,that they may go to school. 
Then the adult male members 
are favored, the mother and 
wife squatting with them on a 
bit of carpet. She sees that 
everybody is properly waited 
upon by the servants, and 
although she participates in 
the conversation she can not 
eat. The cooking is generally 
left to Brahman servants, but 
It is not uncommon for wealthy Hindu ladies to take a pride in preparing 
the evening: meal of their sons and husbands. 

The Hindu woman is separated from her husband's elder brothers 
as by walls of adamant. She can not speak to her husband, or lift her 
veil, in the presence of her mother-in-law. In a word she is neither to be 
seen nor heard when elder members of the family are around. 

After the family have separated she changes her clothes and retires 




CLOTH VENDERS. 



A SON'S BIRTH. 565 

of stone and metal, placed on a gold or silver throne, upon which are a 
silver umbrella and household utensils dedicated to it. She prostrates 
herself, invokes its blessing and takes her breakfast, which like all other 
meals is simple, consisting principally of vegetables, fish and milk ; then 
she enjoys a nap, chewing afterwards a mouthful of betel to color and 
strengthen her teeth. After she has changed her garments for secular 
robes she bathes, as a religious duty. If she is poor and lives near the 
Ganges, she goes to the sacred stream, and, as the sun rises and sets, 
washes her body and clothes at its banks. In the upper provinces, at all 
seasons of the year, hundreds of women can be seen daily walking toward 
its waters, with baskets of flowers upon their heads, chanting in chorus 
the praises of the sacred river of India. In the Hindu household, 
also, ladies are not permitted to participate in domestic occupations unless 
they bathe their bodies and change their garments, morning and after- 
noon. 

Morning and evening, also, the priest visits the house to worship 
its god, bless the members of the family and carry away the offerings of 
rice, fruits, sweetmeats and milk. For the support of the household 
god the Hindu sometimes sets apart an endowment fund of landed pro- 
perty. 

A SON'S BIRTH. 

The birth of a male child is announced by the sounding of a conch 
or large shell, and when the mother hears the welcome note she is con- 
vinced that she has been under the kind charge of the goddess Shashthi, 
who has charge of children. Her heart sings for joy; for she knows 
that a male child will be welcomed by her husband ; while, if the shell is 
mute, she raves in a double agony, for a little daughter is at first an 
interloper of the Hindu world. "The family barber bears the happy 
tidings of a son's birth to all the nearest relatives, and he is rewarded 
with presents of money and clothes. Oil, sweetmeats, fishes and curdled 
milk are presented to the relatives and neighbors, who, in return offer 
their congratulations. A rich Hindu, though he study practical domes- 
tic economy very carefully is, however, apt to loosen his purse string at 
the birth of a son and heir. The mother forgrettinof her trouble and 
agony, implores Bidhata (the god of fate) for the longevity of the child." 

The goddess Shashthi is, on the sixth day after the great event, 
worshiped in front of the room where the child was born, the officiating 
priest making offerings of food and clothes. There are deposited in the 
mother's room a palm leaf, a pen and ink and a serpent's skin ; the arti- 
cles beinof to aid the sfod of fate in writino- on the forehead of the child 
to a room in which is the tutelar god, usually an image of Krishna made 



566 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

its future destiny. On the eighth day, the children of the house and 
neighborhood, after being feasted, repair to the door of the room, beat- 
ing upon a fan with small sticks, asking, " How is the child doing ?" and 
shouting, upon a favorable reply being given, " Let it rest in peace on 
the lap of its mother." 

The boy has in the meantime been blessed by his father and rela- 
tives, gold coins (for good fortune) have been forced into his baby hands, 
and he has been visited by the family astrologer, who has noted the day, 
the hour and the minute of his birth and cast his horoscope. He maybe 
named after a god, which is common. If the child is a daughter, on the 
other hand, she may go through life, eventually loved and petted, but 
burdened with such a name as Ghyrna (despised). The ceremony of 
christening occurs when the child is six months old, upon which occa- 
sion it is fed with a little boiled rice which has been sanctified ; the baby 
being shaved, clad in a silk garment and adorned with gold ornaments. 

HE GOES TO SCHOOL. 

The boy grows like other babies, and besides the care he receives 
from his parents may likewise be protected by a metal charm, which is 
strung upon a string tied around his loins. At the age of five, if the as- 
trologer pronounces the day propitious, the youngster is bathed, put in 
a new garment, and taken to the image of the goddess of learning, where 
the priest is again found waiting to intercede for him and bear away the 
offerings, as well as his own gift. He is then introduced to the master 
of the infant school, where he writes his letters upon the ground (five at 
a time) with a soft stone. As he advances, he writes upon palm leaves, 
slate and paper, with a wooden pen and ink, and each step is marked by 
a gift of food, clothes and money made by his parents to the master, the 
regular fee being from one penny to three pence a month. Reading 
and a little arithmetic are also taught. 

To ensure an early attendance a master resorts to the practice of 
giving the first comer one rap with a cane, the second two, the third 
three, and the last boy, or a truant, is made to stand on one leg and 
hold out a brick in his right hand until he is completely exhausted. 
Another native mode of punishment is to apply the leaves of a stinging 
plant to the back of the naughty boy. 

When the boy is six years old, if his parents have become imbued 
with Western ideas and they can afford it, he is sent to one of the public 
schools of Calcutta, where he receives an education in both his own and 
the English language, and may eventually undergo a university training. 
But social and family duties may call him into other fields. 



THE girl's education. 567 

THE GIRL'S EDUCATION. 

The education of the girl as a wife commences when she is httle 
more than a baby. When she is five years old she is not brought before 
the goddess of learning, but before the goddess Doorga. This divinity, 
under the instruction of some elderly woman, the little girl represents 
by two tiny images of clay, which she makes and sprinkles with water 
from the Ganges, repeating as the drops fall, "All homage to Siva"; 
this being the name of Doorga's model husband, whom she worshiped 
before and after marriage. The innocent child is then required to offer 
flowers and leaves to the goddess, and flowers and sandal paste to Siva, 
to the god and husband. To a supposed question from the god as to 
her wishes, the baby replies that she desires the prince of the king- 
dom for her husband ; that she may be beautiful and virtuous and the 
mother of "seven wise and virtuous sons and two handsome daughters"; 
that she may have good daughters-in-law and sons-in-law and a well-filled 
granary and farm-yard ; that her dear ones may enjoy long life and pros- 
perity and that she may eventually die on the banks of the sacred 
Ganges, 

Within the next few months the Hindu maiden makes various vows 
or " bratas," all accompanied by painting upon the floor with rice paste 
the images of gods, men, ornaments of gold and precious stones, houses 
and granaries, her prayer being for an affectionate husband, and only 
one. Her last performance (still a child of five years), after invoking a 
blessing from above, is to curse her possible rival of bed and board. 
The rival wife is called a "sateen," and she is to become "a slave," be 
exposed to infamy, have " her head devoured," and die — if she ever live ; 
but her prayer is to " never be cursed with a ' sateen' " — this is the life- 
long prayer of a Hindu female from babyhood to old age. 

j^ MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

The girls are married at from eight to thirteen years of age — in the 
opinion of the Hindus, the earlier the better. At the age of seventeen 
or eighteen the boy is a subject for matrimony. Sometimes the children 
are pledged to each other in infanc)^ or the marriage may be arranged 
by professionals, called "ghatucks." 

The strongest point in favor of the youth, now-a-days, supposing that 
his social standing is good, is that he has passed successfully all the ex- 
aminations of the university and has been honored with a degree. The 
parents of such a boy demand of the parents of the girl that they shall 
be guaranteed a long list of gold ornaments, which constitute the 



568 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

wealth of the bride. The expense to the maiden's parents, who are de- 
termined to marry their daughter, is increased to almost a ruinous 
extent by many feasts both before and after marriage ; it is estimated that 
a tolerably respectable marriage will cost at least $i,ooo. The prelimi- 
naries having been arranged, the youth is examined in the presence of 
his future father-in-law and a university graduate as to his literary 
acquirements, and the girl is put through a course of questioning by 
relatives of the boy's family, after which, if all is well, a written agree- 
ment is drawn up, written by a Brahman on Bengallee paper with Ben- 
gallee pen and ink. This makes the document sacred and binding ; it 
must also consist of an odd number of lines. 

When the contract is signed and ratified, the females of the party 
sound two conch shells — one for the bridegroom and another for the 
bride. Subsequently the boy puts on a red bordered cloth, stands on a 
"grindstone surrounded by four plantain trees, while five women (one 
must be of the Brahman caste) whose husbands are alive, go around him 
five or seven times (an odd number is lucky), anoint his body with tur- 
meric, and touch his forehead at one and the same time with holy water, 
betel nuts, rice paste, and twenty other little articles." A bit of the tur- 
meric paste with which he has been anointed is sent by the family barber 
to the bride in a silver cup, and her body is also anointed with it. A 
long and ridiculous series of feasts and formalities precede the celebra- 
tion of the nuptials in the chamber of worship of the bride's house. 

The priest first ties around the bridegroom's fingers fourteen blades 
of grass, seven for each hand, pouring a little holy Ganges water into 
his right ; this hand he holds while the father-in-law repeats an incanta- 
tion. Rice, flowers, grass, water and sour milk, with prayers intermixed, 
are showered upon the young man (figuratively speaking), and he is 
finally directed to put his hand into the copper pan of holy water which 
stands before the priest. Having done so, the priest places the hand of 
the bride on that of the bridegroom, and ties them together with a gar- 
land of flowers. The father-in-law gives his daughter away, naming, as 
he does so, the fine clothes and jewels which she wears. The bridegroom 
says: "I have received her"; after which the father-in-law unties the 
hands of the couple, pours holy water upon their heads and blesses 
them. 

The bride is all this time closely veiled, and has, in fact, never been 
seen by the bridegroom ; but now a silken cloth is thrown over their 
heads and, underneath it, they are r.sked to look at each other. Parched 
rice and grass are then offered to Brahma, and a small piece of cloth 
decorated with betel nuts, is tied to the scarf of the bridegroom and the 



FEMALE EDUCATION. ^^' 569 

silken garment of the bride — symbolic of a perpetual union. It would 
be tiresome to enumerate the successive steps which the young couple 
take before they are formally wedded, consisting of religious rites, feasts, 
practical jokes played upon them, little ceremonials calculated to bring 
them joy and allay their bashfulness, as well as actions on the part of the 
females which should not be described. 

FEMALE EDUCATION. 

The great obstacle in the way of elevating Hindu women, and 
thereby society, is the custom of withdrawing them not only from the 
world when they are married, but from all educational influences. In 
those parts of the country which have never been under the dominion of 
Mohammedan conquerors, this fact is not so evident. But they estab- 
lished themselves, and their peculiar ideas of preserving the virtue of 
woman, throughout the plains of the holy Ganges, from which they 
spread, more or less, over the whole country. Before their advent, 
education was prevalent to a considerable extent among women. 

Even in our days among the great tribes of the Punjaub and Rajpoo- 
tana, in the northwest, as well as among the Mahrattas, of the south- 
west, who are noted for their strength, intellectually and bodily, there 
are not a few accomplished and scholarly women. Formerly every 
respectable female of Rajpootana was instructed to read and write. One 
of the latter people, an excellent Sanskrit scholar, lately visited Calcutta, 
the center of modern education, and astonished all by her wonderful 
acquirements. And even in the Bengal districts, which are particularly 
Mohammedan, since the establishment of British power, Hindu women 
are making great advances. Many of them after they withdraw into the 
"zenana" (which corresponds to the Mohammedan harem) engage 
teachers to instruct them, not only in needle work, but in those branches 
which lay the foundation of an intellectual mind. Some of them have 
passed commendable examinations even in the University and Normal 
School of Calcutta. 

"THE ORDER OF MERIT." 

The hatred of polygamy, which is inculcated into the female's mind, 
almost from infancy, does not prevent its existence in Hindu society. 
Manu authorized it, as did God through Mohammed. Not only was 
it said that women had " no business with the text of the Veda" and " no 
evidence of law," but they must be held by their " protectors in a state 
of dependence"; and that the sateen may be brought into the house 



5/0 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

if a prior wife is childless for seven years, if she has lost all her children 
by the tenth year, if for ten years she has borne only daughters, or, if 
she speak unkindly, " without delay." Great teachers of Brahmanism 
have even added to the various pretexts by which the Hindu has carried 
polygamy into his household, despite the life-long protests of the woman. 

Polygamous Brahmans are known as "koolins," and native investi- 
gators, who have had the best opportunities to look into their family 
affairs, assert that their numerous marriages are made generally for pur- 
poses of worldly gain, or for bare support. When money is required for 
themselves or wives they pounce upon their father-in-laws for it. "Among 
the Turks," says a Hindu author, "seraglios are confined to men of 
wealth, but here a Hindu Brahman, possessing only a shred of cloth and 
a piece of thread, keeps more than a hundred mistresses." The custom 
is furthermore said to be productive of crimes on the part of the women 
too horrible and unfit to relate, and from the abandoned wives and 
daughters of the koolins come most of the Hindu females of ill-repute. 
The parents of daughters who thus place their children in such jeopardy 
usually seek to have them married to Brahman koolins on account of 
the caste of the bridegroom and in order to keep up the honor of 
their families. The children of these marriages invariably remain with 
their mothers and are maintained by the relatives of these females. 
The pictures which have been drawn of the inner life of these harems 
are composed of constant quarreling between the wives on personal 
grounds and on account of their children, screaming and cursing, and 
forcibly expressed wishes by each that she may "eat the head" of the 
other, — viz,, cause her death. Even separate cook rooms, separate 
apartments, and giving the same set of ornaments to each do not bring 
peace, especially if one of the wives has received the usual education of 
being- taught to hate a rival. 

An attempt is being made by native reformers, with which Hindu- 
stan is swarming, to abolish the Order of Merit, as the koolin system 
was first known. The British Government was even memorialized to 
take a legislative hand in its destruction, but refused to interfere with the 
social customs of the nation. The practice of burning widows with the 
dead bodies of their husbands, which has been a most ancient custom, 
has been abolished within the limits of British India (which comprises 
two-thirds of the area and five-sixths of the population of Hindustan), 
not by legislative enactment, but by gradually throwing many obstacles 
in the way of the horrible practice. 

It would never, in all likelihood, have had so long an existence, were 
it not for the pious austerity which Manu enjoins upon the widow, as 



A PATRIARCHS DEATH. 57I 

a passport to paradise. She is to emaciate her body by living volun- 
tarily on pure flowers, roots and fruits, not pronounce the name of 
another man, and to abstain from the common pursuits of life. She may 
not even take part in any good work which will bring her into contact 
with society, but is expected to remain with her mother, or grandmother, 
perhaps in the holy city of Benares living upon one coarse meal a day, 
fasting regularly twice a month and upon every religious celebration ; 
to strip herself of even iron and gold bangles, earrings and bordered 
clothes ; is not permitted to daub her forehead with vermilion, and is 
denied every feminine pleasure. If she has not children to solace her, 
in despair she shaves her head and pines away neglected, or, recklessly 
severs every tie, throws behind her all feminine honor and leads the 
worst life of which a Hindu woman is capable. 

A PATRIARCH'S DEATH. 

A Hindu family is patriarchal in its composition, husband and wife, 
sons, daughters and daughters-in-law dwelling under the same roof. 
Their own daughters may be married, also, as on account of the tender 
age of Hindu husbands their wives usually live at home for several years, 
and during this period the father-in-law is expected to support them all. 
When the head of the household therefore takes to his bed, laying aside 
all considerations as to natural affection, it is a season of great anxiet)', 
and when the native physician announces that he is no more destined to 
have rice and water, torrents of grief are released from the men, women 
and children. 

If possible, the sick man is borne on a cot to the banks of the Gan- 
ges and is told to look upon the sacred stream, and as he opens his eyes 
he sees scores of bodies, in all stages of life and death, brought thither 
to be stamped with the sacred seal. The person who is thus hurried to 
the Ganges is often entrusted to the care of servants, who, if he persist 
in living, " get tired of their charge and are known to resort to artificial 
means, whereby death is actually accelerated. They unscrupulously pour 
the unwholesome muddy water of the river down his already choked 
throat, and, in some cases, suffocate him to death. The process of Hindu 
'antarjal,' or immersion, is another name for suffocation." 

' In the case of an old man the return home after ' immersion ' is 
infamously scandalous, but in that of an aged widow the disgrace is more 
poignant than death itself. Scarcely any effort has ever been made to 
suppress or even to ameliorate such a barbarous practice, simply because 
religion has consecrated it with its holy sanction." The above are the 
words of a former Brahman, who has seen the errors of his native religion. 



572 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



He instances cases in which the aged of both sexes were returned to 
their homes, after they had undergone this murderous process a dozen 
times ; anxious to die, having looked upon the Ganges, but unable to 



n 
z 

> 
W 

> 

W 

C/5 




pass away, so vital is the spark of life. Disgraced beings, they dragged 
on a miserable existence, and one of them, a widow, at length drowned her- 
self in the divine river,which is thought to flow from the throne of the gods. 



THE SACRED CITY. 573 

If the man dies, with the names of the gods whispered in his ears, 
by his attendants, his body is burned at the Nimtollah Ghaut, the most, 
noted river terrace at Benares, the son setting fire to the pile, if he 
luckily is present. A portion of the body, which is not burned, is 
thrown into the Ganges, and the funeral pile is watered from the 
sacred stream, the son also bathing in it. Upon returning to the stricken 
home, he is greeted by the doleful cries of the females who are beating 
their breasts and tearing their hair. 

For a month the son goes unshaved, with unpared finger nails,, 
dresses in a simple white garment and lives upon a very slender diet- 
To fully carry out Hindu regulations, consisting of presents of money 
brass pots, silver utensils, sweetmeats and sugar, to the Brahmans, the- 
Pundits (professors), and so on down the grade of castes, with special 
entertainments, after the funeral, to the Brahmans, the " Kayastas " 
(writers) and other classes, a fortune is required. A late Rajah of 
Calcutta celebrated the demise of his illustrious father at an expense of 
$250,000. At the funeral services the distribution of garlands, accord- 
ing to caste, is an important feature of the proceedings and the cause: 
of bitter jealousies. The "Gooroo," or spiritual guide, and the "puno- 
hit," officiating priest, are always mos thonored, the only question being 
as to how much. 

At the feasts given to the Brahmans, and others, the guests place 
themselves on grass seats in long rows, in the court yard, and if the 
householder is wealthy they do not commence to eat until the number 
reaches two or three hundred. Each guest is provided with a piece of 
plaintain leaf and an earthen plate, and upon these receptacles are- 
placed their fruits and sweetmeats. In spite of the utmost vigilance 
Hindus of the lower castes, decently dressed but poor, and willing to 
strive after a free lunch, often enter the court yard and obtain shares 
destined for the privileged class. They are not killed, however, as of 
yore, but are simply ejected ; and, says a native, "some of the Brah- 
mans who are invited do not scruple to take a portion home, regardless, 
of the contaminated touch of a person of the lowest order, simply be- 
cause the temptation is too strong to be resisted." 

THE SACRED CITY. 

Next to the river, Benares is the natural object of the Hindus, 
greatest veneration. Ruins found in the vicinity of the city, of palaces, 
mosques and temples, indicate that there was a Benares of far greater- 
antiquity than the present; the Hindus believe it to have been founded. 



574 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



at the creation of the world. To die within its Hmits is to be sure of 
heaven. The waters of the Ganges are far hoher in Benares than else- 
where. Along the terraced river-side fires are continually burning, on 
which smolder the bodies of the recent dead. Sacred bulls roam throuo^h 
its narrow streets, and from the temples dedicated to Doorga, troop 
forth hundreds of sacred yellow monkeys. 






THE INDU-CHINESE. 

N China, Thibet, Siam and Burmah are to be found the purest 
specimens of that Mongol race whose branches spread over 
Asia and Eastern Europe. As Medes, Scythians, Huns, 
Mongols and Tartars, this people have appeared in history 
spreading their names and their individualities over the world. 
The blood of the race courses in the veins of wanderinQf tribes 
'J\ from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, and of permanent 
empires of which it is a basis two still exist which are among 
the most widely extended of the world — the Turkish in the 
west and the Chinese in the east. 



A BEWILDERING ANTIQUITY. 

The Turks are the result of various mingling of races, with the 
Mongol predominating, but the Chinese seem to have shot east at once, 
and to have been the flourishing and peculiar people they are to-day, 
nearly four thousand years ago. As a nation they have been traced 
into such remote periods of time as to fairly bewilder the ethnologist, 
and force him at times to rest unsatisfied in his labors. The one theory 
is that they are an offshoot from the parent stem which grew in Western 
Asia, and the other that they emigrated, before history was, from the 
suppositious continent of Lemuria, now sunk beneath the waters of the 
Indian Ocean. Upon the latter supposition the Mongols would have 
spread into Siam and Burmah and China, and while some of the race 
settled in Southeastern Asia, the restless or weaker portion commenced 
to wander west and north. 

Certain it is that here, and especially in China, is the pure type of 
a distinct race. As has been well said: "It is inhabited by more than 
400,000,000 of the human race, living under the same goverment, ruled 
by the same laws, speaking the same language, studying the same liter- 
ature, possessing a greater homogeneity, a history extending over a 
longer period and a more enduring national existence than any other 
people whether of ancient or modern times; indeed when we consider its 

575 



576 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



high antiquity, its peculiar civilization, its elaborate administrative ma- 
chinery, its wondrous language and classic literature, its manufacturing 
industry and natural productions, China is perhaps the most remarkable 
country in the world." Here then, in their native land, packed closely 
into a territory two-thirds as large as the United States, this mysterious 
people, with their yellow skin, coarse hair, thin beard, depressed nose, 
oblique eyes, thin eyebrows, large ears and lips, and low, flat forehead, 
calmly live and thrive ; passionless yet industrious; practical yet literary; 
peaceable, domestic, frugal-their existence flowing on and on, compa- 
ratively unrufifled by outside storms, like their beloved river, the Yang- 
tse-Kiang, or Son of the Ocean. 



NEGLECT OF NATURAL ADVANTAGES. 

The two great rivers of China come tumbling down together from 
the table-lands of Central Asia, where each of them meets a range of 




RIVER SCENE IN CHINA. 



mountains, and one is diverted to the north and the other to the south. 
Their acquired impetus seems to force them to describe an immense cir- 
cuit, so that they are separated by an interval of over one thousand 
miles, one directing its course toward the cold north and the other to- 
ward the tropics. But suddenly they again approach each other, almost 
join hands, and finally empty into the Yellow Sea only a hundred miles 
apart. The area of their two basins is estimated at nearly a million 
square miles, the Yellow River being useless, however, for purposes of 
navigation. 

The grand canal traversing Northeastern China, the grand wall 
along its northern borders — both of these are immense but imperfect. 



BASIS OF THE. STATE. 577 

From Pekin in the north to Hangchow in the south is the great plain 
of China, six hundred by three hundred miles, and which has suffered, 
from time immemorial, from the floods of her great rivers. Nature has 
done her work on a grand scale, and the people, had they the mechanical 
genius of the American or the European, would promptly bind the loose- 
jointed empire into one stupendous, compact body. 

The Chinese, however, have been devoting themselves to the task 
of building up a system of popular education and establishing the social 
structure of their great country, and have neglected to perfect the 
material advantages of the empire. Such neglect may be excusable in 
them, when the historic student remembers that when Western civiliza- 
tion was unborn they were using the compass, gunpowder, paper and 
printing; that though divided into three religious sects, each vies in 
charity with the others; that among all classes courtesy is the study 
and practice of life ; that since they were known to history they have 
been setting to the world a continued example of temperance in eating 
and drinking, and finally, notwithstanding their neglect of natural and 
artificial water-ways, that there is probably a greater amount of tonnage 
belonging to the Chinese than to all other nations combined. 

BASIS OF THE STATE. 

Education is the sure passport to distinction in China and, if desired^ 
to public preferment. So it matters not what the future career of the 
youth is to be, his first aim is to pass his examination. The result is 
that a knowledge of the common branches is all but universal, althougrh 
there is not such a general diffusion of knowledge as in many other 
countries whose districts would show a lamentable number who could not 
read and write. Each Chinese word has its symbol, and many a mer- 
chant who may be at home when dealing with his own articles would not 
be able to read an ordinary book. The number of adult males who can 
read the classical books, it is said, is not more than three in a hundred ; 
of women one in a thousand. The province of literature is open to 
women, so that authors among that sex are not rare. 

Although fostered by the state in every possible way, the cause of 

education is not left to run alone at this point ; but the "sons of high 

officers of state, and Mantchoos of noble birth resort to a national 

institution established for them at Pekin. They receive instruction in 

the Chinese, Mongolian and Mantchurian languages, and when their 

education is complete they are dispatched to various parts of the empire, 

to serve as attaches until more important offices become vacant for them. 

Distinguished students amons: them are instructed for the astronomical 

37 



5/8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

board, the chief duties of which are to inform the Emperor when an 
echpse of the sun or moon is Hkely to take place." 

THE SCHOOLBOY 

The schoolmaster is held in the same veneration by the Chinese as 
the priest is in other countries where Brahmanism or Buddhism is all in 
all ; and while the Burmese or Siamese boy is getting his mind filled with 
forms and ceremonials and a perplexing religious system, albeit with 
much good thrown in, the Chinese lad is being taught his first lessons in 
morality and moderation. When he is six years of age his schoolmaster 
is selected and he may commence his education upon any day which is 
not an anniversary of the death and burial of Confucius, or that of 
Tsong-Kit, the inventor of letters. These are considered as unlucky 
days by the fortune-teller. Carrying with him a present of money for 
his instructor, the little boy enters the school, worships at a shrine of 
Confucius, salutes his teacher, presents his gift and is conducted to his 
desk and chair. The school is usually held in a temple or in the spare 
room of a guild, the scholars study their lessons aloud and early are 
tauo'ht the use of the rod. 

The primer, or first book, consists of sentences of three char- 
acters, each of which is committed to memory and explained; 
or the beginning of learning may consist of a mere committal to 
memory of surnames, with their meanings, as the basis of history 
and literature. Next a thousand different characters, classified, and 
divided into rhyming couplets, are committed to memory. Already 
the boy's mind has been filled with fragments of wisdom, but now 
he commences a more systematic study. He enters upon the study 
of the four "Shoos" or books compiled by the disciples of Con- 
fucius, and containing his conversations with them, and an original 
production by one of his later followers, in which is expanded the 
•doctrine of the mean, or as we have been taught in English, the Golden 
Mean. Thus early does the Chinese teacher commence to mould the 
national character, which is preeminently one of moderation and conserv- 
atism, bordering upon timidity. In accordance with law, the themes for 
the essays upon which depend future degrees and prosperity, are taken 
from the four Shoos. 

PREPARING FOR HIS DEGREES. 

When the boy buds into the youth of seventeen or eighteen, he 
commences to prepare for his first degree, which, translated, is that of 



THE SCHOOLBOY. ■ 579 

'" flowering talent," or " elegant shoots." He now seeks more seclusion ; 
for the course of intellectual discipline which he must undergo is severe. 
In the higher schools each pupil has a separate apartment for study, and 
there is a common hall where the principal lectures upon the four Shoos 
to the room of silent, rapt scholars. Even the servants of the building 
suspend their work while the sacred words flow, and it is only as a spe- 
cial favor that one is allowed to approach near the hall. 

Many students, instead of receiving this important preliminary edu- 
cation in cities and towns, in order that their minds may be wholly 
concentrated on their work, choose pagodas, temples and secluded spots 
in the country, shut away from the world by groves and mountains. 
One of their most famous retreats is the Sichu Mountains, in Southern 
China. Many of these educational shrines are founded upon spots which 
have become sacred as having been the resorts of noted Confucian 
sages, centuries ago, before the fair retreats of learning were dreamt 
of. One of the colleg^es is at the foot of a mountain and at the head of 
a picturesque ravine, through which rushes a wild stream to a beautiful 
lake. It is called White Deer Grotto, because near it, in a cave, once 
lived a Chinese sage, who was so enveloped in his philosophy that he 
could not spend the time to walk to the neighboring village for provis- 
ions, but sent, instead, a white deer, which was his constant companion. 
Attached to the college is a temple, which contains an idol of Confucius 
in place of the usual tablet, this being contrary to all his teachings. 

Having mastered the four Shoos, so that he has them by rote, the 
student passes to the classic on Filial Piety. This work is attributed to 
Confucius. The Five Kings, in which he next must perfect himself, is 
a compilation by the great sage of the traditions and records of wise 
Chinese emperors, acollection of national poemsand ceremonials, enriched 
by the elucidation of Confucius. All of Chinese civilization, ancient 
and modern, is embodied in these books; Confucius thus crystallized the 
national character. The study of history, general literature, and of the 
essays of the Chinese masters, with frequent examinations as to the 
rational ground of the system upon which he stands, precedes the grand 
event of the youth's examination for the degree of "flowering talent." 

Certain classes, however, are excluded from the privileges of striv- 
ing for the degree and honor; viz., brothel keepers, actors, policemen, 
jailors, domestic slaves, barbers, chair-bearers, watermen, musicians, and 
their descendants to the third generation, as well as " tse-min " 
(degraded people) forever. These latter are the descendants of subjects 
who for over a century threatened the stability of the reigning dynasty. 
• Every student, also, who is admitted to the privileges must undergo the 



580 ■ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ordeal in his native province. The number of successful candidates, is 
furthermore, fixed according to population. It therefore would appear 
that there are several restrictions and clogs upon the action of the inhab- 
itants of China who desire an education and public preferment at the 
same time. There is no restriction as to age, however, a case being 
mentioned of an examination in Canton where a hoary-headed China- 
man stood on the lists, side by side with his son and grandson. 

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS. 

After the various candidates have been examined as to their qualifi- 
cations to take the examination, and their age, lineage and description 
of person (a record for future generations) have been recorded on the 
lists, the competitors assemble, soon after daybreak, in a large hall. The 
examiners are the district rulers, the prefects and the literary chancellor. 
Each student carries with him a small basket containing his pencil, ink- 
stand, stick of ink, and a little refreshment to tide him over the following 
fifteen or twenty hours of close application. Within, he purchases his 
paper of a government official, and then seats himself at one of the long 
tables with his companions. He may have for company five or six 
thousand anxious students, of all ages, but usually gaily dressed and" 
eager. After every pocket, shoe and wadded garment have been searched 
to see that no "pony" has been smuggled, a gun is fired without, and 
doors and windows are closed and guarded. Every opening is posted 
over with strips of paper containing these words: "No sealed dis- 
patches for the presiding examiner can be handed in, as he is examining 
the essays. You must retire and keep out of the way." With every 
precaution, however, the sharpest board of examiners are sometimes 
deceived. The name of an ambitious individual may be assumed by a 
thorough, but mercenary student, who, for a liberal reward passes over 
the coveted degree to his patron. 

W^ell. everything being as secure as human precaution can make it, 
the themes are given out and the candidates commence on their two 
essays, terseness as well as elegant penmanship being requisites. This 
is followed by the composition of a poem of twelve lines, and a recitation 
or a written extract from the sacred edict. At the close of the day a gun 
is fired, and the students who have not finished their essays are furnished 
with lamps, at government expense. Several days thereafter the list of 
successful candidates is posted on the walls of the hall. Seven examin- 
ations are altogether conducted, the literary chancellor having charge of 
the last four. The students fall out by tens and hundreds, so that at the 
final competition not more than a hundred remain of the five or six 



COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS. 58 I 

thousand who entered the Hsts, and of these not more than sixty are 
invested with the order of merit ; whose badge is a golden flower 
placed on top of the cap or hat, a richly embroidered collar being also 
placed on the shoulders. When the ceremony of obtaining the B. A. 
degree is over, the happy recipients dine with the literary chancellor. 
In their respective towns they are the heroes of the day, one of their 
most important duties being to worship at the ancestral hall, and present 
offerings of pork, cake, fruits and flowers at the ancestral tablets. 

The successful " shoots" can not rest from other examinations before 
taking the next degree, if they wish to stand well in the community. At 
intervals during the following three years the government examiners 
place them under fire to prove their mental calibre, and they are divided 
into three ranks, the highest being "lingsang" — "at the top of the 
tree." Slothful candidates who have shunned these tests, have even 
been severely bastinadoed by the authorities of proud districts. 

The other literary degrees are " Keujin" (elevated men ), " Tsinsze" 
(advanced scholars), and " Hanlin" (pencil forests). The Keujin ex- 
aminations are conducted in provincial capitals, as at Canton, and the 
other two at Pekin. Even greater precautions are taken that all shall 
be fair and above board than during the contest for the lower degree, 
each student remaining in a cell, by- night as well as b}' day, until the 
trial is over. The examiners are appointed by the Emperor, who sends 
two of them to each province. On the morning of the sixth day of the 
eighth month of every third year, the learned examiners are escorted to 
the large hall surrounded by students' cells, and in the center of which 
is a spacious building, where they are lodged ; the mandarins who form 
the escort being headed by the governor-general himself, who rides in an 
open chair on the shoulders of sixteen men. The student whose name 
leads all the rest, in this second competition, is invested with the proud 
degree of " elevated men," and the rejoicings of his family and towns- 
men are repeated. Thus he progresses toward the height of his literary 
ambition, the degree of " pencil forests," or LL.D. 

"The examination for the des^ree of Hanlin is conducted in the 
Imperial Palace by the Emperor himself. The test is a written answer 
to any question which the Emperor may propose. The successful candi- 
dates are divided into four classes. Those of the first class have the 
degree conferred on them and are reserved for important vacancies. 
Graduates of the second class become members of the inner council ; 
those of the third class obtain situations in the six boards; and those of 
the fourth become district rulers. The newly-made Hanlin are enter- 
tained at dinner by the Emperor, and, as a mark of great honor, each 



582 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

guest sits at a separate table, upon which the most recherche viands 
are spread. The graduate at the head of the list is called ' Chwang- 
yuen,' and his reputation extends to all parts of the empire. Wander- 
ing heralds carry his name to remote villages as well as populous towns, 
and both high and low make a point of becoming acquainted with some 
particulars of his family and early training. When he travels, the vari- 
ous hostelries at which he lodges consider themselves highly honored 
by the presence of so distinguished a visitor." 

"The Hanlin hall in which the degree is conferred, is in the form of 
a parallelogram, and on each of the four sides there is a cloister. 
Against the walls of the cloisters are placed marble slabs on which are 
inscribed the original text of Confucius. In the center, under a pavilion, 
is the throne on which the Emperor sits when called upon, in the dis. 
charge of his imperial duties, to explain the doctrines of Confucius to 
his ministers. When the degree is conferred, the approved candidates 
arrange themselves around the throne, and as the name of each is called, 
the Emperor makes a mark against it with his vermilion pencil in a list 
which he has before him." 

OFFICES TO BE FILLED. 

The latter is the Emperor's official pencil, his sanction to all laws 
and edicts requiring, of course, the imperial seal. He is assisted in the 
general administration of the government by a council of four ministers 
and by six boards ; the first selects the district and provincial officers, 
affixes the seal to all government papers and keeps a record of the most 
meritorious acts of both public functionaries and distinguished citizens ; 
the second is the treasury department ; the third has charge of the 
religion of the people and the government temples ; the fourth is the 
department of war ; the fifth, of criminal jurisdiction ; the sixth, of public 
works, such as mines, manufactures, highways, canals and bridges. Each 
department has its head minister, who lays its decisions before the inner 
council of four, who, in turn, submit their decisions to the Son of Heaven 
and the Lord of Ten Thousand Years. 

Besides these, which may be said to comprise the immediate impe- 
rial government, are two singular boards of espionage, one of which has 
for its province the entire field of official action, and the other is con- 
fined to the princes of the royal blood and their relations. The first 
named board of censors has its spies and emissaries in every nook of the 
mighty empire, ferreting out possible conspiracies and bringing corrupt 
officials to justice ; the last keeps a record of births, deaths, and marri. 
ages, besides examining into the personal conduct and ability of the 
Emperor's sons. At frequent intervals reports are submitted to the six 



MANNERS ADAPTED TO INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. 583 

great boards, or departments, which reach the imperial father and are 
supposed to have a weight in his choice of a successor. 

These high officials are but a drop in the great ocean of mandarins 
which covers the Chinese empire. China is divided into nineteen 
provinces and each province has a governor general, a treasurer, a sub- 
commissioner, a literary chancellor, a chief justice, " tautais," prefects, 
scores of district or county rulers, with their boards, besides the the offi- 
cers and governing bodies of the towns and villages, each of these 
official grades resting upon the other, the higher acting as a parent to 
that beneath, and over them all the divine paternity of their earthly god, 
the Emperor. Salaries are small ; and herein lies the cause of great cor- 
ruption, notwithstanding this permeating spirit of paternity ; — salaries 
are small, and yet many of the mandarins of China retire from office 
wealthy men, though they may have previously been endowed with little 
else than their degrees. 

The examination for military honors is sufficient evidence of the 
value which the Chinese attach to the army as a bulwark of the empire. 
It is usually conducted by the city provost, who sits on a dais with writ- 
ing materials placed on a table before him and gives the competitors 
their proper marks. On horseback and on foot the competition is almost 
confined to an archery contest, the targets being cylinders of mat with 
centers of red. Shooting on the fly, at too yards range, the bending of 
heavy bows requiring a force of from eighty to one hundred and twenty 
pounds, the wielding of ponderous swords and the casting of great 
stones and mallets (as in Scottish games) virtually decide the fate of 
the aspirants for military preferment. 

Although the Chinese have their god of war, they have deified a 
man and not a principle or a trait. All their teachings divert them 
from war, and their military organization is very defective. There is a 
standing army, and the military establishment is cumbrous ; but the 
infantry are armed with old-fashioned matchlocks, spears, bows, 
swords and bucklers, and the cavalry with helmets, cuirasses of quilted 
cloth covered with metal plates, bows and arrows, and shields of wicker- 
work. The artillery scarcely know how to use their heavy iron and 
brass guns. They are too moderate to be war-like ; although they 
esteem personal prowess in a worthy cause, a resort to force they have 
always held as a mark of inferior civilization. 

MANNERS ADAPTED TO INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. 

The teachings of the Chinese from the earliest times have tended 
to develop in them those manners in life which are particularly adapted 
to intellectual pursuits. Moderation in all things has ever been their 



584 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

watch-word — a simple diet and a simple life. Although they have been 
the pioneers in some of the true inventions of the age, they have left 
them to more practical people to perfect. Two or three centuries 
before Christ they built the most stupendous work of defense which the 
-world ever saw. Since the erection of the great wall, with its fifteen 
hundred miles of brick and granite, they have done nothing of moment 
in this line. The Tartars did not fairly make their way over the wall 
until fourteen centuries after it was built, but although at one time the 
empire was divided into three kingdoms and convulsed with civil and 
religious dissensions, the bulk of the Chinese were not affected, but 
continued to study Confucius and other philosophers, leaving the 
quarreling to the distinctive military classes. 

A Buddhist priest overthrew the Mongolian dynasty, and for nearly 
three centuries his successors ruled with a steady hand. In the middle 
of the seventeenth century the Mantchoo dynasty, which is now in power, 
overturned the Chinese and imposed the pig-tail upon them, which had 
long been one of their characteristics. 

The Mantchoos are the Southern Tungooses, the northern branch, 
the wanderers of Siberia, evincing little of their ability. They occupy their 
old country (Mantchooria) which is now a province of China, and also 
constitute the military class of the empire. The Mantchoos divide the 
•civil government with the conquered race, who are ostensibly satisfied 
"with the arrangement. As long as the new Mongolian dynasty is mod- 
''erate in its views, the Chinese will revere the Emperor as "the only man," 
as he designates himself, or, perchance, the Son of Heaven. They will 
philosophically accept the ruler who is sent them, continue their study 
of Confucius, and glide along a few more centuries without marked 
change. Rulers may change and dynasties may overturn one another, 
but, to judge from the past four thousand years, it is impossible to con- 
ceive of the Chinese being under any other form of government than a 
monarchical and a patriarchal, which is best adapted to their literary 
habits. 

Under their form of government, connected with education, the 
Chinese have become a most good-humored as well as a peaceable people. 
As a race there is perhaps no other that comes so near applying the 
one rule of life laid down by Confucius : " Do not unto others what you 
would not have them do to you." Of the sixteen lectures from his 
Sacred Institutions, periodically delivered to the people, the second is 
"On Union and Concord among Kindred" ; the third " On Concord and 
Ao-reement amonsf Neighbors"; the ninth "On Mutual Forbearance"! 
the sixteenth "On Reconciling Animosities." 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 585 

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. 

All that the government requires of any religious sect is that it shall 
acknowledge the civil supremacy of the empire ; this obtained, and Bud- 
dhists, Mohammedans, Roman Catholics, Nestorians and Protestants are 
allowed the privileges of free worship. Religious tolerance is shown, 
also, in the peculiarly inipartial attitude which the government assumes 
toward the different sects in the matter of an official worship of some 
ofods common to Buddhism and to Taoulsm, and in the wav of the finan- 
cial patronage which it bestows upon Lamaist, Buddhist and Taouist 
temples as well as upon the heads of the churches. In fact, the tolerant, 
peaceful spirit of Confucianism has been brought to bear upon the posi- 
tion of the orovernment toward the sects and of the sects toward each 
other. The majority of people would apply the word indifference to such 
an attitude ; and it is true that the Chinese have no such word as religion. 
They have doctrines but no religions. 

CHINESE DOCTRINES. 

The cursory view which has thus been taken of the scholar and the 
politician of China indicates how thoroughly Confucianism has permeated 
society in the state. The doctrine most prominent in this practical sys- 
tem is that of filial piety. Confucius founded the state upon the family; 
in reverencing the father the Chinese youth reverences the Emperor, and 
disobedience to parents is the first step toward rebellion against the 
government. Acts of self-denial on the part of the child are, therefore, 
equivalent to acts of patriotism, which uphold the entire grand structure. 
Sons go to prison and into banishment for offenses committed b}- their 
parents and grandparents. In pursuance of native medical practice 
children allow pieces of flesh to be cut from their bodies and prepared 
with various ingredients, which are given to their sick parents that they 
may be restored to health. The government itself takes advantage of 
this sentiment, and when it is unable to capture offenders, endeavors to 
seize upon the bodies of their parents, and even though the criminals 
may be of the most hardened character, it is seldom that they will allow 
the aged ones to suffer for them. 

Ancestral worship is a similar element of Confucianism, which has clone 
much to maintain the Chinese structure of society and state. It matters 
not how humble the dwellings, each has its shrine to which the members 
of the family repair to worship, or invoke the spirits of those who have 
gone before. To either the ancestral hall or the tomb, all repair to 
seek guidance or to obtain commendation for past deeds. 



586 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The most splendid exhibition of ancestral worship is of course given 
by the Emperor and his mandarins when they congregate in the temple 
of imperial ancestors at Pekin. Sages, heroes and benefactors are 
also canonized and brought into the large congregation of gods, whom 
the Chinese worship upon all occasions. Confucius, "the most holy 
holy teacher of ancient times," has thus become a god. 

Confucius himself, intensely practical though he was, brought many 
gods of nature into being, conspicuous among whom was the Dragon 
King. His Great Extreme has been resolved by the Chinese into their 
Supreme God, of whom they have never made an image. 

However the Chinese may disagree as to religious systems, they 
are unanimous in their worship of Confucius. Twice a month services are 
held in his honor throughout the empire, and twice annually every officer 
of the government, including the Emperor, attends special services in 
the Confucian temple which is found in every provincial, prefectoral and 
district city. The temples are all alike, each being approached by a 
triple gateway, at either side of which is a pillar. Within the court yard 
is a pond of pure water, emblematic of Confucian doctrines. Passing 
through another triple gateway one enters the temple, divided into two 
quadrangles, in the first of which stands the altar of Confucius, with his 
name engraved upon a red tablet above it. On either side of the quad- 
rangle are shrines and tablets, in memory of his seventy-two disciples and 
others who have made themselves famous as expounders of his doctrines. 
Beyond the altars of the sage and his disciples is the shrine which 
honors his parents and grandparents. Attached also to each temple 
are halls whose tablets are of a local character, recording the names of 
great benefactors, sages, virtuous women, good officials, and sons and 
grandsons renowned for their filial piety. Occasionally an unworthy 
name will creep in, but it is not allowed to rest in peace. In the hall of 
one of the temples the tablet of a man had been placed who was more 
noted for his mercantile than his scholarly or pious character. The city 
officials refusing to remove it, upon a petition of learned men, the griev- 
ance was brought to the attention of the government, who dispatched a 
commissioner to the scene of disturbance. Upon investigation, the 
commissioner agreed with the learned gentlemen that the name dishon- 
ored the shrine, and ordered the removal of the tablet. A cord was 
therefore tied around it, as if it were some disgraceful being, and it was 
dragged far beyond the precincts of the temple of wisdom. 

The Confucian temple at Pekin is a magnificent structure, elabor- 
ately decorated, with a vaulted roof of blue. Rows of cedar trees, cen- 
turies old, adorn the court-yard. But more ancient than these, by nearly 




ChlNA &JAPHIN. 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 587 

two-score centuries, are ten stone drums, or tablets, upon which are 
engraved stanzas of poetry, said to have been written in the days of 
Yaou and Shun, 2357 and 2258 B. C, and who are among the most rev- 
ered founders, of Chinese civiHzation and progenitors of Confucianism. 
So sacred are they that they have always been kept in the royal city. 

Taouism is a form of religion which has been developed by the 
power of Buddhism. Its founder was Laou-tsze, the son of poor parents, 
and in manhood keeper of the government archives. These practical 
duties were ill suited to his contemplative disposition, and he retired to his 
native hills to reflect and philosophize. His celebrated work, Taou-tih- 
King, contained both traces of the ancient Hindu religion (before it 
had degenerated into Brahmanism) and of Buddhism. The author was 
mystical as to whether his Taou was to be considered as a Supreme 
Principle or a Supreme Being; but made himself plain in expounding 
his doctrine that virtue consisted in losing sight of one's self in the uni- 
verse and, by contemplation, of returning to the bosom of Eternal 
Reason. He taught the hollowness of worldly things ; that virtue is 
all ; that man should go through life as if he owned nothing, and love 
his enemies as well as his friends. Laou-tsze was a remarkable philoso- 
pher, providing for the spiritual wants of man ; he commenced where 
Confucius concluded, and as he had listened at court to the teachings 
of that wonderful worldly sage, his thoughtful mind penetrated to the 
defects of his system. 

But the Taouists, in their ambition to hold their ground against the 
Buddhists, shamefully perverted his doctrine. They not only deified 
Laou-tsze and opposed him to Lord Buddha, but provided a god to meet 
every want of the people. Did they worship wealth and longevity, the 
Taouists made gods representing them. Did they fall down in admira- 
tion before a great warrior they found in him the incarnation of the god 
of war. They were ready to go to the depths of Chinese superstition, 
and provide priests to drive ghosts from haunted houses or evil spirits 
from human bodies. Did the ghost or ghoul disobey the commands 
of the priests, although they set before it tables heaped with pork, fowl 
and rice, they threatened to despatch a letter to the gods of the infernal 
regions. 

The Archabbot, who is at the head of the Church, is second only to 
the Emperor in actual power and is much the same mysterious creature 
as the Grand Lama of Thibet. The Taouists afifirm that upon the 
death of their generalissimo, his successor is chosen by the Trinity of 
their faith ; the officer is chosen from the members of a certain family, the 
names of the survivors being engraved upon pieces of lead, which are 



588 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

placed in a vase filled with water, and that which is divinely favored 
rises to the surface. Candidates for the priesthood devote five years 
to study, but usually confine their labors to works on astrology and 
alchemy ; few of them are acquainted with the philosophical writings of 
Laou-tsze. 

The corruptions of Buddhism are even more strongly marked in 
China than elsewhere; the field of investigation is so vast — and 
throughout its length and breadth idolatry is its most marked feature. 
If Buddha (or "the Buddha," as devotees fondly call their Incarnation) is 
cognizant of the lengths to which his religious system have gone he will 
not desire to return in the great cycle of being to his former state — or, 
it may be, that he would long to return that he might lay about him 
with the ponderous axe of a giant reformer. 

The Chinese Trinity of Buddhism is Buddha Past (represented by 
Gautama himself), Buddha Present (the perfect state of Heaven upon 
earth, such as many true Buddhists attain), and Buddha Future (the 
coming Messiah, or Incarnation of the Supreme Essence of Buddhism.) 
Few there are who can hope to attain to Buddha Past ; but many strive 
after that state of being by secluding themselves in caves and giving their 
whole being over to meditation, or by submitting themselves to terrible 
forms of bodily mutilation. The Buddhist monasteries are constructed 
upon a uniform plan, the two outer gates being in charge of two huge gods ; 
under the second gateway are four figures representing the North, South, 
East and' West of China and are supposed to assist Buddha in his 
various plans for the good of the people — to give him free entrance to 
the empire ; and beyond, in the main hall, are the idols of the Trinity. 
In the rear of the hall, in the center of the temple, is the " dagoba," or 
depository for the relics of Buddha, a hair, a tooth, a portion of his 
dress, etc., etc. On each side of the large court yards in which the 
principal halls of the temple are erected are rows of cells for the monks, 
a visitors' hall, a refectory, and, sometimes a printing office, where the 
services used by the priests, new works on the tenets of Buddhism and 
tracts for general distribution are printed. 

" In some of the temples the idols are very numerous, and in Yang- 
chow-Foo there is one in which there are said to be no fewer than ten 
thousand. The idols, which are very diminutive, are contained in one 
large hall, and in their fanciful, but orderly arrangement, present a very 
singular appearance. In the center of the hall stands a pavilion of wood, 
most elaborately carved, upon which is placed a large idol of Buddha. 
The pavilion within and without is literally studded with small idols 
which are, I believe, different representations of the same deity. On 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 589 

each of the four sides of the hall are small brackets supporting idols of 
Buddha, and a still larger number of these are placed on the beams and 
pillars of the vaulted roof. Two are full-sized figures of the sleeping 
Buddha. At Pekin and Canton there are halls precisely similar." 

Attached to nearly every monastery or temple of prominence is 
some sort of an enclosure for the preservation of animals which have 
been presented to idols of Buddha, the devotee having made a vow to 
preserve their lives and then placed them in the keeping of the monks. 
The animals thus become sacred. They may consist of a large sty of 
sleek pigs ; a large poultry yard of fowls, ducks and geese ; a pen con- 
taining sheep, goats horned cattle, or horses and mules ; an artificial 
pond of fish rescued from the market; a tank of huge tortoises — 
but in every case they are tenderly cared for, and when death comes 
their remains are religiously consigned to mother earth and their souls go 
climbing up the ladder of existence. This feature of the religion 
Buddha himself would commend. 

As has been stated, Mohammedanism has also obtained a foothold 
in China. The degraded forms of Taouism and Buddhism are, in fact, 
losing their hold upon the Chinese. Confucianism and Taouism sprung 
up in the sixth century B.C., Buddhism was brought from India during 
the first, and Mohammedanism did not come in until the seventh century 
after Christ. Christianity can not be said, as )'et. to be firmly established 
in China. Whatever may be said of the comparative merits of the 
religions which have obtained a foothold, it is certain that Mohammed- 
anism has been best^ maintained according to the original standard. 
Five times daily does the Chinese Mohammedan pray looking toward 
Mecca, he washes his hands before presuming to handle the Koran, he 
observes the great fast of Ramadan, and Chinaman, though he be, 
abstains from the use of swine's fiesh. His mosques are numerous, 
though they are Chinese in their architecture. The maternal uncle of 
the prophet is supposed to ha\e introduced Mohammedanism into 
China. After a residence of fifteen years in his adopted land, he died in 
Canton, where his tomb may be seen in one of the great mosques which 
he built. 

Confucianism, having for its prime object the establishment of the 
principle of submission to the father and the Emperor upon the basis of 
virtue, no outward assurance is required of its loyal tendency. 
Buddhism and Taouism and Mohammedanism, however, with their 
grand lamas, their grand archabbots and their grand muftis, are obliged 
to furnish evidence of their good intentions by placing in each temple 
or mosque a tablet, near the high altar, upon which is inscribed in large 
letters, "May the Emperor reign ten thousand years." 



590 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

CHINESE GODS. 

As the military and the learned classes are the two distinct bodies 
of the Chinese people, there must be gods who stand as the representa- 
tives of their spirit. Kwan-te, a distinguished Chinese general, had 
been dead nearly 800 years when the salt wells of a large province dried 
up and caused millions of people much distress. The Emperor and his 
ministers, in their helplessness, consulted the Archabbot of the Taouists 
who suggested an appeal to Kwan-te who reigned, it is true, as a king 
in the world of spirits. His Imperial Majesty sent a dispatch to him, 
and the spirit hero appeared in mid-heaven riding on his great red 
charger, and insisted as the price of his assistance that a temple be erected 
to him. The structure was thrown together with great haste, and the 
salt wells at once yielded their welcome supplies. From that day on 
Kwan-te was elevated to the rank of a god, who leads the imperial troops 
in war and protects the millions of Chinese homes. His worship is con- 
fined to government officials. 

Mau-chang, a pre'cocious literary character, as well as a lover of 
virtue has been deified into the god of learning, who keeps a divine record 
of the learned and the virtuous. His temples and idols are in all the 
principal cities of the empire, and collegiates anxious about their degrees 
-and parents ambitious for the welfare of their children offer him bundles 
of onions to obtain his favor. Through the priesthood, also, he 
prophesies regarding national calamities. 

The Dragon King holds in his keeping the wind, rain, thunder and 
lightning of nature. In seasons of drought the district ruler supplicates 
his idol. If the King fails to respond, the prefect tries his persuasive 
powers, and if the god will hear neither, the governor-general, dressed 
in sackcloth and his neck and ankles humbly fettered, heads a sorrowful 
procession which moves toward the temple. The four banners of yellow 
silk, inscribed with the words wind, rain, thunder and lightning, are 
placed upon the altar of the god, after which the governor-general con- 
signs his written supplication to sacred flames, and retires amidst the 
firing of crackers, the beating of gongs and cymbals and other unearthly 
noise calculated to influence the tumultuous god of nature. If after all 
this homage he is implacable the Archabbot is called upon to offer 
prayers, and if welcome rain is still withheld the Archabbot's salary is 
also withheld by the Emperor. 

The temples erected to the Dragon King are often thronged with 
peasants, who appear, with wreaths of weeping willow bound around 
;their heads, that the god will grant them a few satisfactory showers. 



DOiMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 59 1 

Shing Wong is a great idol who annually recefves a new silk gown 
from the government or some wealthy family and has his face washed 
by the prefect himself. The god has a stone and a copper seal, and 
when his votaries come to do him homage, clothes of the sick or sheets 
of yellow paper are stamped with them that the feeble may be strength- 
ened and evil spirits warded off. Shing Wong employs some cruel 
implements of torture upon evil spirits, which are exhibited in several 
of his temples, and both they and his judicial proceedings are very 
similar to those which are in vogue in the criminal courts of the empire. 

The ten kingdoms of the Buddhist hell are each presided over by 
a god, who punishes certain classes of offenses with a variety of tortures 
such as the imaginations of men have created from Greece to China and 
from Rome to America. 

Pih-te, or Pak-tai, is the beneficent god of the Chinese, who existed 
before the world was, became incarnate, and, after a probation of 500 
years, ascended to heaven to sit in a chariot of many colors and be at- 
tended by angels and fair women. It was after this, in the reign of 
Taou (2357 B. C.) that, according to Chinese annals, the earth was 
destroyed by a deluge. Twice thereafter Pih-te reappeared to guide 
the people and the state, and to wage war against the spirit of evil. 
Merchants about to take ventures, partners about to make important 
business statements, master and servants wishing to ratify their agree- 
ments, persons desiring to declare their innocence of crimes charged 
against them, all repair to his temple for advice or to make their most 
solemn and bindino" oaths. 

The Queen of Heaven is a canonized girl who protects fishermen 
and sailors from the fury of the storms, and the Goddess of Mercy pro- 
tects the souls as well as the bodies of mankind. Kum-fa is the tutelary 
goddess of women and children, and she has twenty attendants who at- 
tend to the details. The Five Genii preside over fire, earth, water, 
metal and wood, and the Great Sage of the Whole Heavens, of whom 
there is an idol in their temples, is a canonized monkey who was hatched 
from a bowlder, and became first human and then superhuman ! 

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 

From the character which centuries of education have developed in 
the Chinese, it would follow that their domestic and social relations 
would be accompanied with much ceremony and apparent coolness. But 
they are not a cold people, although they have been taught to restrain 
their feelings. Custom confines the women quite closely to their homes, 
and the practice of unnaturally contracting the feet, which was originally 



592 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

adopted to stamp them as a superior order of beings from the large- 
footed women of Tartary, prevents them from moving around much in 
their houses. The ladies of the better classes principally employ them- 
selves in embroidering and painting on silk. Music is also a favorite 
accomplishment. 

Chinese music is, however, most painful to Western ears. Upon 
the occasions of native weddings in American cities, specimens of it 
have been heard, which accord with the following description : " The 
gong is the type of Chinese music ; a crashing harangue of rapid blows 
upon it, with a rattling accompaniment of small drums, and a crackling 
symphony of shrill notes from the clarionet and cymbal, constitute the 
chief features of their musical performances. Their vocal music is 
generally on a high falsetto key, somewhere between a squeal and a 
scream." 

The Chinese are extremely fond of the drama, a branch of which, to 
their minds, is dancing. Elevating it, as they do, to such a height, they 
consider it presumptuous to dance themselves, but allow that honor only 
to professionals. The drama proper, although popular, is not of a very 
elevating nature. Women are excluded from the stage, their parts being 
taken by boys or eunuchs. In the northern and eastern provinces perma- 
nent theatres are to be found, but usually the actors are invited to private 
houses and paid for each performance. In every large dwelling and in 
nearly every inn there is a hall set apart for this purpose, and along the 
rivers and great canals, numerous strolling parties live in barges. As a 
rule the actors are the slaves of the manager ; for to purchase a free child 
for the purpose of educating him as an actor is punished by a hundred 
strokes of the bamboo, and no free female is allowed to marry into that: 
class. 

One of the most common causes for the punishment which the son 
of China brings upon himself is gambling. It is all but universal. The 
youthful mChinaan is often found attired in very scant costume, having 
pledged his articles of clothing in some game of chance ; and when the 
foreigner sees a struggling urchin being dragged through the streets by 
his stern father,the reason for his predicament may be inferred with tol- 
erable certainty. 

Next to gambling the Chinese are addicted to processions, public 
shows and festivals, with accompanying feasts. The new-year's time, the 
festival of the dragon boats, the feast of lanterns, the fisherman's festi- 
val, etc., are occasions of general rejoicing and merry-making. Friendly 
contests of strength, such as elevating or tossing heavy weights, they 
also enjoy ; but it would be considered quite beneath their dignity to 



THE LOYAL DRESS. 593 

countenance prize fights or wrestling matches, and .even to place profes- 
sional gladiators among the nobility, as do the Japanese. 

THE LOYAL DRESS. 

The native Chinese costume, although not graceful to European 
eyes, combines warmth with ease. Silk, cotton and linen in summer, with 
padded cotton garments for the poor, and furs and skins for the rich in 
winter ; the robes usually light but compact, the shoes with thick felt 
soles to exclude moisture and cold — what more common-sense ideas 
could be combined in dress? The garments of the two sexes do not 
differ materially, except in color. 

The tail is now universally worn by Chinese males, the only general 
exceptions being found among the Buddhist priests, who shave their 
heads, and the Taouist priests who let their hair grow long, as do also 
many of the independent tribes of the mountains. The pig-tail has 
become the symbol of loyalty, and when, during the present century, a 
defeated literary candidate and a fanatic headed the Taiping rebellion 
against the government, the first of his many complaints was " that the 
Chinese from the outset had their own style of wearing the hair ; but 
these Mantchoos have compelled them to shave their heads and wear a 
long tail, so as greatly to resemble the commonest beast," 

THEY REFUSE TO SHAVE THE HEAD. 

The aboriginal tribes whom the Tartars could not conquer are 
scattered in the mountainous districts of the entire empire. Some of 
them acknowledge the authority of the Emperor sufificiently to receive 
his mandarins as their principal officers, but they are always selected 
from among the most prominent members of the tribes. It is a custom 
of most of these primitive people to select New Year's Day as the day 
when matrimonial alliances are to be entered into. The fairs, which 
are held in the court-yards of temples, are thronged with young men and 
maidens, who are continually pairing off, resorting to the temples to 
worship the idol and then hastening to the girl's parents to sign the 
necessary documents. From seven to ten years after marriage the 
young man resides with his father-in-law. The first-born is presented to 
the parents of the husband as a sacred offering and the second-born goes 
to the father-in-law. Among some of the tribes it is the duty of the 
father to attend to all the children and grand-children to the extent 
of his means, and when he is buried the face of the corpse is twisted 
around to indicate that he is still watching over their welfare from the 
Great Beyond, g 



594 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The body will not be allowed to rest in peace for any length of time, 
for the relatives will be anxious to ascertain their future fortune by its 
state of preservation ; or they will desire to carefully clean the bones of 
the corpse, that their health may be preserved. The tribe which follows 
this latter custom is called bone-washers. A few of the tribes burn 
the bodies of the dead, and the widows ascend the pyre with their 
husbands as did those of India in the old days. 

To avert pestilence and 
^^^Ktii other misfortunes from the tribe 
various measures are adopted. 
Ml One of them is for the wealthy 
yi|]M members to pay a certain sum to 
a poor family, in consideration 
for which the father agrees to 
offer himself as the regular 
yearly sacrifice to the idol of the 
dog. A great banquet is given, 
every one drinks freely of wine, 
and the victim, after getting more 
intoxicated than the others, is 
put to death before the altar. 
Another practice is for the man, 
who has besmeared himself with 
paint, and by his contortions, with 
priestly assistance, attracted pesti- 
lence, disease and misfortune, to 
be driven from the village as a 
scapegoat. The remembrances 
I and bad effects of the past year are 
j'l annihilated throughthe agency of 
vJ}"^' a largfe earthenware jar, which is 

ilia i . 

ij^V filled with gunpowder, stones and 
,'^ pieces of iron, buried in the earth, 
•i'^' and exploded in the midst of 
much rejoicing and convivialtiy. 
The aborigines are not all savages, although as superstitious as 
their civilized brethren who wear the pig-tails. They are good agricul- 
turists, breeders of cattle, manufacturers and dyers of cloth. The 
wildest of the tribes are found in the island of Formosa, northeast of 
Canton, and the island of Hainan, southwest of that city. In the north 
of Formosa the savages cover only their loins, and Indiscriminately 




A SCENE IN CHINA. 



CHINESE HOUSES. 595 

siaugnter all Chinese and foreigners who cross their paths. The boldest 
tribes of Hainan are not only as cruel and quarrelsome as they, but are 
the most expert thieves living, so that when they visit the markets, at 
certain hours of the day, the grounds more resemble a military encamp- 
ment than a mart of trade. Soldiers armed with spears are quartered 
in barracks not far distant, and when the market is closed the aborigines 
are ordered home. 

The laws in force for the suppression of this turbulent element of 
the empire, and its eventual absorption by the law-loving bulk of the 
population, consist of provisions against extortion by the Chinese mer- 
chant ; forbiddinof the aboriorines to bear fire arms or the Chinese black- 
smith to make arms for them ; promising free pardon to any Chinese 
Avho shall kill an aboriginal who does not conform to the law by which, 
if protected by the government, he shall throw aside his rude orna- 
ments, shave his head, and adopt civilized dress and manners ; and 
obliging the native rulers to teach the aborigines the arts of industry and 
to report monthly to the ruler of the district within the frontiers of which 
the tribe is located. 

Many of the primitive tribes are also found in the district through 
which the upper Hoang cuts its way. This is called the "loess" country, 
the name being given to it by a German Baron, who thus designated the 
peculiar yellow deposit through which the river pours, and which has 
caused it to be called the Yellow River, The table-lands have been cut 
into deep gorges, and at the foot of the vertical cliffs, far below the level 
of the plain, the people build their houses and villages, rear their families, 
their swine and chickens, live and die. 

CHINESE HOUSES. 

" Chinese architecture is entirely different from that of any other 
country. The general form of the houses is that of a tent ; those of the 
lower classes are slight, small and of little cost. All are formed on the 
model of the primitive Tartar dwellings ; but even in the great cities a 
traveler might fancy himself — from the low houses, with carved, over- 
hanging roofs, uninterrupted by a single chimney, and from the pillars, 
poles, streamers and flags — to be in the midst of a large encampment. 
The fronts of the shops are covered with varnish and gilding and painted 
in brilliant colors. The streets of Canton, and of most of the cities, are 
extremely narrow, admitting only three or four foot-passengers abreast ; 
but the principal thoroughfares of Pekin are fully one hundred feet in 
width. The rooms — even those occupied by the Emperor — are small 
and little ornamented," 



596 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

CHINESE MARRIAGES. 

As a people, the Chinese are not polygamists ; where polygamy does 
occur, among the wealthier classes, it may be said to almost invariably 
spring from the motive of the man to have a numerous offspring who 
shall do his name honor in the ancestral hall. His desire also is that his 
children shall be sons, for, at each stage of their literary and worldly 
advancement, they do not fail to present the customary offerings and 
inscribe their new honor upon the family record. The premature death 
of a son is therefore not only the occasion of profound grief, but is looked 
upon as a contraction of the family greatness. The wives, on the other 
hand, though as proud of family honors as their husbands, are said to be 
strenuously opposed to polygamy. In short, there are whole families, in 
the upper grades of life, in which the ladies positively refuse to marry, 
for fear that they may be called upon to suffer the pangs of envy, jeal- 
ousy and hatred occasioned by this state of married life. To avoid 
marriage some become Buddhist or Taouist nuns, and others prefer death 
itself to marriage. During the reign of a former king, fifteen virgins, 
whom their parents had affianced, met together upon learning the 
■fact, and resolved to commit suicide. They flung themselves into a trib- 
utary stream of the Canton River in the vicinity of the village where they 
lived, and their tomb is still called " The Tomb of the Virgins." At 
another village, in 1873, eight young girls clothed themselves in their 
best attire, bound themselves together and threw themselves into the 
Canton River in order to avoid marriasfe. 

Another cause of this dread evinced by girls for the married state,, 
is that parents do all the match-making for both sons and daughters. 
How great a misfortune this distastefulness is considered may be realized 
when one learns of the eagerness with which marriage is pressed by the 
parents; in short, the most delicate and sickly children are looked upon, 
as the fittest subjects for early marriages, for their days, in all proba- 
bility, will be short, and there is all the more necessity for haste in the 
matter. And where parents are old and feeble, and have marriageable 
children, they are in constant trepidation lest they shall close their eyes 
in death upon bachelors and old maids. 

It often happens that marriages occur so early in life that the 
couples are separated and live with their respective parents until they 
arrive at a proper age. A shocking case of one of these forced mar- 
riages, which was prompted by a desire to comply with the parental wish, 
is that of a young man and woman in the humble walks of life, which 
was solemnized at the house of the bridegroom's mother, who, at the 



c^ 



FILIAL OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT. 597 

time, was lying at the point of death. The couple were made man and 
^wife, but when the wedding garment was removed from the bride it was 
discovered that she was a leper. 
"^ Before the parents consent to the betrothal of a couple, they con- 

sult the spirits of their ancestors by placing upon the family altar the 
documents which set forth the date of their births and the maiden 
names of the mothers. If the blessing of the departed is obtained, the 
services of the astrologer are next engaged. There are afterwards many 
passings to and fro, by those who are conducting the affair, bearing let- 
ters from father to father, and live pigs or wild geese and ganders, 
which are placed upon the ancestral altars, as offerings to family pride 
and bonds of union. The significance of the wild goose and gander is 
that the same pair of birds is said to remain united through life ; 
they are therefore emblems of marital constancy. A presentation of 
silks to the bride-elect by the parents of the youth, followed by banquets, 
precedes the selection of the marriage day. In the case of the com- 
mon mortal, a single astrologer is consulted, but if the Emperor is to be 
married the naming of the propitious day is referred to the Royal Board 
of Astronomy. When the day has been fixed, presents of sheep, geese and 
pots of wine are exchanged, in accordance with the rank of the parents 
of the contracted parties. The month previous to the marriage is de- 
voted by the lady and her female friends and attendants to lamentations 
at her coming removal from her father's house, the night immediately 
preceding being especially set apart for weeping and wailing. 

'' Notwithstanding this precaution of taking time by the forelock, and 
-mourning for possible misfortunes, the life of the average Chinese family 
is peaceful and happy, and there are few disobedient sons to be punished 
, with the severity for which the parents of the empire have become 
noted. The first wife controls the household, if polygamy is one of its 
features. She is "the moon," the secondary wives are "the stars," and 
they all revolve around the "sun." The first v/ife, or "tsy," is distin- 
guished by a title, espoused with ceremonials, and chosen from a rank in 
life totally different from the " tsie," or handmaids, 

FILIAL OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT, 

All foreigners have noticed that filial obedience and respect, not to 
say love, are prominent traits of the Chinese character. When the 
social customs of the people, however, are carefully examined, consider- 
able doubt arises as to how much of this feeling comes from fear or 
natural affection. The Chinese have not only absolute control over 
their youngest children, but exercise a sort of police supervision over even 



598 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

their elder sons and daughters. This pecuHarity is evinced more strongly 
in the case of daughters than of sons. One will see not only mothers 
throwing their disobedient children into the river, and sometimes drown- 
ing them in their anger, but parents beating their married daughters ; 
and it is a not uncommon sio^ht to see mothers chastising; drunken or 
otherwise disreputable sons who have arrived at almost middle age. 
Further than this, the punishment inflicted upon men and women by 
their parents is often continuous and partakes of the nature of prison 
discipline. In the residences of those of wealth and standing, a son 
whose propensities are distasteful will often be found shackled, and 
heavy weights attached to his ankles, being kept for days in solitary 
confinement. 

When parental discipline does not avail, the father seizes the son, 
and, with the assistance of his servants, drags him through the streets to 
the "cangue" or gaol. The sons are frequently banished to distant 
provinces, and, if the mother does not intercede for their pardon (for 
mothers are the same in all lands), they often live and die in remote 
parts of the empire. 

The punishments meted out to children who abuse or murder their 
parents, sometimes extend to many generations. The laws in this 
regard are very similar to those which prevailed among the Israelites ; 
among them children convicted of cursing or assaulting their parents 
were put to death. A case is mentioned in China, where a son, aided 
by his wife, severely beat his mother, and both offenders were decapi- 
tated. The mother of the son's wife was flogged and sent into exile, for 
she had committed not only a sin but had outraged the teachings of all 
the founders of Chinese civilization, since she had not effectively instilled 
into her daughter's mind the principles of filial piety. Furthermore, 
the punishment extended to the magistrates of the district, who were 
banished from the country. The innocent students, even, were forbidden 
to attend the literary examinations for a time, and thus their chances of 
preferment were seriously delayed. The house in which this unfilial 
couple resided was razed to the ground. The wide-embracing and 
severe punishment of families and whole communities, of the heads of 
clans and literary classes to which such offenders belong, even extend- 
ing to numerous floggings, deaths, exiles, etc., seems quite unjust, but 
has the effect of making every man, woman and child, a guard, not only 
over his own actions, but even over those of his neighbors. When the 
crime reaches the magnitude of murder, the punishment sometimes 
includes a lingering death for the parricide, and a decapitation for the 
schoolmaster who had the misfortune to instruct the unnatural child; 



AGRICULTURE. 599 

and what is more to be deplored, disgrace is heaped upon the ancestors 
of the family. The bones of grandfathers are scattered and dishonored, 
and the ancestral hall is closed. Offenses of this nature are conse- 
quently rare. 

Another picture : "A pleasing anecdote in relation to filial piety is 
told of a certain youth. Having lost his mother who was all that was 
dear to him, he passed the three years of mourning in a hut, and employed 
himself, in his retirement, in composing verses in honor of his parent. 
The period of his mourning having elapsed, he returned to his former resi- 
dence. His mother had always expressed great apprehension of thunder, 
and when it was stormy requested her son not to leave her. Therefore 
as soon as he heard a storm coming on, he hastened to his mother's grave, 
saying softly to her, ' I am here, mother.'" 

AGRICULTURE. 

It is fortunate that the Chinese are so naturally adapted to 
agriculture, since their four hundred million bodies so much depend 
upon the soil for existence. Next to education the government is a 
patron of agriculture, exempting from taxation all those lands which 
are reclaimed by their owners, or in case the waste lands are in remote 
districts and not thought worthy of attention by the proprietors, trans- 
ferring the title to those who will cultivate them. The Chinaman's love 
of quiet industry and the government's continual encouragement of it 
have left few barren spots of the empire untouched. The slopes of their 
hills even are terraced, and thereby made to retain sufficient water to 
irrigate the crops. When encouragement does not have its intended 
effect force is unhesitatingly applied. Each village has its agricultural 
board, and if a farmer shows negligence in realizing the greatest possible 
yield from his land he is simply and thoroughly flogged by the magistrate, 
upon the suggestion of the board. If he has left much uncultivated he 
receives many stripes; if little, only a few. The property of landed pro- 
prietors which is allowed to lie unimproved is confiscated to the crown. 

The lands in China are held by families, upon the payment of an 
annual tax, which is not levied in case of a failure of the crop ; that is the 
law of the land, but needy mandarins often exact it. There is another 
general law to the effect that the provincial government may advance 
money to farmers whose crops have been destroyed, for the purchase of 
fresh seed. 

As a rule, the Chinese farm does not exceed one or two acres, and 
is separated from the next by a narrow embankment. To draw the 
greatest possible amount of good from his land the farmer allows mounds 



600 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of a certain form to remain in the middle of his small field, and plants 
rows of cedar trees, variously combined, across the rice plains. These 
mystic fo.rms and figures are calculated to obtain the favor of the gods. 
Upon the clay walls of his house he also paints a circle or other effective 
figure, recommended by a Buddhist or Taouist priest to keep wolves, 
panthers, foxes, wild cats, badgers and other pests away from his few 
cattle and sheep. The elders of some of the villages even pass laws 
against injuring either the surrounding trees or the birds which lodge in 
them, as both are believed to have a good effect upon the adjacent rice 
plains. 

Having thus seen by what means the government and the gods are 
expected to assist the peasant of China we will see how he aids himself. 
The plow consists of a beam handle, a share with a wooden stem, and a 
rest behind instead. of a moulding board. It is so light that he often 
carries it home on his shoulders. A large wooden hoe, tipped with iron, 
often takes the place of the plow, being universally employed in the 
cultivation of the hill lands. The harrow has three rows of iron teeth. 

The ceremonies which usher in the agricultural year in China are 
conducted at Pekin, by the Emperor in person ; in the other provinces 
the various officers, headed by the governors, worship the god of spring, 
who is represented by an idol holding a branch in his right hand, his left 
resting on the horns of a huge buffalo made of paper ; thus indicating 
that it is time for the farmer to put his buffalo to the plow and bring 
forth his crops. After the land has been plowed and harrowed, fortune 
tellers name the lucky day when the seed is to be sown. At the ap- 
pointed time the seed is cast into a corner of the field, and when the 
shoots have grown a few inches they are transplanted. The irrigation of 
the land is not accomplished in so crude a manner as in Egypt, with 
merely buckets, chain pumps and horizontal wheels, but steam power is 
often applied where the land is high above the surface of the river. 
With the regular manure which is used are also mixed feathers of birds, 
bone dust, bean cake, Peruvian guano and human hair, which is preserved 
by the barbers. 

In June the rice is usually reaped with sickles, in some districts the 
tops of the ears only being gathered, stacked into small bundles, and 
rapped against the inside of tubs so that the grain will be thereby col- 
lected. Other kinds of rice are threshed with flails upon an asphalt 
floor with which every farm is provided, or the grain is trodden out by 
oxen. It is then, perhaps, gathered on trays and thrown into the air, 
or taken up on pitchforks that the wind may perform its primitive func- 
tion of winnowing. Toward the end of July another crop is sown. 



AGRICULTURE. - 6oi 

When the rice is finally stored in the granary, it is mixed with the ashes 
of the husks, which contain the necessary amount of carbon to drive away 
all destructive insects. Even with this preservative farmers are not 
allowed to withhold their grain in times of scarcity, hoping for extrava- 
gant prices ; this is the law, but the mandarins come in again, with their 
small salaries, often wink at the statute and realize a handsome fortune 
by colluding with equally unprincipled farmers to take advantage of a 
public calamity. 

The tea plant flourishes not only in Southern China, or the tropical 
regions, but as far north as Mongolia, where the winter is severe. The 
seeds are alternately dried and soaked until they begin to sprout, when 
they are planted in a thin layer of earth, spread over basket-work or 
matting. Like delicate children, the shoots are not at first exposed to 
the night air, but finally they get strong enough, when they are four 
inches high, to be planted out of doors. At the end of the third year, 
the plant has reached a height of from four to eight feet ; and a tea 
plantation, ready for the harvest, resembles a great field of evergreens. 
The leaf is similar in form to that of the myrtle. Three crops are gath- 
ered, usually in April, June and July. One leaf is plucked from the stalk 
at a time, and deposited in a clean wicker-work basket. The leaves are 
then spread out in the sun to dry, trodden under foot to expel any lurk- 
ing moisture, and then heaped together and covered with cloths for the 
night. When uncovered in the morning, the generated heat has changed 
the green color to black or brown. The laborers now rub them between 
their hands to twist or crumple them, and they are exposed to the sun, 
or placed in a wicker-work frame and baked over a charcoal fire. Before 
finally getting into the channels of trade the leaves are subjected to 
another baking, and are cleaned and packed by the middleman be- 
tween the planter and the tea merchant. 

The leaves of green tea, while being subjected to the charcoal 
heat, are constantly fanned, in order to retain their color. 

Brick tea, which is so much used in China, Thibet, Mongolia, Mant- 
chooria and Siberia, is made from leaves, stalks and stems, which are 
heaped into baskets and placed on iron pans of boiling water. Under- 
neath the pans slow fires are kept burning, and the steam reduces the 
contents of the baskets to a proper consistency to be placed into moulds 
and pressed. The "bricks" average 10x5x1 in. They are purchased 
principally by Russian merchants, who ship them to Siberian markets, 
where they are bought by Tartar and Mongol tribes. 

The silkworm was indicfenous to China, the silk trade beino- carried 
on between that empire and Persia for many centuries before it was in- 



602 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

troduced into Europe. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia, 
during the first portion of the fourth century B. C, the silks of China 
were exposed for sale in all the marts of Greece, but the material was 
supposed to be a vegetable down or a fine wool. 

But twenty-three centuries previous to the first sight which Europe 
obtained of the mysterious stuff, an Empress of China reared a number 
of silkworms, and succeeded in weaving some beautiful webs. She is 
worshiped as the goddess of silkworms, and set the style which every 
imperial lady has since followed of thus interesting themselves. During 
October of each year, the Empress, accompanied by her attendants, re- 
pairs to the altar, and, with golden and silver implements, gathers mulberry 
leaves for the imperial silkworms, and winds a few cocoons of silk. The 
garments which they weave are to cover the principal idols of the empire. 

Well, the delusion under which Europeans labored was dissolved 
by two Nestorian monks, who, eight centuries later, arrived at Constan- 
tinople from China and told the Emperor what they knew about silk 
culture. They were persuaded to further prosecute their investigations, 
returning to China for the purpose. Collecting a quantity of eggs they 
packed them in bamboo tubes, and thus the industry was introduced to 
the West. It is reported that these pioneer eggs were hatched by the 
heat of a manure heap. 

A moth will lay five hundred eggs in three days, after which sne dies 
and the male does not long survive her. The eggs are carefully washed 
in spring water, when about two weeks old, and during the autumn and 
winter months are preserved on pieces of paper or cloth. In the spring 
they are placed upon bamboo shelves, which are devoid of any harmful 
fragrance, and soon a hair-like worm appears, which, when young, is fed 
almost continually; but, like other babies, the time between meals is 
gradually extended. Besides mulberry leaves the flour of peas, beans 
and rice is given to insure strong and glossy silk. The worm matures 
in thirty-two days, having had during that time four periods of sleep, 
each of which was accompanied by a casting of its skin ; while the new 
covering was forming the worm slept. For a few days previous to " the 
great sleep," as the Chinese call it, the worm has a voracious appetite. 
Having attained to maturity, about two inches in length and as thick as 
a man's little finger, it changes from a grayish to an amber hue, and com- 
mences to move its head from side to side and spin the thread around its 
body, which forms the cocoon. In a few days it has accomplished its 
object, falls into its last sleep, and, casting its skin, becomes a chrysalis. 
This is destroyed by placing the cocoon near a slow fire, and then the 
manufacture of the silk commences by unwinding the thread. 



AGRICULTURE. 605 

Next to the work of rearing silkworms and manufacturing silk, 
there is no branch of manufacturing industry which affords more employ- 
ment to the Chinese than that of making porcelain and chinaware. 
From the preparation of the clay to the decoration of the ware the pro- 
cesses are simple, and, in marked contradistinction to the tendency of 
Western lands, machinery seems never to be employed when the work 
can be done by hand. In fact, it is possible that the Chinese do not 
desire labor-saving machinery in their thickly-populated empire, which is 
hemmed about either by rocky, barren and hostile countries or by those 
almost as populous. 

Wheat and barley are also good crops, and in some districts the 
grain is sown as soon as the second crop of rice is harvested. In the 
northern portions of the empire wheat, barley and corn are sown and 
reaped at the times prevalent in temperate climates. The grinding mill 
consists of two circular stones, the upper one concave and the under one 
convex. A bar is fastened to the upper stone, and a bullock, or buffalo, 
is attached to the bar. The grain is poured into a funnel which sets 
into the upper stone, and falls down over the lower one as flour. Water 
mills are also known, although not common. Their inventor has been 
elevated to the position of a god, and each mill contains an altar in his 
honor. 

The peanut crop is harvested in December, January and February. 
The nuts are exposed for sale in all fruit shops. Farmers value the oil 
which they extract from them very highly ; the residuum, or cake, is used 
as manure for rice lands and food for cattle, while the shells are burned 
for fuel. Sugar cane is grown both for the sugar and as a raw article 
which is sold by the fruiterers. Indigo is raised from the island of For- 
mosa to Mongolia, three or four crops being gathered from one root. 
The plants are cut with sickles, bound into sheaves and placed in vats,, 
where they are allowed to ferment for nearly a day. The liquor is then 
drawn off into other vats and beaten with paddles, which hastens precipi- 
tation. The precipitate, after being boiled, strained and exposed to the 
sun. is cut into cakes, in which form the world sees them. 

Beans and peas are also raised for food crops, for the oil which is 
pressed from them, and for the cakes which are used as cattle feed and 
manure. 

Chinese cotton is the crop which follows wheat and barley, in rota- 
tion. The seed which is not required for next year's crop is sold to oil 
merchants, or used as food and medicine. It is said to operate upon 
the kidneys. The stems of the plant are used for fuel. After being 
cleaned the cotton is spun into yarn, and eventually appears as nankeen, 



604 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

linings for dresses, cotton velvets, etc. Tobacco is another prolific crop. 
After it has been forwarded to the factories, the leaves are trodden 
under foot by men, well sprinkled with oil, subjected to a great pressure, 
taken out in cakes, and afterwards planed into "fine cut." 

FISHING. 

The Chinese being a nation of fish-eaters as well as rice-eaters, the 
government has imposed very strict regulations upon fishermen, dividing 
the waters into districts and the vessels into companies, placing over 
each old and honest "salts." There are salt-fish vessels and fresh-fish 
vessels. Many of the latter are provided with great cisterns into which 
the fish are cast as they are caught, and others are simply reservoirs 
from stem to stern, in which fish are artificially reared on a paste made 
from the flour of wheat and beans. Artificial ponds are common through- 
out the empire, and the Chinese have made so close a study of the science 
of pisciculture that they place plantain trees around them, for the rain 
which falls from their leaves, after copious showers, is said to be impreg- 
nated with a solution which promotes the health of the fish. Other trees 
are placed on the banks, that the fruit may fall into the ponds and fatten 
the fish. Willow trees are harmful. Grass growing at the water's edge 
is avoided lest it should have attached to it the ova of fishes of prey. 
Many other like precautions are taken, the result of the combined expe- 
rience of an observing people for many centuries. 

In capturing fish upon their own ground, the Chinese show tlie 
same ingenuity and close powers of observation as in rearing them arti- 
ficially. For instance, it has been noticed that, when terrified, fish invari- 
ably shoot toward the light. So the Chinese fisherman fastens a long, 
white board to his boat, inclining toward the water, and also a large stone 
which he lowers over the side, so that when he paddles along at night, 
the stone making a rushing noise, the fish will jump toward the reflec- 
tion and in most cases overleap It into the boat. On the same principle 
is the plan of forming two squads of boats into an inner and an outer 
circle, to the inside boats being fastened a circular net. In the center 
of the circle formed on the surface of the water by the corks to which 
the net is attached, is a boat in whose bows is kept burning a bright fire. 
Teh crews of the outer ring of boats furiously beat the water, and the 
fish in terror dash toward the central fire, which lights up the night all 
around, and thousands of them are entangled in the net and drawn into 
the inner circle of boats. 

Along the banks of the rivers will be seen tiny huts occupied by 



CHINESE COMMERCE. 605 

fishermen, and near each hut a large dip net worked by a windlass. To 
many of the nets live fish are bound by cords to serve as decoys, or pro- 
vided with a pocket or well in which the finny attractions swim about 
uninjured. Fish are also speared, caught with the hook and line, with 
the hands and by means of cormorants. Each bird has a ring around its 
throat to prevent its swallowing the fish and is so trained that it shows 
great humiliation when it dives and misses its prey. When fatigued 
the cormorant rests awhile in the boat, and at a signal from the 
fisherman resumes its occupation. Fresh water turtles, shrimps, 
and oysters, are objects, also, of the Chinaman's industry and in- 
genuity. 

Oysters are never eaten raw, being considered too cold for the 
stomach. They are either fried or preserved in salt. The shells are 
used in building walls or converted into lime. Oysters are also put to- 
other uses. Small images of Buddha, or of other popular deities, are 
jDlaced inside the shell and the mollusks are thrown back into the pond. 
There they remain until they have had time to deposit a layer of mother- 
of-pearl over the idol, which is then extracted and sold as a miraculous 
creation. 

CHINESE COMMERCE. 

From a bare mention of an imperfect list of China's natural products. 
it will be realized how extensive must be her dealinQ^s with other lands. 
The Chinese have no ambition to ascertain in actual fio-ures the extent 
of the internal commerce of their country, which is half as large as- 
Europe ; and it would be an endless task for a foreigner to attempt to- 
collect such information from a territory not traversed by a comprehen- 
sive system of public roads and virtually unbroken by railroads. But 
despite all drawbacks, floods of treasure pour down her imperfect water 
and canal ways, and are collected by native merchants and borne over- 
land tothe sea-coast ports, while opium, metals, sheetings, trepang, bird's- 
nests, precious stones, furs, gold, silver, umbrellas, clocks, telescopes,, 
cutlery, snuff, etc., are imported. "Foreigners can acquire land and 
houses at the free ports, and may travel in the interior for purposes of 
pleasure or for trade, but must use the conveyances of the country. 
Produce may be brought from the interior by paying at the port of 
destination a duty which is equal to one-half the duty upon exportation.. 
This half duty is a commutation of the native levies exacted in 
the several provinces, and comprises a part of the provincial revenue. 
Foreign merchandise may be sent into the interior under a similar 
system." 



6o6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE MONGOLS. 

Next to Thibet, Mongolia, or the land of the Mongols, is the holy 
land of Lamaism ; after Lassa where the Grand Lama resides, Urga, the 
chief town of Mongolia, is most sacred. It is on the direct line of travel 
from Lake Baikal, Southern Siberia, whose wonders in connection with 
Lamaism have been already narrated, and here resides the " Kutukhtu," 
or chief Lama of the great province. He is generally brought from 
Thibet, an immense caravan of fanatics accompanying him to his future 
capital. The nomads speak of Urga as Bogdo-Kuren, or "sacred 
encampment." The Russians called it Urga, or palace, on account of 
the large temple which the Lama occupies. It is high and square, with 
flat roofs, and accommodates 10,000 priests, A brass image of the 
future Buddha, manufactured at Dolon-nor, a famous town for the con- 
struction of idols, sits in the center of the temple, looming up thirty-three 
feet in height. Before the idol is a table for ofTerings, and numbers of 
lesser gods are ranged around the walls. The Kutukhtu is said to have 
become immensely wealthy by accepting as personal favors the offerings 
of the faithful, being the owner also of 150,000 slaves, who inhabit the 
environs of Urga and other parts of Northern Mongolia, All these 
slaves are under his immediate authority and form the so-called Shabin 
class. 

The town is divided into two parts, the Chinese portion being 
separated three miles from the Mongolian, and called the place of 
trade. The inhabitants of the Chinese quarter consist of traders and 
officials, who, by law, are forbidden to settle lest they should enter into 
collusion with the natives. 

The Mongolian town is little more than a collection of temples 
with little Chinese houses or felt tents grouped together and a market 
square in the center. The inhabitants seem to be chiefly priests and 
beggars, who assemble on the market place, covered with rags, vermin 
and, perhaps, drifts of snow. Packs of hungry dogs wait near the rough 
shed or den which some of them occupy ; for death comes as a welcome 
relief at times — and when these miserable beings pass out of the world 
of Lamaism, their bodies are literally cast to the dogs. This custom 
even prevails among the so-called higher classes, who peaceably live and 
die in sight of the beggars. If the body be not quickly devoured the 
priests proclaim the ungodliness of the deceased, so that every funeral 
procession which passes through the streets of the sacred encampment 
is accompanied by intelligent dogs, sniffing and licking their chops in 
anticipatioa 



THE MONGOLS. 607 

The government of Urga is a portion of a province of Northern 
MongoHa, which is ruled over by a Mantchoo sent from Pekin and 
a native prince ; and this is the general plan which is followed 
to preserve peace. Much of the southern and eastern portion of 
Mongolia is desert land, the western part of which is unexplored 
even at the present time. The country through which one passes 
from Urga toward Pekin, previous to reaching the desert, is 
a great steppe on which the flocks and herds of the Mongols are 
grazing. A number of public roads cross the desert and converge at 
Kalgan, wells being dug and tents pitched by nomads who beg from 
passing caravans as they slowly toil over the six hundred miles of dreary 
country. Herds of antelope are also seen like the nomadic Mongols, 
seeking pasturage in the desert, and when drought drives them from the 
plain, they avoid the settled districts and sometimes emigrate in vast 
herds to the rich lands of Northern Mongolia, Being armed with such 
crude weapons, the natives have to resort to stratagem to approach the 
timid animals, one of their favorite plans being to near them by quietly 
walking upon the farther side of a camel which is led by a bridle. The 
antelope are also snared in traps of tough grass, which lame the animals 
when they struggle to get free. The skins are usually sold to Russian 
merchants. 

It is along this line of travel that the countless caravans of brick 
tea pass into Siberia, In early autumn long strings of camels may be 
seen drawing toward Kalgan, over rugged hills and elevated table lands 
toward the fertile valleys and plains and mild climate of China. It is 
like going from Switzerland into Italy. The town commands the pass 
through the great wall, and toward it are coming 200,000 or 300,000 
chests of teas by steamer and cart. Four chests, weighing about 100 
pounds apiece, the Mongol will load upon each camel, .receiving his pay 
from a Chinese agent who acts for the Russian tea merchant. His 
destination is either Urga or Kiakhta, in Southern Siberia ; if to the latter 
point, he starts on a journey of forty days' duration, with the possibility 
of contending with formidable drifts of snow beyond Urga. From Urga 
to Kiakhta the tea is transported in two-wheeled bullock carts. 

But it would be far from the truth to state that the Mongols carry 
most of the brick tea into Siberia. They are passionately fond of it them- 
selves, and not only drink it as a beverage but season their food with 
it. Ten to fifteen large cupfuls is the daily allowance of a girl, but full- 
grown men imbibe twice as much. The Mongols live in tents, eat like 
wild beasts, consider fowl or fish unclean, are lovers of mutton, especially 
of fat sheep's tails, are owners of horses, camels, oxen and sheep, and 



6o8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the carriers of Central Asia, going north and south. Not only do they 
transport tea, but salt from the lakes of Mongolia to China, and supplies 
between the Chinese forces situated on the borders of the empire. Dur- 
ing the autumn, winter and early spring their camels are all employed* 
and "with the return of April the transport ceases, the wearied animals 
are turned loose on the steppe, and their masters repose in complete idle- 
ness for six or seven months. The men, as a rule, do nothing but gallop 
about all day long from tent to tent, drinking tea or kumys and gos- 
siping with their neighbors. They are ardent lavers of the chase, which 
is some break to the tedious monotony of their lives, but they are, with 
few exceptions, bad shots, and their arms are most inferior, some having 
flint and steel muskets, while others have nothing but the bow and 
arrows. An occasional pilgrimage to some temple and horse-racing 
are their favorite diversions. 

The Mongols of Mongolia do not in fact greatly differ from the 
Mongols of Siberia, except that their dress has been fashioned after the 
Chinese style and the men wear the pig-tail. They therefore acknowl- 
edge the supremacy of the Mantchoos dynasty, which is Mongolian 
itself. The Mongol princes receive salaries from the Emperor, who also 
promotes them from one rank to another, and princesses of the Imperial 
family are given in marriage to both Mongolian and Mantchoorian princes. 
Three times in ten years the princes travel to Pekin to bring gifts of 
camels and horses to the Emperor as pledges of their allegiance, and 
receive in return elegant silks, dresses and caps of far greater value. 
Once in ten years the Emperor's daughters-in-law are allowed to visit the 
court. The Mongols pay a cattle tax to their own princes, but no tax 
to China. They are liable to military service, but the government pro- 
vides them arms. Obviously they get from China far more than they 
give to her. 

THE THIBETANS. 

The origin of the Thibetans is lost in the shadows of time, savage 
tribes of nomads with their flocks of sheep and goats inhabiting the great 
table lands of the Himalaya Mountains when the Chinese themselves 
first commenced to have a history. The country lies between the lofty 
Himalaya and Kuen-Lun mountains and is also traversed by ranges of 
less elevation. This mighty Alpine plain, the surface of which is lifted 
as high into the clouds as the summit of the Alps, bore the name among 
the Chinese of the Land of Demons, or of Western Barbarians. The 
Thibetans themselves claim to be the most ancient race in the world, 
and proudly boast of their descent from a large species of ape. Middle: 



THE THIBETANS. 609 

Thibet is still called Ape-land, and a writer who -lived long among the 
Mongols declares that the features of the Thibetans much resemble 
those of the ape, especially the countenances of the old men, sent out as 
religious missionaries, who traverse Mongolia in every direction. 

For twenty centuries, more or less, the various tribes made war on 
the surrounding territory, penetrating into Hindustan and snatching 
away Chinese territory, invading Parthia and establishing one of their 
capitals near Khiva, and coming into conflict with Persians and Tartars. 
They were nomadic in their habits, following the courses of rivers with 
their cattle, and living in tents as they fought their way over Central 
Asia. Those of the east founded several obscure kingdoms, and finally, 
in the latter part of the sixth century, one of the rulers, whose residence 
was on the stream which runs near Lassa, became so powerful that he 
extended his dominions on the southwest to India. He afterwards fixed 
his capital at Lassa. 

By common consent this king, who is known to the world as 
" Ssrong-bTsan-sGam-po," introduced Buddhism into the country. He 
sent his prime minister to India to study the new religion in all its 
purity, as his wife was a Buddhist and an Indian princess. Then having 
asked the hand of the daughter of the Chinese Emperor in marriage, and 
been refused, he marched to the frontier of China and was defeated, but 
received the lady as his bride. These two princesses brought wnth them 
books and idols, and for their preservation temples were built at Lassa, 
or "godland." A commission was appointed of an Indian pundit (pro- 
fessor) two Nepaulese (Indian) teachers, one Chinese and one Thibetan 
to translate the books of doctrine and the ritual of Buddhism. 

Notwithstanding the marriage, a series of fierce wars between China 
and Thibet lasted for eighty years. A peace w^as then concluded, and a 
stone monument commemorating it was erected in the middle of the 
capital. This still exists in the inclosure of the Lama's great temple, but 
did not prevent a renewal of war and the fall of the Thibetan power, 
forty-five years thereafter (866) — that power which had dominated Cen- 
tral Asia for four hundred years. In the meantime other enthusiastic 
Buddhist kings had arisen, monasteries were built, and learned men were 
introduced from India to teach the faith. In the eleventh century, the 
first Grand Lama, or head of the faith in Thibet, appeared in the person 
of an abbot of the monastery of Ssa-skya; in the twelfth, Thibet 
acknowledged the sovereignty of China ; in the thirteenth, China was 
included in the empire of the Mongols, under Genghis Khan. 

Genghis was not a Buddhist, but a shrewd monarch who desired 
through the spiritual head of the church to keep Thibet in subjection. 

39 



6lO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

He therefore, elevated the Lama to the rank of a sub-king, and sent an 
ambassador to him with the following order : " Be thou the Lama to 
adore me now and in the future. I will become master and provider of 
the alms-gifts and make the rites of the religion a part of the state estab- 
lishment; to this end have I exempted the clergy of Thibet from taxa- 
tion." The grandson of Genghis made the Grand Lama of Thibet, " king 
of the doctrine of the three lands." After the decline of Buddhism in 
India, the patriarch of the religion transferred his seat to China and the 
Mongol emperor shifted the honor to Thibet. In the fourteenth century 
the Mongol dynasty was expelled by the Chinese. 

LAMAISM. 

The logic of events, therefore, would make Lamaism a form of 
Buddhism, which is Indian in its constitution, Mongolian and Chinese in 
its tendencies. In drawing their inspiration to so great an extent from 
India, the kings of Thibet obtained deep draughts of Brahmanism. The 
priesthood became as supreme a caste as the Brahmans, and from thence 
also were received the seeds of Sivaism. The Sivaits are those who 
worship Siva, or the god of destruction, as superior to either Brahma or 
Vishnu. Lamaism also adopted other gods of the Hindu faith, but the 
power of their religion is in the priesthood, who are the visible congre- 
o^ation of the saints, the higrhest orders of whom claim to be incarna- 
tions of previous saintly souls. Little inferior in rank to gods and spirits 
are these incarnated saints. 

Lamaism has its trinity, as does Buddhism, in the "three most pre- 
cious jewels " of the Buddha, the law and the congregation of the priests ; 
its festivals commemorate the great events in the life of the Buddha, and 
injury to life, as a portion of the ladder of existence, is strictly 
forbidden. Joined also to Hinduism, Brahmanism and Buddhism is 
Shamanism, or spirit worship. This is the ancient religion of the Tar- 
tars, and the four " isms,-" ingeniously bound together, constitute 
Lamaism. 

THE TWO LAMAS. 

Lama, in the Thibetan language, signifies spiritual teacher, or lord. 
At the head of Lamaism are two lords who with their priesthood govern 
Thibet and hold the spiritual supremacy over Mongolia, Southern 
Siberia and portions of China. Both of them have, theoretically, the 
same authority, but the " Dalai-Lama," or " Ocean-priest," who resides 
near Lassa, rules over a much broader territory than the other, and is in 
reality more powerful. 



THE TWO LAMAS. 6ll 

Their followers believe that they never die, but when the body of 
one perishes the soul passes into the body of a small boy, and it is the 
official duty of the surviving Lama to interpret the oracles and determine 
upon whom the incarnation has descended. Sometimes the deceased 
has confidentially mentioned to his friends in whom he would re-appear, 
or the statement is contained in his will. These transmigrations are 
believed to occur from the bodies of all the priests of the first three de- 
grees ; but of late years it is noticeable that the Emperor of China 
can invariably place his finger upon the heads of those little boys whose 
bodies are to be endowed with priestly souls. Women sometimes attain 
to the rank of " Khubilo^hans," or incarnations of former saints. 

The architecture of the temples is a mixture of Chinese and Indian 
styles, and their construction in Thibet seems to have been affected by 
the Mohammedanism which entered the country when the Thibetans, dur- 
ing the eighth century, were in alliance with both the Arabs and Turks ; 
for the native temples always face the east, in Mongolia the south. The 
rule is also followed that the temple may look toward Pekin and the 
Emperor. In this connection, also, it should be remembered that 
Genghis Khan, the founder of the great Mongol Empire, was a Moham- 
medan, if anything. The temples are usually square and divided into 
entrance hall, main hall and sanctuary, and all around are the dwellings 
of the priests, which together form the lamasery. 

The personal residence of the Grand Lama stands on Buddha's 
Mount near the city of Lassa. It is over 300 feet high and contains 
10,000 rooms. Numerous other temples of enormous extent are scat- 
tered over the plain on which the capital of Thibet is built. These 
edifices are thronged with priests, 20,000 of whom are in attendance 
upon the Lama. "Vast numbers of pilgrims come to him from distant 
countries every year. He is never seen except in a remote and secret 
part of his temple; here, surrounded by lamps, he seems absorbed in 
religious revery. He never speaks, or gives a sign of respect, even to 
princes. With an air of sublime indifference, he lays his hand on their 
heads, and this is regarded as an inestimable privilege." This mysteri- 
ous and divine creature, the incarnation of the patron saint of Thibet, 
sits cross-legged, like all the deities of India and the incarnations of the 
Buddha, and is clothed in fine woolen and silken robes wrought in gold. 
Near the Lama's sacred residence is a Chinese garrison, whose temples 
are ablaze with precious stones. 

Lassa itself lies in a fertile plain encircled by mountains and 
hills. It is the largest town in Central Asia, containing some 25,000 
people exclusive of the 50,000 lamas who reside in the vicinity. It is the 



6l2 PANORAiMA OF NATIONS 

Rome of Buddhism. The immense priestly estabhshment of Lamaism 
is supported by revenues from great landed estates, and by gifts 
from the people whose superstitions are continually being made lever- 
ages for extortion. In Lassa itself there are hundreds of professional 
sorcerers, and hundreds more are continually departing to practice their 
arts upon the Mongolians and the more ignorant tribes of Siberia. 
Another prolific source of revenue is found in the sale of idols, which 
are manufactured by the lamas themselves. 

THEIR FINE WOOLENS AND SHAWLS. 

The Thibetans as a people are celebrated in the modern world for 
their fine woolens and shawls. The material for shawls is the fine, soft 
fur beneath the long hair of the goat of Thibet. Another considerable 
article of trade is the glossy, waving tail of the yak, which is used as a 
fiy or insect brush. In the midst of a vast plain in Southwestern Thibet 
is a great encampment, consisting of black tents made of blankets 
fastened to stakes by ropes of hair. Flags of colored silk and cloth 
flutter about on all sides. This vast encampment, or town, is surrounded 
continually by thousands of goats, sheep and yaks, grazing on the plains 
and feeding far away over the hills. Here is the chief market for shawl 
wool, and the native herdsmen, buyers and sellers are seen to be attired 
in what has come to be the national dress — thick woolen cloth, and 
prepared sheep skins with the fleece turned inward. 





THE BURMESE. 







HE Burmese are Mongolian in all their features, but unlike 
the Chinese are generally athletic and excel in wrestling, 
boxincr, rowine and foot ball, the latter beino- almost a national 
sport. They are a social, happy, domestic people, notwith- 
standing the despotic form of government under which the 
people of Independent Burmah live. The general name, 
Burmese, embraces a number of races, such as the Moans, 
who are descendants of the ancient Peguans, a people far 
mightier than the present, and the Laotians, or Shans, who are 
believed to constitute the parent stock of the Siamese. The 
eastern Shan states are divided between the Burmese and Siamese 
go\'ernments, but in so indefinite a way that it is said few Laotians can 
tell to which country they owe allegiance. The ruling race, the Burmans, 
or Mranmas, as they style themselves, claim to have descended froni 
celestial beings, who fell from their spiritual state during their life upon 
the earth. 

THE ANCIENT PEGUANS. 

The ancient kino^dom of Pegfu centered near the mouths of the 
Irawaddy and covered nearly the present territory of British Burmah. 
It was in a peculiarly favorable position to get into quarrels with the 
Burmese and the Siamese, and all parties improved their opportunities. 
The early history of Siam is little else than a series of wars with the 
Peguans and the Burmese, sometimes for dominion around the Gulf of 
Bengal and at other times because there w^ere disputes about the posses- 
sion of white elephants or idols. One of their longest wars is said to 
have been occasioned by the theft of a handsome idol from a small 
Siamese temple by a crew of unprincipled Peguan sailors. A dearth of 
provisions occurred that year in Siam, which was imputed to this impious 
act, and the kine of Peeu refused to deliver the stolen idol to a Siamese 
embassy. The Peo;uans were obliored to call the Portuguese to their 
assistance before they could expel the invaders. Both of the native 
kingdoms were almost exhausted by this " war of the idol," and hostilities 

613 



6l4 TANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

were suspended until the middle of the seventeenth century. Another 
invasion of his territory by the Siamese forced the king of Pegu to form 
an alliance with the king of Burmah. The invaders were expelled, the 
king of Pegu was assassinated by his ally, the Peguan army disbanded, 
and the kingdom incorporated with the empire of Burmah. 

THE GOVERNMENT. 

The Burmese government consists ostensibly of the King, the four 
ministers of state forming the High Council, and the household ministers 
who execute the royal orders. When the King sanctions the decisions 
of the High Council they become laws. These officers are also remov- 
able at the King's pleasure. It is said that there are no regular salaries 
attached to government officers ; that the land is divided into districts, 
parcelled out to the lords, and that every officer regards his office or 
district as his field of gain, practicing every art to make it profitable. 
The power of the King decreases with the distance from Mandalay, his 
capital, so that in distant provinces the people elect their own governors. 
In the districts bordering on China both Chinese and Burmese take a 
hand in self-government, and the state of affairs is as complicated as in 
the country of the Laotians. 

ROBBED BY OFFICIALS. 

The government employs a system of taxation, or extortion, very 
similar to that of Persia, by which the ro)'al revenue is raised, and the 
expenses of the army are borne by the peasantry. ^First, there is a house 
tax levied upon the villagers, from the payment of which farmers who 
have taken up royal land and artificers employed on the public works 
are exempt, they being liable to military duty. The soil is taxed five 
per cent, of the crops. Fishing privileges are let by the government, all 
these taxes and revenues being farmed out to officers of the crown, who 
live well or poorly according to their ability to extract money from the 
community. The King also sells monopolies, such as that of cotton, by 
which the farmers are forced to deliver their crops to the officials at 
very low prices, who sell the produce to European or native manufacturers 
and speculators at an enormous profit. The farmer receives a certain 
number of acres from the government free of the regular tax, but this 
land, with the like tracts of his neighbors, must help maintain a soldier 
and pay him a certain sum in money ; and other families, who have tax- 
free land, bear upon their shoulders doughty captains and centurions. 
The colonel raises his salary from his officers and men. As a great part 



THE ROYAL CAPITAL. 615 

of the income of officials is derived from law suits, litigation is encour- 
aged. Trial by ordeal is sometimes practiced outside of Mandalay and 
British Burmah. The parties are made to walk into the river, and he 
who keeps longest under water gains the cause. Capital punishment 
seldom occurs. 

Althorsfh the written code of laws is derived from the Institutes of 
Menu, every monarch has added or amended as he pleased, and the result 
is a curious jumble. Among the laws which have thus sprung up are 
those which make the inhabitants of a whole town responsible for the 
theft of property proved to have been lost therein, though the thief him- 
self be not discovered, and which hold wife and children responsible for an 
absconding debtor. As in the most barbarous of the African states, 
so in Burmah a debtor may be enslaved, and a female in such a case 
often is taken as a concubine. In other respects woman's legal status 
is not so bad. 

Fortunately the present King of Burmah is reported to have the 
promptings of a reformatory spirit. He is easily approached, and does 
not require that his feet, his ears, his nose and all his features and acts 
shall be characterized as golden. But white umbrellas and white 
elephants are yet the royal insignia. The Lord White Elephant has 
a palace, a minister and numerous attendants. 

THE ROYAL CAPITAL. 

During the war between the Burmese and the Peguans the capital 
of the kingdom was changed many times. Pugan, where imposing ruins 
are still found, remained the capital for twelve centuries, when the 
Chinese invaded Burmah and a removal elsewhere was found necessary. 
It was after this that the Burmese and Peguans fought for the supremacy 
and until the middle of the last century it seemed probable that the 
ancient race would maintain themselves in power. They had captured 
the Burmese capital and the last king of his race. But a brave village 
chief threw off their yoke, recovered Ava, the capital, became King of 
Burmah and founder of the present d)'nasty. 

Mandalay, the modern capital, was founded and built between 1856 
and 1857, the royal house having previously shifted its official residence. 
Twice its troops conquered Siam and repulsed the Chinese. The city 
has still an unfinished appearance being laid out in three parallelograms, 
the two innermost ones of which are walled. The center one contains 
the Emperor's palace and government offices. Beyond the inner wall 
are the military quarters, protected from the outer world by a massive 



6i6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



m 

W 

O 
?3 



> 

r 

> 
n 




CLASSES OF SOCIETY. 



617 



wall, towers and gates and a deep ditch. Within this inclosure are also 
the houses of the civil officers ; but beyond the great wall are the exposed 
merchants, mechanics and common citizens. 

CLASSES OF SOCIETY. 

It would be contrary to Buddha's teachings for the Burmese to have 
instituted caste ; notwithstanding which, their society is divided into 
classes which are thus enumerated : The royal family ; great officers ; 
priests ; rich men ; laborers ; slaves ; lepers ; executioners. All except 
slaves, lepers and executioners may aspire to the highest offices. The 
slaves are the servants of the pagodas, the executioners being reprieved 
felons who are dead in law. The latter are marked by a tattooed circle 
on the cheek and often by the name of the crime stamped upon the 
breast. They are not allowed to sit down in any man's house and all 
intimacy with them is forbidden. 

COSTUMES OF LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. 

The dress of the Burmese is very simple and picturesque, and is 
thus described by a native lady: The " pasoh " is a silk cloth 15 cubits 
long and about 2^ cubits wide. It is 
wound around the body, kilt fashion, 
tucked in with a twist in front, and the 
portion which remains gathered up is 
allowed to hang in folds from the 
Avaist, or thrown jauntily over the 
shoulder. The body is covered with 
a white cotton jacket, over which a ,' 
dark or colored cloth one is often worn. .' 

Elderly people and the wealthy of 
all ages, when they are paying a visit 
of ceremony or going to worship at the 5^ 
pagoda, wear a long white coat, open ^ 
in front, except at the throat, and ^J 
reaching almost to the knees. Round 
the head a flowered silk handkerchief 
is loosely Avound as a turban. The ^ Burmese couple. 

old v\'ear a simple narrow fillet of white book-muslin round the temples, 
showing the hair. 

The woman's "tamehn" is a simple piece of cotton or silk, almost 
square, 5^^ feet long by about 5 feet broad, and woven in two pieces 
of different patterns. This is worn tightlv over the bosom and fastened 







6l8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

with a simple twist of the ends. The opening being in front, the sym- 
metry of the thigh is displayed in walking, but a peculiar outward jerk 
of the heels which the girls acquire, prevents any suggestions of immod- 
esty. Then there is the loose cotton jacket, and over the shoulders is 
thrown a bright silk handkerchief, the same as that used by the men for 
turbans. Nothing is worn on the head, except flowers twisted into the 
hair. These are national costumes, and except in quality of material 
differ little whatever the occupation. 

It is not woman alone who is proud of her long hair. Both sexes 
allow it to grow to its full length, the young men wearing it on top of 
the head and the women on the back. The Burmese hair is Invariably 
black, so that the general practice of adding false tresses to the natural 
is not expensive. 

ORNAMENTS AND CHARMS. 

The Burman undergoes the painful process of tattooing because 
the girls have stamped it with their approval, and because he has been 
taught to believe in it as a charm. His favorite localities are the loins 
and legs, so that when he has been decorated he seems to have drawn on 
a most delicate pair of dark blue trunks. Lizards, birds, mystic words 
and squares, rings, images of Buddha, etc., are tattooed not only on these 
parts of the body, but even upon the top of the head, which is shaved for 
the purpose. 

A tattoo of a few dots made with a peculiar mixture and placed 
between the eyes ensures a successful love-suit. ^A woman sometimes 
resorts to the custom of tattooing, which in British Burmah is said to 
distinctly indicate that she desires an Englishman for a husband. Gold, 
silver, lead, curious pebbles, pieces of tortoise shell, etc., covered with 
mystic characters are let into the flesh of soldiers, robbers, and others 
exposed to danger, as charms against death. Some of these characters 
who have become inmates of English prisons are found to have literally 
a chest full of such amulets ; long rows and curves of them appear, 
which show underneath the skin of the chest as little knobs. Necklaces 
and bracelets of them are worn by reputable Burmese to ward off evil 
spirits. There are also tattooes which guard against snake bites ; most 
potent ones which have to be pricked into the body while the patient 
chews the raw flesh of a man who has been hung ; and those which are 
said to prevent drowning, though there is some doubt as to the efficacy 
of the latter, since a young man who insisted upon being put to the test, 
was thrown into the Rangoon River, with his hands and feet tied. The 



BUILDING A HOUSE. 



619 



result prompted the government to arrest his tattooers, and they were 
convicted of manslaug-hter. 

The ear-borinor is to the Burmah orirl what the tattooing is to her 
brother. It makes her a woman. The ceremony is usually performed 
before a large invited company, and when the professional borer passes 
his gold or silver needle through the lobe of the girl's ear, her shrieks 
are drowned by a band of music outside, engaged for the occasion, which 
also is a sign that the important act has been accomplished. The hole 
Is gradually enlarged until it can receive the huge cylinder of gold, amber 
or glass, which is a characteristic of the Burmese women. The custom 
of thus destroying the shape of the ear is going out of fashion. Men, 
except those of very high rank, do not wear the ear-cylinders, while 
women discard them when at home. The ear lobes 
are often put to other uses, both damsel and matron 
being in the habit of tying cheroots thereto which 
they design presenting to admirers, or smoking them- 
selves. 

BUILDING A HOUSE. 

Unlike the religious edifices of the Burmese, 
their private dwellings are humble in appearance, being 
never more than one story high, except the occupant 
Is a distinguished noble and the monarch has Q-ranted 
him the favor to add a spire-like roof as an index of 
his rank. The houses are simply bamboo or wooden 
huts, as a rule. No Burman is allowed to build a 
brick house, for fear he might turn It Into a fort. 
Ornamentation is also generally forbidden by the 
government, and an arch is never allowable over the 
door of a house. The mean appearance of the 
native domicile has therefore been forced upon 
him, presumably to permanently fix the marked 
contrast between sacred and secular architecture. 
The house stands on posts and a veranda runs along the front. 

In building his house the Burman always consults a soothsayer, 
who helps him select lucky posts, lucky ground, and lucky side pieces to 
the steps which lead up to the veranda. The six posts which support 
the main part of the hut are named, the south post being the most 
Important one. It is adorned with leaves and otherwise marked as the 
dwelling-place of the household spirit. People of Avealth build their 
houses of teak, which white ants will not attack, and their roofs are tiled. 
Poorer people thatch their roofs with leaves or coarse bamboo matting. 




ARRANGEMENT OF 
EARRING. 



620 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Of course, in British Burmali wooden slabs and other approaches to 
modern conveniences are in use, such as chandehers, bookcases, chairs, 
tables, bedsteads, etc.; but in the house in the districts, or a "jungle 
house," a few bamboo mats and pillows, with bedding, rolled up together ; 
two or three earthen pots ; a round wooden dish in the middle of the 
floor, to be filled with ice, and close at hand a jar of water, in which is 
a ladle, consisting of half a cocoanut, with a handle through it — these 
are the inside appliances of the true Burmah hut. In fine weather cook- 
ing is done behind the premises. 

OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. 

Land is so cheap that the Burman has a good yard as well as a 
farm of a dozen acres for the cultivation of rice. When not in use he 
pastures his buffaloes and oxen on a village plat, and pays the proprietor 
a small sum for taking care of them. His cart, with its solid, wooden 
wheels and boat-like body, and his rude plow, with its three teeth of 
tough wood, stand in the court-yard ; also a hand rice-mill, composed of 
wooden cylinders, which perhaps leans up against a little bamboo 
granary. The rice is husked and winnowed by the women, who, in the 
native districts, merely throw the grain into the air and let the chaff 
blow away. A small garden, fenced off from the yard, is filled with 
flowers, vegetables and medicinal plants. The Burman's favorite is a 
red flower, whose seeds are used for the beads of the rosary, and which 
is said to have sprung from the blood of Budda's toe, a few drops of 
which were shed by an angry cousin who cast a rock at him. 

Furthermore, there is a loud-mouthed pariah dog outside, the 
cousin of a great pack of outcasts who haunt every village, to devour 
the offerings at the pagoda or receive tid-bits at the hands of mendicant 
monks. Naturally he takes to his legs, but can be trained to watch the 
house, or fasten on to a tiger or wild boar. His companion is the 
Burmese cat' upon the end of whose tail is a horny hook. Hens, game 
cocks, pigeons, etc., are given free range ; for Buddhism condemns keep- 
mcr animals in confinement. 

If the jungle hut is in a tiger district, the house and land are sur- 
rounded by a substantial fence of sharpened bamboos. 

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 

Manu enumerates three ways by which marriage may be brought 
about : When the parents of the couple give them one to another; when 
they come together through the good offices of a go-between ; when 



COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 62 1 

they arrange the matter between themselves. The latter is the way 
usually chosen in Burmah, and runaway marriages are not uncommon. 
A favorite place of meeting between lovers is at the bazaars, where even 
well-to-do girls will be seen presiding over stalls and selling cheroots, fried 
garlic and other dainties. 

When the courtship is authorized by parents, the swain makes it a 
point to come late, after the parents have retired, when he finds his 
sweetheart dressed in her best, with flowers in her hair and powder on 
her cheeks and neck. The courtship is formal, consisting of visits and 
the presentation by the youth of gay handkerchiefs covered with amor- 
ous verses and by the maiden of green cheroots, which she rolls herself, 
or a brilliant woolen muffler. 

Before the marriage comes off the dowry must be fixed, and the 
astrologers pitch upon the fortunate day and hour. The ceremony has 
nothing of a religious nature about it. Previous to it, and afterwards, 
several practices are followed in the nature of jokes but they all partake 
of the character of extortion. The son-in-law usually lives at the house 
of his father-in-law for two or three years ; and in Upper Burmah, where 
labor is scarce, this is not an unwelcome arranoement to the head of the 
family. Well, as the young man journeys towards the bride's house, in 
procession with his friends, carrying a bundle of mats, a long arm-chair, a 
teak box, matresses, pillows, sweetmeats for the feast and presents for 
the lady, he finds stretched across his pathway a string ; those who have 
placed it there threaten to launch a curse upon him and his bride as they 
break what is called " the golden cord," unless some money is given 
them. This demand having been complied with, after the youth has 
become a proud benedict the house is pelted with stones and sticks, 
sometimes as a matter of amusement, in order to disturb the equanimity 
of the young couple, and often to extort money or a portion of the feast 
as the price of a cessation of hostilities. 

Various marriage rhymes have been woven into the minds of 
Burmese maidens and youth, which really have much effect in furthering 
or preventing marriages. Those who are born on certain days of the 
week should never marry those who were born on certain others. One 
of the popular warnings has been thus translated : 

Friday's daughter, 

Didn't oughter 
Marry with a Monday's son ; 

Should she do it. 

Both will rue it. 
Life's last lap will soon be run. 
Saturday and Thursday should never marry. But there are elabo- 



62 2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

rate geometrical figures and combinations showing what days can 
marry. There are also lucky months, during which, if other conditions 
are followed, riches and love, slaves and children, money and buffaloes, 
cattle and furniture will be the happy portion of the couple, the bless- 
ings to be bestowed in various combinations. 

Burmese women, after marriage, are remarkably independent of 
their husbands in financial matters. All the money and possessions 
which a girl brings with her are kept separate for the benefit of her 
children or heirs, and if she is divorced she carries not only her prop- 
erty with her, but anything which she has added to it by trading or in- 
heritance. If she has a complaint to make, also, she can go before the 
village elders and state her case with the assurance of being justly 
treated, unless the husband gets there before her, and places his bribe. 

VILLAGERS AND AGRICULTURISTS. 

The average life of a Burmese villager is smooth and happy. 
When he has tended to his patch of paddy land, he strolls out, smoking 
a cheroot or munching betel nut, to visit his neighbors. In the lower 
part of his house, is usually a little shop, in which his wife sells dried 
fish, betel nuts, cocoanuts, knives, looking-glasses, colored tumblers and 
perhaps a few dry goods. Like all his other arrangements, the shop is 
another aid to his easy-going life, it being not conducted for profit, but 
merely to give his wife a little pin money and neighbors an excuse to 
•drop in at all hours of the day. 

Two meals in the day, breakfast in the morning and dinner late in 
the afternoon, is the rule with the Burman. The staple article of food 
is boiled rice, which is heaped upon a platter, round which the household 
arrange themselves, sitting on their heels. The curry, placed in little 
bowls, consists of a thin vegetable soup, spiced with chillies and onions. 
Knives, spoons and forks are considered useless. After the meal, each 
•one goes to the jar of water on the veranda, and rinses his mouth, after 
which, whether he be man, woman or child, smokes his cheroot, a cigar 
made of chopped tobacco leaves covered with the leaf of the teak tree 
and six or eight inches long. Chewing betel accompanies the smoking, 
the expression chewing being somewhat misleading ; for the Burman, 
after splitting the nut in two, and smearing the leaf with slaked lime, 
puts with it a little piece of tobacco, rolls everything together, stows 
away the quid, and now and then squeezes it affectionately between his 
teeth. Until he chews betel, it is the common saying that no one can 
speak Burmese. 

After dinner, when the sun o-oes down, the villao^e Burman goes 



THE PRIESTS. 623 

down to his well and has some water poured over his body. If he is 
pious he repeats a charm over the first bucketful. Having performed 
his ablutions, our friend puts on his good clothes and seeks amusement 
in the dance, or some dramatic entertainment, taking his family with him. 
One of the most favorite forms of amusement is to listen to the impro- 
vising of a professional poet, who may give his exhibition at a house or 
on the street. The spectators are asked to choose a subject, and taking 
this as a theme he chants out his poems. Some of the poets repeat 
from memory, and when their theme is some incident in the life of 
Buddha, such as his departure from his father's palace to wear the yellow 
robe, great crowds are always collected. 

The Burmese of the low lands cultivate their rice as do the Egyp- 
tians, even to the lazy process of driving buffaloes and oxen through 
the soft soil to plow it. Laborers from Upper Burmah are the 
harvest lands of British Burmah. When they leave home they are 
obliged to pledge a piece of property, or some member of their family 
who remains behind, that they will return to their country, so fearful is 
the king that he will lose his subjects. After the grain has been loaded 
into his big riceboat, supposing he is in British Burmah, the farmer starts 
for Rangoon, the capital, and in a few weeks returns with fine Chinese 
handkerchiefs and silks for his family. 

To insure a prosperous journey, and a safe return from the robber 
boats which infest the streams and rivers of Burmah durino;- the rice 
season, and from the many sharks who lie in wait at Rangoon and other 
cities to pounce upon his receipts — to escape these dangers and others 
of a less definite nature — the Burmese farmer resolves to provide a feast 
for the monks of the village monastery. He therefore invites the young 
men and women of the neighborhood to his house, upon an evening 
which the astrologers pronounce propitious, and together they hull the 
rice, prepare it for boiling, sing love songs, and conduct themselves as 
civilized boys and girls do in every land. The next morning the farmer 
and his family carry the offering to the monastery in a great box and 
deposit it before the superior, who looks on calmly without a word of 
thanks, but says before they go, that, " if they keep the Ten Precepts 
and live virtuously they will escape the Four States of Punishment and 
be delivered from the Five Enemies." 

THE PRIESTS. 

Buddhism is supposed to have spread into Burmah from Ceylon, 
and it has been preserved here in great purity. The priests live mostly 
in monasteries and confine their ministration to the preaching of sermons, 



624 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

allowing the people their own forms of worship. Their yellow robes 
(the color of the morning) were originated by Buddha himself. Their 
heads are shaven and their feet bare. A Buddhist priest may at any 
time be released from his vows of celibacy and poverty and return to 
secular pursuits; hence nearly every youth assumes the yellow robe for 
a time, as a meritorious act, or for the purpose of stud)'. These novices 
who thus "obtain their humanity," must have reached the age of twenty 
years and have obtained their parents' permission to assume the robe. 
They must be free from scrofula, asthma, leprosy and other diseases ; 
unincumbered with debts; the bondsman or underlinsf of no ereat man r 
and must also appear with vestments and sacred begging bowls already 
prepared. The young man is instructed " to gain his subsistence by the 
labor of his feet," but not to work with his hands or beij with his toneue ; 
is told what food he may accept, and that he may receive from his bene- 
factors cotton and silk, or cloth of red or yellow wool, though he must 
first wear, "through humility, yellow clothes made of rags thrown about 
in the streets or amonsf the tombs"; though it is well to dwell in a 
" house built under the shade of lofty trees," the yahan may accept from 
the hands of benefactors dwellings of " bamboo, wood or bricks, with 
roofs adorned with spires of pyramidal or triangular form " ; he is warned 
against indulgence in carnal pleasures, covetousness, the killing or wish- 
ing the death of any being, or arrogating to himself " extraordinary gifts 
or supernatural perfections." 

The priest who examines and instructs the candidate, according to 
the Burmese or Buddhist ritual of ordination, then adds : " Sooner the 
lofty palm tree that has been cut down can become green again, than 
an elect guilty of such pride be restored to his holy station." If 
Buddhism had done no more than to inculcate this doctrine in the 
superstitious East, it would not have lived in vain. 

The above are the four cardinal sins,, and if any of them are com- 
mitted the young man is expelled from the monastery, stoned by the 
people, and in Upper Burmah is put to death. Other offenses may be 
atoned for by confession and by undergoing such penances as to water 
the sacred trees, sweep out the rooms of the monastery, to walk for a 
stated time in the heat of the sun, to carry heavy baskets of earth from 
one place to another, to sleep without a pillow, or to watch by night in 
a churchyard. 

If, instead of returning to secular pursuits, the Burman should con- 
tinue to lead a holy life and by his virtue and zeal induce a benefactor to 
build a monastery for him, he must see that its foundations are not laid 
so that they will crush many insects of worms. Neither must he defile 



THE MONASTERIES AND PAYAHS. 625 

green grass or fresh water, or ruthlessly destroy any vegetable substance; 
for they are necessary to the support of animal life. The period of man's 
life, both in the present and in the future state, is shortened by the amount 
of animal existence which he has destroyed. 

"In return for this self-denial the Buddhist monks are bountifully 
honored by the people, from the sovereign on the throne, who vacates 
his seat for them, to the beggar in the street, who prostrates himself in 
the dust when they pass. In Upper Burmah all make obeisance when 
the mendicant passes, and the women kneel down on each side of the 
road. In Lower Burmah such outward marks of respect are not usual in 
the larger towns, but there is no lack of veneration. The oldest layman 
assumes the title of disciple to the last inducted monk, and, with clasped 
hands, addresses him as 'payah,'the highest title the language affords. 
The highest officials impose upon themselves the greatest sacrifices 
both of time and money, to build splendid monasteries for them and 
minister to their wants. Finally the monk's person is sacred and 
inviolable. Nothing he does can subject him to the civil law." Nor 
does this reverence cease with his death, his body being embalmed, 
while the limbs are swathed in linen, varnished and even gilded. The 
mummy is preserved, sometimes for months, until the grand day of the 
funeral. 



^r 



THE MONASTERIES AND PAYAHS. 

A layman considers it an indignity to have any one over his head 
in his house, and the feeling is carried even into the architecture of the 
monasteries. They are never but one story in height, though they are 
raised eight or ten feet from the ground, and sometimes surmounted by 
three, five and even seven tiers of roofs — the number being propor- 
tionate to their sacredness. A bishop's monastery may have seven 
roofs, and also the royal palace. The monasteries are usually of plain 
teak wood, with few ornamentations ; but in Mandalay the Royal 
Monastery represents the extreme gorgeousness with which an enthusi- 
astic monarch may surround the religiously simple habits of Buddhist 
priests. There is a plain of many acres between Mandalay Hill and the 
city walls, covered with brick monasteries, with their lofty zinc roofs, 
golden bells hanging from the gables, every square inch of wood-work 
elaborately carved and the whole ablaze with gold leaf and mosaics of 
looking glass. But in the midst of this crhtter and blaze of royal and 
religious fervor rises a high, brown teak-wood tower to which the monks 
often withdraw for contemplation. Each monastery of this collection, 
which (in bulk) is called the Royal Monastery, is separate and presided 

4o 



626 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



over by a bishop. The interior frescoes and decorations correspond to 
the outward magnificence. Most of the representations are supposed 
scenes in Buddha's hfe, especially the ones where he is passing, in a 
chariot, through the abodes of hell and the six heavens ; or receiving the 
Buddhaship under the banyan tree. The sinful fisherman is often delin- 
eated dangling by the tongue on a fish hook, and falling back into a 
lake of burning pitch from whence the demons have caught him. 




PRIEST SOUNDING BELL OF A TEMPLE. 



The magnificence, however, of the ecclesiastical architecture of 
Burmah is best exhibited in its pagodas, or " payahs " as they are called 
by the natives. Formerly a payah could only be erected over some 
relic of Lord Buddha — a piece of his flesh, a tooth, a hair, a fragment 
of bone, shreds of his yellow robe, his staff, alms-bowl and rosary. Now, 
however, images of holy things or sacred books are enshrined. In the 
center of every payah, and built into the foundation, is a square chamber 
in which are the objects of veneration, most of them having been given 



BUDDHIST SHOOTS. 627 

by Buddha to his relatives or disciples, and religiously preserved until 
they could thus be protected. 

The payah and pagoda have been expanded far bej'ond the original 
intent, if we may believe that Buddha merely said that a small mound 
should be raised over his bones in the form of a heap of rice. There is 
nothing regarding their construction in the holy books. The payah, so 
it will be explained by the Buddhist, resembles, besides a symmetrical 
rice heap, the devotee sunk in meditation ; the temple is also like the 
sacred lotus-bud enclosing its treasures, and by an extension of the lines 
it gets the form of a bell or spire seen in some structures. The names 
of various parts of the building recall the idea of the fiower bud with its 
young leaves folded in adoration. Thus the rounded swelling just below 
the slender spire is called the palm bud, and on the extreme summit is the 
diamond bud. There are payahs which rise up to a plain cone, those 
Avhich are shaped like a bell, and those which are called " inverted 
begging pots." * 

These shrines, of diverse form and springing from cities and forests, 
valleys and mountain tops, are what forcibly impress one with the all- 
pervading influence of Buddhism. All the wealth of the country is 
lavished upon sacred and religious things, Avhile roads, bridges and 
works of public utility are neglected. 

BUDDHIST "SHOOTS." 

The space between the ground and floor of the monastery is always 
kept open and is a favorite resort of the boys who attend school and 
want to have a quiet game of " gohn-nyin-hto," which is played with the 
big flat seeds of a jungle creeper. The youthful Burmese yell out their 
letters, when in the hall above, and chant their lessons drawn from the 
teachings of Lord Buddha. They learn the formulas of the religion, are 
taught to imitate the deportment of the monk, afterwards are told the 
meaning of the yellow robes and the ceremonials, and every door is 
thrown open to them by which they can gain humanity or the religion 
of Buddha. 

When the youth is twelve or thirteen he usually prepares to be bap- 
tized and receive the name which stamps him as a Buddhist. He had 
his worldly name, and now, by means of a certain ceremony and with- 
drawing, for a period at least, to the quietness and meditation of the 
monastery, he receives a spiritual title. If he returns to the world he 
drops the latter, but to have received the "bwe," as it is called, is to 
have become the " twice-born " of Brahmanism. Upon the appointed 
day the boy is loaded with fine clothes and family jewels ; then, mount- 



628 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



ing a pony or getting into a richly decorated car, preceded by a band of 
music, he pays all his relatives a farewell visit. As he progresses, friends 
and relatives, lively young men and girls with powdered faces and bright 
dresses, all lauafhingr and sino-ino- and dancing-, crowd around him and 
accompany him back to his parents' house, where the monks are waiting 
for him. Here the fine clothes and jewelry are stripped from his body, 
and his long hair, of which he was so proud, is cut close to his head. His 
head is shaved and washed with a purifying decoction of seeds and bark, 
a bath is taken, once more he puts on his bright clothes, and then, 
returning to the presence of the monks, he is formally initiated as a "shin," 
being robed in his yellow garments and the begging pot hung around 
his neck by a strap. 




THE SIAMESE. 




HESE people now form the most powerful kingdom of Indo- 
China, or Further India. They are supposed to be descended 
from the Laotians or Shians, who occupy the territory to the 
east. The Laos races are divided into a number of states, 
those of the north paying tribute to Burmah and those of the 
south to Siam. The Cambodians, at the southern extremity 
of the peninsula of Cochin China, or Anam, also pay tribute 
once in three years, acknowledging the same allegiance to 
Anam, The Siamese themselves are tributary in the same 
loose way to China, from which, however (as is the case with 
most of her dependencies), they receive more than they give, since their 
vessels are free of duties in Chinese ports. 

The Siamese are called the Thai race, the free race, and Siam is the 
Kingdom of the Free, though why they should embrace that name so 
affectionately is a mystery to Western nations, who have their own ideas 
of independence. They form about a third of the population, the Chinese 
another third, and the Laotians, the Malays (who occupy the peninsula 
of Malacca) the Cambodians, Peguans, etc., the balance. 

THE PARENT RACE. 



The Siamese trace their descent from the first disciples of Buddha. 
Their descendants having established themselves in a province of what 
is now North Laos, were so annoyed by their enemies that they deserted 
their country and founded a city in Western Siam. They conquered 
Southern Siam, then held by the Cambodians, and changed their seat 
of government to Ayuthia, a short distance north of the present capital. 
The Laotians, the Cambodians, the Peguans from the west, Chinese cap- 
tives and Hindus, were all brought together in the capital city; and this 
period (1350) marks the commencement of Siam's authentic history. 

The Laotians, as the parent race of the Siamese, are entitled to 
prominent notice. They are a gentle, unwarlike, superstitious people, 
the northern tribes tattooing their bodies and the southern ones leaving 

629 



630 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



them unadorned. They thus divide themselves into distinct famiHes. 

The Laos people are agriculturists, 
raising maize, sweet potatoes, rice 
and melons. A great portion of their 
territory is mountainous or consists of 
plateaus cut by ancient watercourses in- 
to gorges and valleys. The soil or soft 
rock is sometimes worn away into ter- 
races or other regular forms, at the 
bottom of which the natives build 
their low houses and cultivate their 
gardens, besides having a few fowls or 
swine. 

Though not warlike, the natives 
are intrepid hunters. Perched in a tree 
or in a little hut raised on bamboo 
stakes they lie in wait for the tiger, or 

track the wild boar through the forest, their only weapons often 




SIAMESE MEN. 




LAOTIAN HOt'SES. 



being a cutlass or a bow. From the latter they launch, with tremen- 
dous force, balls of clay which have been hardened in the sun. 



PERSONAL APPEARANCE, 63 I 

PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 

The Laotians differ slightly from the Siamese, being more slender, 
with more prominent cheek bones and darker complexions. They wear 
their hair long, while the Siamese of the male sex shave the head. In the 
case of the man of Siam the head is shaved every two or three weeks, 
a tuft being left on top five inches broad and two inches high. The 
priests shave their heads entirely. Women have theirs closely cut and 
often encircled by a thin band of bare skin, from which they faithfully 
cull the hairs. 

The dress of the Siamese consists of a cotton waist-cloth, a jacket 
and a straw hat. To this simple attire the women often add a silk 
scarf crossed over the breast. They are fond of bracelets, necklaces 
and finger rings, but reject the hideous ear cylinders of the Burmese. 
Turbans are not worn, but in the sun a light palm-leaf hat is set upon 
an elastic bamboo frame, which allows a refreshing circulation of air to 
pass beneath. Small children are clad in fig-leaves, flowers, and the 
resinous tumeric. Silk, gold brocades and high conical hats compose 
the costumes of the nobility. Of course, on state occasions dignitaries 
and wealthy individuals wear rich suits, consisting of drawers, vest, belt 
and a large tunic. But they usually are barefoot. 

When the king is receiving Europeans he is dressed in large trous- 
ers, a short jacket of some thin material, a shirt caught at the throat 
with a precious stone, a skullcap and slippers. The second king of 
Siam appears in military costume with broad sash, epaulettes, sword and 
all. 

AN ASIATIC VENICE. 

Along in the seventeenth century foreign ideas commenced to be 
kindly received in Siam, and a European merchant who had become a 
great favorite with the people and the king, on account of his practical 
abilitv and the interest which he took in the national welfare, was 
appointed governor of all the northern provinces. He also suggested 
to His Majesty the' propriety of erecting a fort, on European principles, 
to protect his capital. Mr. Faulkon (or as he had been dignified with 
the title by the king, Chau Pyya Wicha-yentra-the-bodi Faulkon) 
accordingly selected a plat of garden ground on the west bank, near 
the mouth of a canal, and constructed a fort. The garden-ground 
became a portion of the site of the unique city of Bangkok, and the 
fort still stands close to the residence of His Royal Highness. Ayuthia 
was destroyed by the Burmese when they conquered Siam in the latter 
part of the eighteenth century. The fort had been erected for a cen- 



632 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



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VAST PALACES AND TEMPLES. 633 

tury, and the city of Bangkok had so far advanced in magnificence that 
a few years after the destruction of the old capital, it was occupied by 
the royal family. The first king to hold his court in Bangkok was of 
Chinese origin, he having delivered his country from the Burmese. 

The present capital is situated a little above the mouth of the 
Menam river, on an island, extending along both shores for many miles. 
Its streets are canals and ditches, which extend in all directions and 
reach almost every house. The houses of the lower classes consist of 
neat wooden huts, thatched with palm leaves, which are eight or ten 
feet from the banks, to Avhich they are fastened by long bamboos. In 
front of many of them are little platforms, on which are exposed art- 
icles for sale. The central apartment of the house contains the house 
hold god ; each house has its boat, or the family may combine house, 
shop and boat in one, and go rowing up and down the river, with vege- 
tables, goods or fish exposed for sale. Thus living continually on or 
near the water, the citizens become entirely fearless, so that children of 
not more than five years old have their tiny boats which barely set 
above water, and in which they go out to play with their mates. 

The Chinese are the traders of Bangkok ; they and the Armenians 
may be said to monopolize the commerce of the country. The former 
pay a tax of three dollars when they enter the kingdom, and a like sum 
every three years for their commercial privileges,but are otherwise exempt. 

Sometimes a triple row of the smaller houses will extend along the 
river for miles. There is a reason, of course, for the people thus build- 
ing their houses into the river, when there is much land on the island 
and on the banks which might be utilized. The cause of it is found in 
a royal mandate which forced them to live over the water that they 
might obtain ventilation and drainage, and ward off cholera epidemics, 
which raged so fatally when the capital was first established at Bangkok. 
So that now only people of high rank, who are supposed to be intelli- 
gent enough and able to take hygienic precautions, are privileged to 
build upon the shores. 

Few houses in the city are built of brick or stone, but are generally 
of wood, raised upon piles, to keep them beyond the tides and the 
annual inundations of the river ; they are reached by rude ladders. Ex. 
cept in the neighborhood of the palaces, horses and carriages are rarely 
seen. 

VAST PALACES AND TEMPLES. 

The vast palaces of the Grandees and the Buddhist pagodas, which 
cover the shores of the island and river, are of brick, being ornamented 



634 PANORAMA OF NATIONS 

with beautiful gilded work, and with mosaics fashioned into the forms of 
flowers and animals, the materials being China cups, plates and dishes 
of all sizes, broken and whole. They, with the habitations of the nobles, 
are raised on posts above the swampy ground. The temples or wats, 
usually rise from cool, dense groves, and adjacent are the dwelling 
houses of the priests. White walls, domes and lofty spires are every- 
where seen gleaming and glistening through the leaves. 

Bangkok is the constant residence of the two kings of Siam and 
their respective courts. The palace of the First King is surrounded by 
high walls, and is nearly a mile in circumference. It includes temples, 
public offices, accommodations for thousands of soldiers with the neces- 
sary equipments, a theatre, and rooms for about 3,000 females, six hun- 
dred of whom are the wives of the king. 

"On one side of the royal palace are the temples and monasteries 
dedicated to the sleeping idol, and on the other the palace and harem of 
the Second King, The sleeping idol is a reclining figure 150 feet long 
and forty feet high, entirely overlaid with plate gold, and the soles of its 
feet covered with bas reliefs, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and chased with 
gold, each separate design representing the many transmigrations of 
Buddha. Near this temple is the palace of the white elephant, and, fur- 
ther on, the temple of the emerald idol. The latter is a remarkable and 
beautiful structure, with Gothic doors and windows richly ornamented 
with gold, and the roof supported by lofty octagonal columns, the ceiling 
covered with mythological symbols and figures ; the altar is a pyramid 
100 feet high, terminating in a fine spire of gold. The emerald idol is 
about twelve inches high and eight inches in width. The gold, of which 
its hair and collar are composed, is mixed with crystals, topazes, sap- 
phires, diamonds and other precious stones." 

THE TWO KINGS. 

The Second King is an official peculiar to Siam, Cambodia and 
Laos. The full title of the First King is " His Majesty the King encir- 
cled with the Great Crown"; that of the Second, the Youngest King, 
He is consulted by the real monarch before any important step is taken, 
has his court, his madarins, his little army, receives about one-third of 
the revenue and instead of prostrating himself before the King he 
salutes him by raising both hands in the air. This is a privilege accorded 
to no other native. All others prostrate themselves before the Lord of 
Life, and pronounce themselves slaves — liars — little beasts. The same 
groveling homage is paid by every inferior to his superior. 



ONE-THIRD OF THE PEOPLE SLAVES. 635 

Siamese rank, is, in fact, represented in the law by figures, the First 
King being beyond representation ; below him the ranks range from 
100,000 for the Second King down to five for the slave. The royal seal 
and the national standard consists of a white elephant on a crimson back- 
ground. When one of the sacred animals is captured it is always con- 
sidered the property of the King, and, by the way, the elephant is not 
white but is of a dark cream color, an albino. Buddhists believe white 
animals, such as albino deer, monkeys and tortoises, to be particularly the 
abodes of transmigrating souls. 

The two kinofs have their seracrlios, althouo-h the lower classes are 
not polygamists. The Queen Consort does not take part in political 
affairs, but is head of a separate court, and has her female guards who 
are uniformed and armed, their costume being not unlike that of a native 
Scotchman. This arrangement applies to the royal families of both 
Siam and Cambodia. 

The laws of Siam are founded upon an ancient written code and 
upon traditional usage, subject to royal revision. Nearly the only crime 
whose nature and mode of punishment have been unmistakably fixed is 
treason ; for that, one is tied into a large sack, nearly beaten to death 
and then thrown into the river. 

In their social life the Siamese resemble their neighbors, the Bur- 
mese, the intercourse between husband, wife and children being affection- 
ate and their habits simple. The wives, as a rule, are the financiers. 
Their education is the same, their houses are the same and their, priests 
are the same. 

ONE-THIRD OF THE PEOPLE SLAVES. 

As has been observed, however, they are more inclined to artificial 
distinctions in society than the Burmese, and "one-third of the common 
people, it is largely estimated, are slaves by birth, by gambling or other 
debts, by redemption from the penalty of crime, by capture, etc. Men 
sell their children, their wives or themselves ; convicts in scores clank 
their chains about the streets; villages of thousands are made up of 
foreign captives. Yet Siamese life is in the main comfortable, and is 
moreover gladdened by many sports, amusements and holidays. On all 
great occasions the coffers of kings and nobles are opened widely for 
merry-making for the people and merit-making for themselves." 

Around Bansfkok are whole villasfes of Peguans. The native annals 
state that in one of the wars with the Shians they took 120,000 captives. 
Wild tribes along the Burmah frontier also lie in wait for the inhabitants 
of that country, and if they effect a capture find a ready market for their 
prisoners. 



636 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

BUDDHISM ABSOLUTE. 

There is probably no country in the world where Buddhism has so 
absolute a sway as in Siam. Even more profusely than in Burmah is 
the wealth of the kingdom lavished upon temples and priests. In Siam, 
also, there is a famous shrine to which numberless pilgrims bring their 
offerings of fancy paper cut into fantastic shapes, cups, dolls and gold 
and silver toys, it being no less than the footprint of Buddha, on the 
side of a mountain, and sunk into solid rock. It is believed to have 
been made by the great being in his passage over the mountain, during 
one of his miraculous flights, and on its summit, in the crevices of 
the rocks, in the valleys, in the caverns, are what resemble the 
footprints of elephants, tigers and other wild beasts which formed 
his cortege. The temple, which is erected around the footprint, is built 
of brick, is approached by a broad flight of steps, and the walls are 
covered with glistening figures of colored glass. The panels and cor- 
nices are of gilt and the massive doors of ebony inlaid with mother-of- 
pearl. The interior of the temple is blackened by time and smoke; the 
floor is covered with silver matting ; a catafalque rises in the center 
surrounded with stripes of gilded serge, and therein is Buddha's famous 
footprint. According to some accounts it is a very square, clumsy sort 
of a footprint. 

This is but one of a thousand, to describe which would be unprofit- 
able and a repetition of the Burmah picture and of what has been wit- 
nessed in Bangkok. But the fact that Buddhism is supreme in Siam 
will be impressed, when it is stated that in the capital alone there are 
20,000 priests supported by voluntary contributions. 




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THE ANAMESE. 

HE Laotians claim to be the aborigines of Anam, or, as it is 
sometimes incorrectly called from one of its provinces, Cochin 
China. The Anamese more nearly resemble the Chinese in 
their manners and customs than any other natives of Further 
India; but, like the Burmese and the Siamese, they are 
indolent and pleasure-seekers, leaving the Chinese to carry 
/j on their commerce. They are more courteous in their manners 
than the Siamese and have the same remarkable control over 
their passions and their features as the Chinese. The men 
wear frocks and wide trousers, and dress to a considerable 
extent in silk, the manufacture of which forms almost their only in- 
dustry. Both sexes carry fans and never uncover their heads by way of 
salutation. The dress of the Anamese is the old costume of the 
Chinese before the Tartar conquest, when Tonquin threw off its 
allegiance to the mother country. The inhabitants of the province of 
Cochin China are principally descendants of refugees from Tonquin. 

The government is founded upon the Chinese model, the officials 
being divided into military and civil or literary mandarins. From the 
former the Emperor selects his chief executive officers — ambassadors, 
governor-generals and viceroys. The bastinado is the common form of 
punishment for political and social offenses. As in Siam the enslaving 
of the debtor and his family by the creditor are among the legal forms 
of restitution, and the poor sometimes sell the children whom they can 
not afford to keep. 

The Anamese also pattern after the Chinese in the laxity of their 
religious observances, being in this respect far severed from the Siamese 
and Burmese. Although polygamy is practiced among the wealthy, 
women are allowed full liberty and often engage in commerce and agri- 
culture. 

Cochin China (so called by the Portuguese to distinguish it from 
Cochin on the western coast of Hindustan) formed, in ancient times, one 

state with Tonquin, the province adjoining China. The two provinces 

637 



6.^,8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



separated and before the king of Cochin conquered Tonquin he had also 
subdued Cambodia. The first kings of the reunited empire ruled more 
as patriarchs than as monarchs and by their example prompted their 
subjects to habits of simplicity, industry and frugality. But with the 
discovery of gold and silver, free communication with the enterprising 
Chinese, a fertile soil and every convenience for maritime operations, the 
country grew rich and prosperous and effeminacy crept into the empire. 
The capital of Anam, situated about ten miles from the China Sea, 
on a small river, is, perhaps, the most skillfully fortified city in Asia, 
and is a standing proof of the empire's former power. The city is 
built within two high walls, the outer one being approached by 

numerous bridges and gates and 
being sixty feet in height. Within 
this are the palaces of the nobility, 
the prisons, magazines, granaries, 
dwelling-houses, etc. The inner wall 
protects the palace of the Em- 
peror and his mother, his seraglio 
and the government offices. Hue 
is a naval station, has several ship 
yards, its streets are traversed by 
navigable canals and it is, in fact, 
quite a city. 

THE CAMBODIANS. 

Near the center of their coun- 
try, which is southwest of Cochin 
China and northwest of French 
Cochin China, was formerly situated 
GIRL FROM ANAM. ^^^ Capital of their ancient kingdom 

of Khmer, or Cambodia. Almost the only tradition preserved in 
the country mentions that the empire had twenty tributary kings, 
an army of five million soldiers, and that the buildings of its royal 
treasury covered many square miles. On the banks of the Kekong, 
in the province of Ongcor (which still bears the name of their mighty 
capital), and further east in Cochin China, are great ruins which 
are the admiration of archaeologists and witnesses that tradition is 
not entirely mythical. The most splendid is that of the temple of 
of Ongcor, which the Cambodians say is either the work of Pra-Eun, 
the king of the angels; or of the' giants ; or it made itself , or was 
built by the Leprous King. This is a temple erected to Buddha, and 




ABORIGINAL TRIBES, 639 

■even in its ruins, resembles a chain of lofty hills, made up of huge dome- 
like towers, galleries, porticoes, gateways, pavilions, terraces, staircases, 
columns, etc., covered with has reliefs, sculptures, mouldings and statues. 
Amonof the most striking of all the statues of lions and king-s is that 
-which is said to represent the great monarch called the Leprous King. It 
is on a sort of esplanade, the figure seated in a noble and dignified atti- 
tude. From forehead to crown the long hair is dressed in a number of 
rolls and falls down the back. The head is grand enough to have con- 
ceived the temple. The features are regular and possess a manly beauty 
seen ilow only among the Cambodians of unmixed race, living in seclu- 
sion at the foot of the mountains, or among the savage mountaineers 
who occupy the border country between Siam, Cambodia and Cochin 
China. The Cambodians of to-day are ostensibly under the protection 
of French Cochin China and are governed by two kings,'but are gener- 
ally jonsidered as dependents of the Anamese monarch and their coun- 
try as a province of Anam. 

ABORIGINAL TRIBES. 

Bordering on Cambodia is the country of a mysterious tribe called 
the Thiames. They are descendants of the ancient Tsiampois, who are 
held, by tradition, to have been masters of most of Further India and a 
portion of China. But when the Anamese came down from the north, 
after the Tartar conquest of China, the Thiames were driven south, and 
finally away from the coast, toward Cambodia. Surrounded by their 
enemies, and separated from them by character, religion and language, 
they have never intermixed with other races. 

They seem to be of a Malayan type but observe many Jewish cus- 
toms, such as circumcision and abstaining from the flesh of swine. One 
of their traditions teaches that the founder of their relis^ion was a great 
man and famous warrior, who worked marvels with a rod which is care- 
fully preserved among them. "It is about ten feet long and is covered 
with a kind of red stuff, studded with yellow stars, having at one end an 
iron blade about an inch in length. With this rod in his hand, the 
founder of their faith controlled the elements, divided the waters, and 
calmed the tempests ; and it is pretended that this instrument still pre- 
serves its virtue of working miracles. They have, they say, a precious 
volume left them by their great chief. They scrupulously observe a 
seventh day of rest and preserve a remembrance of certain days on which 
it was not lawful to work, or even to leave their houses before sunset. 
Their prayers end with the word 'amin,' much the same as the amen 
of the Hebrews. They seem to have lost the idea of a Creator of 



640 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Heaven and Earth, but worship the sky and the stars ; there are, how- 
ever, no idols in their temples. The priests who officiate there light 
candles on a table, burn incense, and, at certain times of the year, as in 
April and May, pass a month without going out of doors." 

Thus writes a Catholic father who would find in the Thiames 
either remnants of the Ten Tribes, or a native people who have received 
fragments of the faith of Israel from her sons who, in pursuit of their 
commercial ventures, have placed their feet and set their religious mark 
upon nearly every known country of the world. 

In the forests and mountains bordering Siam and Anam, south of 
the Laos country and north of Cambodia, are a number of savage tribes, 
known collectively as Stiens. Their long twisted hair is fastened with a 
bamboo comb, in which is often inserted, for ornament, a piece of brass 
wire, surmounted by the crest of a pheasant, their only dress being a 
\oncr scarf which is bound around the loins and carried over one shoulder. 
The Stiens are above the middle height, well proportioned and robust, 
with regular features, thick eyebrows, and heavy beard — when they 
allow it to remain. The forehead is well developed and the face intelli- 
gent. The women seem as powerful as the men. 

Like the Thiames the Stiens are exclusive, although hospitable, and 
their personal appearance, their customs and superstitions point to them 
as a people of Indian or Malayan blood which has been diluted by 
slight contact with the Chinese. They pierce their ears, which they 
ornament with pieces of ivory; they go into ecstacies over bright glass 
beads; the men wear bracelets above the elbow and at the wrist, and the 
women wear them on leg and arm. Every Stien of any substance owns 
several slaves and a field, some distance from the village, in which are 
raised rice, maize, tobacco, vegetables, bananas and oranges. The slaves 
are usually those who have been taken in crime and fined by the village. 
Being unable to pay, the fine constantly increases until the offender is 
finally sold. If he pays his fine of a pig, an ox or several jars of wine, 
the whole village partake. 

The Stien hunts with across bow and poisoned arrows. His chief 
amusement is to send up a kite, to which is attached an yE^olian harp in 
the shape of a bow. He is naturally peaceable, and rather than fight 
retires into the forest, and places in the paths sharp- pointed stakes of 
bamboo. The villages sometimes quarrel among themselves, but their 
conflicts seldom come to pitched battles , rather, the natives lay in wait 
for each other in the fields and pathways of the forest and the captor is 
sold as a slave to the Laotians or Cambodians. 

Rice is the staple article of food and at the conclusion of every har- 



RICHES AND SLOTH. 64 1 

vest the Stiens indulg-e in a series of feasts and festivities. One villao-e 
will often entertain another, many oxen being killed to grace the occa- 
sion. Rice, wine, vegetables, pigs and fowls add to the interest of the 
feast ; as it is etiquette to eat everything placed before them, and as the 
natives undergo many privations, daily, these feasts occasion consider- 
able sickness, especially as the country is naturally damp and unhealthful. 
Previous to the rice harvest, for several months they are often reduced 
to bamboo shoots, wild roots, serpents, toads and bats, the latter being 
found in great numbers in the hollows of the old bamboos. If this style 
of living produces any internal complaint, the invariable remedy, as in 
Cambodia, is to place a hot iron to the pit of the stomach ; in truth, 
there are few Stiens without unsightly scars on this part of the body. 
They are very cleanly in their personal habits, however, and there are 
no lepers among them. 

Like the Papuans, and some Malayan tribes, the Stiens have one 
Supreme Being, the author of everything both good and evil ; diseases 
they attribute to an evil genius whom they are obliged to propitiate 
with a pig, an ox or even a slave. The dead are burned near their 
dwellings, and beneath the roof of branches covering the tomb they 
place gourds of water and sow grains of rice for the sustenance of the 
deceased. Before each meal they spill a little rice for the benefit of 
their ancestors, and in the fields and forests they make offerings to them 
of rice and tobacco, which are placed in little bamboo frames. They 
believe in the transmigration of souls, and when they kill an elephant, 
ornament its head with crowns of leaves and flowers, dance and sing, 
ask pardon for the deed, and when seven days have expired the whole 
villao^e falls to with a vengeance. 

RICHES AND SLOTH. 

A country Avhose riches lie right at hand is as much a disadvantage 
to its people as a great inheritance to an individual Indo-China is 
wonderfully productive, by nature, but the Indo-Chinese are by disposi- 
tion so slothful that they do little more than reach out their hands and 
eat to live. Precious fruits, grains, minerals and stones are deposited 
for them, but they are found in such profusion that their value can not 
be appreciated ; they are the property of jealous monarchs who will nei- 
ther assist nature in her increase nor allow others to do so; or the indus- 
trious Chinese have seized upon a treasure and developed it according to 
their modest ideas of grrowth. 

Of the three political divisions, Burmah, Siam and Anam, the first- 

41 



642 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

named has the most land incapable of being cultivated. British Bur- 
mah, the territory acquired by Great Britain, monopolizes the sea-board 
and the most fertile tracts of the former kingdom. The valley of the 
Irrawaddy is one continuous rice field, while the streams of the south- 
ern districts contain larger quantities of minerals, tin being actively 
mined. The immigfration from China and Further India to British Bur- 
mah is continually increasing ; for the government is stable and not 
oppressive. The land and fresh water fisheries are leased directly from 
the government, which thereby derives considerable revenue. 

Burmah Proper, the territory held by the native ruler, is mountain- 
ous in the north, the valley of the Irrawaddy being rough and the hills 
covered with forests. It is chiefly a pasturage country, the great rice 
crops being gathered from the plains of the south. On the northern 
hills the tea plant is raised to some extent, the leaf being eaten with oil 
and garlic. In the forests are found great trees, each of which stores 
forty gallons of oil annually, and on the banks of the Irrawaddy, in 
Southern Burmah, are several hundred petroleum wells, from which the 
oil is drawn in buckets. The petroleum is used for lighting purposes, 
and is rubbed upon the body as a protection against insects. There 
are ruby and sapphire mines, and the, waters of the rivulets sparkle over 
the topaz and amethyst. The precious stones are monopolized by the 
Crown. Iron ore is found in abundance, but is carelessly mined and 
smelted. The fruits and grains of the tropics grow wild by a mere 
coaxing of the earth. Sugar cane is a standard crop, but little sugar is 
made. Coal is spread in thick strata over the land, but it lies almost 
undisturbed. Cotton is raised, but Britifh cotton cloths, imported from 
England, are generally worn. 

The same state of affairs is found in Siam and Anam. The for- 
mer kingdom is well watered by large rivers, which annually overflow 
their banks and fertilize the plains and broad valleys. Iron, tin, lead, 
copper, gold and silver exist, most of them nearly pure, and in large 
quantities ; but on account of government greed and jealousy of for- 
eigners they have been virtually untouched except by the Chinese. 
Although the United States and several of the European powers have 
consuls at Bangkok, the trade of Siam is mostly with China, conducted 
in junks built and navigated by the Chinese. 

The Cambodia River, which is the Nile of Anam, brings sugar, 
rice, spices and fruits, ebony and other valuable woods growing in her 
mountain forests. But the French have seized her largest sugar and 
rice plantations, and the Chinese carry on her trade, while the Anamese 
lie around in their cool silken and cotton garments, laughing or asleep. 




THE JAPANESE. 

HE native of Japan is a modification of the Mongol type as 
seen in the Chinese. He has eyes which are set less obliquely 
than those of his southern cousin ; but his eyebrows are heavy, 
his face oval, his forehead high and his complexion is not uni- 
form at all. He has even been classed as a Malayan, who in 
his bold voyages over every Asiatic sea settled in the " Land 
of the Rising Sun " and adopted the Mongol, or was by him 
adopted, the two forming the Japanese type. 

The native of this empire, since his country has been un- 
locked to the outside world, is commencing to be known and 
appreciated as an intelligent, animated, enterprising gentleman ; but it has 
long been a wonder how so mild and good-humored a people as they 
evidently are, can live under so sanguinary a code of laws. Death is 
the one general penalty. They are a proud people, though they 
acknowledge a supreme ruler, a spiritual monarch, the Mikado, who 
makes their laws. There is no middle class. 




GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION. 



The government is the Mikado and the hereditary princes who 
form the imperial cabinet and govern the principalities of the empire. 
Japan allows no competitive examination for appointment to the ciA'il 
service as the Chinese do, but all power is inherited. And not alone are 
the lines of caste so strictly drawn that it is only lawful for men of rank 
to enter a city on horseback ; but so proud a people as the Japanese sub- 
mit to a system of espionage which runs through every grade of society. 
These and other burdens to which they cheerfully submit are perhaps 
borne for the sake of their religion, which is so woven into the structure 
of their government that to tear at the fibres of one would be to injure 
the other. 

The Mikado is the spiritual head of Shintoism, or their ancient and 

national religion, the essence of their worship being reverence for their 

ancestors and sacrifice to departed heroes ; and the great aim of their 

6J.^ 



644 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



religion is obedience to the edicts of the government. The three great 
commandments issued by the Department of Religion a few years ago, 
and intended to be the basis of a reformed Shinto, are as follows : — 
"Thou shalt honor the gods and love thy country; thou shalt clearly 
understand the principles of heaven and the duty of man ; thou shalt 
revere the Emperor as thy sovereign and obey the will for his court." 

The Shinto temples are made of pure wood called " sunwood," and 
in them are seen mirrors and strips of white paper, emblems of self- 
examination and purity. The sun and moon are worshiped. Cleanli- 
ness of person and cheerfulness of heart are cardinal virtues. The 

heroes of the country are canonized and 
worshiped, the most popular of the minor 
deities being the god of war, one of their 
brave emperors. The forms of worship 
are simple: "The devotee approaches 
under the gateways until within a short 
distance of the door. He then stops, 
flings a few coins in the box or on the 
floor, folds his hands in a posture of rev- 
erence, mutters his prayers and departs." 
Buddhism,however,isthe popular religion 
of Japan, while many of the higher classes 
reject all worship of idols and accept 
the Confucian philosophy of life and mo- 
rality. But the Mikado cares not what 
religion is professed so long as they 
acknowledge his divinity ; whence has come about the persecution of 
Christians — not because they held to any distasteful religious beliefs, 
but because their creed made them rebels to the government. 

THE CORNER-STONE OF SOCIETY. 

Among the Chinese, politeness is inculcated as the outward mani- 
festation of an equable and moral character; with the Japanese polite- 
ness is scarcely distinguishable from morality itself, and actions are 
looked upon as bad if they grate upon their keen sensibilities. Eti- 
quette is the study of rich and poor. It is a great science, clearly 
defined, systematized and taught in the school from divers text books. 
Five years of study, among the educated classes, are devoted to it, both 
theoretically and practically, and until Japanese scholars and the Japan- 
ese government brought back from England and America a knowledge 
of modern institutions and countries, the scope of the higher education 




A JAPANESE. 



THE CORNER-STONE OF SOCIETY, 



645 




A NOBLE LADY. 



covered the ground of Confucian classics, social and court forms and Jap- 
anese and Chinese history. But, although the scope has been enlarged, 
etiquette is still the polished corner-stone of 
Japanese society and the japanning is carried over 
the lower structure itself, so that even the servants 
and coolies bow and bend to one another and use 
a formal and courtly language which would even 
give pleasure to a Lord Chesterfield. The contrast 
between the Eastern forms of etiquette and those 
of the West is too well known to warrant an ex- 
pansion of the theme. One peculiar form of Jap- 
anese table etiquette, however, has not often been 
exposed. When a cup of rice, beer or tea has been 
emptied at a feast, it is quite a delicate mark of 
attention for the guest who desires more to throw 
it across the table to a brother guest, Avho, in turn, 
hands it to the damsel in waitino-. If one desires to 
introduce himself to another at a banquet the proper 
way is to offer his cup to the person whom 'he wishes to know ; if the o-uest 
would honor him with his acquaintance he drinks and returns the cup. 
The Japanese are the greatest eaters of marine animals in the 

world, and their fish markets 
are found everywhere. Raw 
fish is even a favorite article 
of food. River, lake and 
sea are frequented by thou- 
sands of fishermen and 
women. Many of the latter 
are expert divers, remaining 
in the water for hours and 
swimmingfor long distances 
with heavy bags of shell-fish 
on their shoulders. No meal 
would be complete without 
fish. 

" The visitor is always 
served with tea, sweetmeats 
laid on white paper on a 
tray and a little bowl with a 
live coal in it to light his pipe with. It is etiquette to carry away the 
remnants of the cake or candy, folded up in the paper and put in 




SELLING MARINE ANIMALS. 



646 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the wide sleeve. Meat, venison, poultry, game and large vegetables 
are cut or sliced before being brought on the table. Food is eaten out of 
lacquered wooden bowls and porcelain cups, chop-sticks taking the place 
of the knife and fork. A feast is accompanied by music and dancing 
and the last of the merry courses is rice and tea." 

M MARRIAGE AND WOMEN'S DUTIES. 

The Japanese do not approve of such early marriages as most of 
the Orients — twenty years for the man and sixteen for the woman are 
considered proper ages. Betrothals are not entirely in the hands of 
parents, either. The young man himself, when he desires to marry, sends 
a third party, it is true, to arrange the affair ; but it is usually one of his 
married friends, and he is seldom rushed into matrimony without having 
had a chance to meet the lady. The will of the parents has its weight,, 
but it is not supreme as in Corea and China. When the wedding day 
has been fixed, the trousseau of the bride and her wedding gifts are sent 
to the house of the groom. They are followed by the little woman her- 
self, dressed in white, borne in a palanquin and escorted by her parents. 
The gayly attired bridegroom receives her, escorts her to the hall, 
where before the altar of the domestic gods, decorated with images and 
symbolic plants, they are betrothed and married by the same ceremony. 
No priest is in attendance, but the forms are simple and touching, the 
final one consisting in the young couple drinking together from a two- 
mouthed bottle, thereby pledging themselves to drain the waters of life 
together. 

The above is a mere outline of the formalities required by Japanese 
society to unite a couple in marriage. To conscientiously observe them 
all is to incur a greater expense than many of the people can bear. It 
is therefore a favorite plan, in order to evade these responsibilities, for 
the youth and maiden to collude with the parents and feign a runaway 
match in which the ceremony is necessarily brief and inexpensive. 

The education of women in all the walks of life consists, almost 
entirely, in forming her into an expert housewife. The Woman's 
Great Study is an immense volume, which may be said to contain the 
national standard of excellence toward which all females are instructed to 
strive. Obedience to parents, husband, and if a widow, to the eldest 
son, is the grand injunction. The study of etiquette, which is such, an 
important part of popular education, does not cease during the lifetime 
of the Japanese lady. There are few more affectionate mothers than 
the Japanese. They treat their children as infants until they are two 
years of age, carrying" them constantly with them. 



DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 



647 



DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 



A very short time ago it was considered the height of temerity for 
a foreigner to travel outside of the five open ports of Yokohama, Naga- 
saki, Hiogo, Niegati and Hokodadi. The danger did not come from 
the hostility of the common people so much as from the jealousies of the 
princes and nobles of the empire. Although they have become recon- 
ciled to the existence of another order of civilization than their own, it 
is still best to engage the services of a native policeman, especially if 
one is about to venture into the streets of a large city. This functionary, 
in uniform, resembles a gaunt woman with a gaudy umbrella tied to her 
head, dressed in a loose jacket and skirt and armed with two swords 
carried underneath the outer crarment. If the 
yakonin is mounted, in masculine fashion of 
course, his appearance is all the more ludicrous. 
Should the journey be a long one he would be 
escorted by runners, naked except for a cloth 
around the loins. From a distance this latter 
statement would scarcely be credited, for the en- 
tire bodies of the escorts are tattooed, beino- 
often covered with figures representing jackets 
and breeches, seamed and checked, with buttons 
and all. So, supposing that the services of the 
yakonin have been engaged, the stranger pro-i 
ceeds to examine the costumes and personal ap- 
pearance of the Japanese, whether old or young, 
high or low. 

Japanese women have become noted for 
their striking and coquettish dress. They take 
especial pride in arranging their glossy hair, it being usually divided 
into three great sections, fastened with large ornamental pins or pretty 
ribbons. Both sexes wear a large open dressing gown, the women cross- 
ing it in front and tying it behind with an enormous sash. As the little 
women trot along in their wooden sandals, they are truly pleasing objects 
to contemplate. A lady of high standing is often attired in a garment 
of rich silk, beautifully decorated with flowers and vines, wearing over 
her shoulders a sack or shawl of plain but rich material. 

That hideous practice, which was formerly well-nigh universal, by 
which women above twenty years of age, and all who were married, 
shaved off their eyebrows and blackened their teeth, is gradually dying 
out. The reform originated at court twenty years ago and is rapidly 




A JAPANESE GIRL. 



648 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



spreading. The custom was rooted in the Oriental idea that a married 
woman belonged, body and soul, to her husband ; and her husband chose 
to make her unattractive, to the outside world at least. The Japanese 
maiden, wife and widow, are now distinguishable in society by the style 
of their coiffure. If it were not for the immoderate use of paint the 
women would be as attractive as those of any country, with their glossy 
dark brown hair, oval faces, slender graceful forms, and elegant manners. 
In the young, the natural complexion is seen to be fair, and when a lady 
of the upper class who is not exposed to the weather, leaves all her 
paint in the box, she often appears with a face as white as a European's. 
Usually, head coverings are not worn, except broad screens to keep 

off sun and rain, and a simple cloth 
cap and face protector in winter. 
Oiled paper or straw overcoats are 
worn in rainy weather, and the fan is 
carried by men and women. Loose 
trousers are the distinguishing mark 
of the nobility, but the hideous panta- 
loons formerly worn at court, which 
completely covered the wearer's feet 
and spread out far to the side, and 
the upper garment with its enormous, 
flapping sleeves, have given place to 
European attire. The higher classes, 
however, have their rank indicated 
by the crest of the family or clan, 
which is worked upon the breast and 
back of the outer robe. The carr)ing 
of swords- — two or more for the no- 
bility, and one for the common people is — a custom which is almost 
obsolete. 

The higher class of medical practitioners, such as the court physi- 
cians, shave their heads completely, as do the priests ; but the common 
masculine fashion is to shave off the hair about three inches in front, 
comb it up from the back and sides and glue it into a tuft at the top of 
the head, where it is confined by pins of gold or tortoise shell. 




NOBLEMAN AND SERVANT. 



AMUSEMENTS. 

The Japanese have not the staid, placid dispositions of the Chinese. 
They are more light-hearted, and even at table often enliven the simple 
courses with music upon the guitar. Yeddo has a permanent fair, and 



JUGGLERS AND ACROBATS. 049 

here may be witnessed the diverse forms of amusement \7hich tickle the 
lively minds of these people. In the center is an immense temple, sur- 
rounded by groves and tea houses. A wide, well-paved road, which 
passes through the grounds, is planted to maples and covered with mer- 
chants who squat upon their mattresses and proclaim the virtues of their 
goods. One has a heap of dead rats beside him — he sells rat poison. 
Another fondles the head and claws of a bear — he vends bear grease, 
for the skin. Bank lotteries, stereoscopes and telescopes are temptingly 
displayed for trial. The astrologer and the professional story-teller and 
news-a^ent are also here. The latter tells about the last murder and the 
way in which the villain was punished, and for a little money distributes 
leaflets containing the account to his auditors, that they may bear the 
exciting" tale to absent ones. 



& 



JUGGLERS AND ACROBATS. 

The uproar of the crowd is pierced Avith the cries, songs and dis- 
sonance of the mountebanks, players and jugglers ; they are balancing 
sticks, swallowing swords, whirling bottles and cups, making flowers 
crrow from nothinor crushino;- birds and revivinor them, breakino^ es^CTs and 
bringing cart loads of silks from them, and the climax of every wonder 
is being made more startling by the shrill note of fife, the clang of drum 
or the rattle of tambourine in the hands of able assistants. The music 
is not calculated to educate one's taste, but rather to distract the atten- 
tion of the lynx-eyed native at critical points. 

A group of Japanese acrobats, who perform beneath a great shed 
on the fair grounds, draw an immense crowd as they do everywhere. 
Their balancing poles are very long false noses, upon which children 
may perch with safety, or stand thereon upon their own shorter p7'odos- 
cides. Another difficult trick is where the performer places an e'g<g 
upright on his forehead and upon the e.^^ balances a saucer. Juggling 
tricks as performed by native geniuses are simply miraculous — until 
you know how they are done. The common manner of applause is to 
strike the palm of the left hand with the closed fan, this action being 
accompanied with a slight cry of satisfaction. 

THE NOBILITY OF GLADIATORS, 

This subdued applause is impossible, however, when the ponderous 
feats of the Japanese wrestlers are under review. The contests take 
place in circuses. In the centre is the ring, a platform slightly elevated 
and surrounded by a double pile of straw sacks. The wrestlers, who are 



650 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

usually mountains of avoirdupois, divide into companies and squat around 
the ring. The master of ceremonies, armed with his fan of command, 
calls a rival from each company, and the two giants are loudly applauded 
as they raise their arms above their heads to salute the immense audience. 
Then, sprinkling grains of rice and drops of water about the arena, which 
is covered with gravel, in order to propitiate the god of gladiators, they 
moisten their limbs, rub some sand between their hands to insure a 
firm grasp, and rush at each other like mad bulls. The object of the 
conflict is, by blows or by clinching, to expel each other from the ring. 

From the middle of the seventh century, when Japan was favored 
with its first Mikado, these gladiators have been an honored class, 
proudly tracing their descent through a line of more or less illustrious 
ancestors. The nobility of Japan, even, do not disdain their acquaint- 
ance ; in fact, the leaders of the wrestlers wear two swords, the sign of 
nobility. The wrestlers themselves are members of a great organiza- 
tion, presided over by their king or acknowledged champion. Each 
province furnishes its quota of athletes, who form a minor society whose 
head is the champion of the province. Every professional must be in- 
corporated with some society and be content with a salary, the cham- 
pion, on the other hand, drawing from the proceeds of the entertain- 
ments and being responsible to the king only. The Mikado fixes the 
length of time during which the companies shall exhibit at the principal 
towns. 

THE THEATRE. 

Open-air theatricals and exhibitions of puppets are favorite forms of 
amusement with the poorer classes, the more wealthy people attending 
regular theatres. The play commences at sunrise, crowds of tradesmen, 
clerks and prosperous artisans hastening toward the doors of the theatre, 
with their gaily dressed wives and children. A lady of the nobility occa- 
sionally slides in {incognito), but her husband can not attend even in 
disguise. There is no law against such enjoyment, but he would thereby 
seriously imperil his standing in society. 

The wife of the well-to-do tradesman appears, however, in her true 
colors. She even commenced to prepare for this enjoyable event the 
evening before. The hair-dresser built a tower upon her head, and 
during the night she could not even turn upon her block of wood. Upon 
the morrow she arose, bathed, washed her neck, shoulders and arms with 
milk-starch ; blackened her eyebrows with a pencil ; coated her lips with 
a golden preparation which afterwards turned to vermilion ; decked her- 
self with silken robes, confined by a sash which was twisted around the 
hips and tied behind in a great bow — then eating a light breakfast with 



THE THEATRE. 



6^1 



her husband and child, and providing them with other refreshments which 
might be required, she was prepared to be borne away to the theatre in 
her palanquin. 

The performance may last fifteen hours, or forty-five, but after hav- 
ing bought their tickets, hired their cushions and procured their pro- 
grammes at an adjoining teahouse, the family are prepared to give them- 
selves up entirely to pleasure, notwithstanding that there are other head- 
dresses in all portions of the great hall as obstructing to the view as our 
lady's. In the center of the theatre is a small platform occupied by a 
special policeman. The stage stretches across one side of the hall 
and the orchestra of drums, flutes and three-stringed guitars is in front, 

to the left. Galleries run 



around the hall, the ground 
floor being divided into 
square boxes by wooden 
partitions. Two boarded 
platforms run from the 
stao-e on either side to the 
opposite end of the hall, 
and along these pathways 
the actors make their en- 
trances and exits. The 
play of several hours or 
several days is almost en- 
tirely pantomime, a choir 
of sincrers and an ear- 
splitting orchestra keep- 
ing up a constant din. 




RIDING IN A PALANQUIN. 



But hour after hour the happy natives applaud a favorite actor, a melo- 
dramatic representation or even a gesture, partaking of refreshments 
which are handed to them by waiters who walk along the ledges of the 
wooden partitions, the men constantly lighting their small copper pipes at 
the little brazier, or pan of live coals, which stands in the middle of each 
box. 

The stage turns upon a pivot, so that as one set of actors passes out 
of sight a new lot, already gesticulating, posturing, groaning, laughing, 
scowling and otherwise using the universal language, comes before the 
audience. But by far the most unique feature of Japanese theatricals is 
embodied in the " Shadow." " He is clothed entirely in black, wears a 
black cowl, and stands close behind the actor, off' of whom he never takes 
his eye for an instant, and whose every movement he follows as though 



652 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



he were his reflection. He hands him all the little accessories he is in 
need of, and places a small stool at the right moment for him to sit upon 
and prevent the inconvenient posture of squatting. The eye can not at 
first accustom itself to this black form stalking so silently about the 
boards ; but in a theafe all is so conventional that the quaint impression 
soon wears away, and, once admitted, this shadow certainly fills a most 
useful part. Amongst other services, when the day wanes he holds a 
liohted candle at the end of a stick under the nose of the actor to 
render his gestures and features distinguishable." 

BATHING AND TEA HOUSES. 

The bath in Japan is what it was in Rome in the ancient days, 
with this difference — that in the Eastern Empire both sexes formerly 
performed their ablutions in common. Of late years, however, the 

practice has been prohibited. 
Although contrary to all 
Western ideas of propriety, 
the subsequent conduct of 
maidens who daily repaired 
to the public house was mod- 
est and ladylike. The cus- 
tom was one of great an- 
tiquity, and as whole streets 
were devoted to bathing 
houses and they were na- 
tional institutions, supported 
by father, son, mother and 
daughter, so far as might be 
judged by outsiders, the cus- 
tom was not productive of 
lamentable results. 

Nearly each house of 
INTERIOR OF A TEA HOUSE. ^j^g ^^ppgj. classes has at- 

tached to it, also, private bathing rooms, but they are often unused. 
Hot-water baths are considered as necessary to a Japanese as eating 
or sleeping ; so that besides his morning bath he goes through a course 
of parboiling later in the day. As he is religiously opposed to wetting 
his head, he is frequently stricken with apoplexy before he leaves his 
little leather tub and the gossiping and laughing crowd of men who 
frequent the bathing hall. 

Next to the bathing hall the tea house is the most popular of 




EUROPEAN HABITS. 653 

resorts. In the cities, in the suburbs, far out into the country, the tea 
houses spring from the most picturesque localities. Upon public road 
they often reach the dignity of hotels ; in retired country nooks they 
descend to mere huts of wood and paper, covered with a thatched roof, 
but snug and inviting, notwithstanding. In establishments of any pre- 
tensions young girls wait upon customers, who sit cross-legged upon 
soft mats and slowly sip their bowls of tea. By calling for them they 
also will be served with rice, brandy, eggs or fish. The saddest phase 
of Japanese life is seen in another class of tea houses, called " Joro-jas." 
They are frequented by night, the entrances being guarded by wooden 
gratings. Beyond are halls lighted sufficiently with paper lanterns for 
any passer-by to discern the richly attired young girls squatting together 
in a group for inspection, like so many bedizened wax dummies. They 
range from fourteen to twenty years of age, and their beautiful jet 
black hair is artistically arranged and ornamented with yellow tortoise 
shells. Within are beautiful gardens and pavilions, and Japanese 
musicians and dancers, some of them mere children, who have been sold 
into slavery by poor parents. 

EUROPEAN HABITS. 

The rapid changes which the Japanese are undergoing from native 
to European civilization are best illustrated by a glance at Yeddo, or as 
it has been known for many }-ears Tokio, the capital of the empire. Its 
settled districts, with beautiful gardens and groves, wide streets and 
canals, cover an area of nearly sixty square miles. Tokio lies in a broad 
valley, which slopes toward the waters of the Bay of Yeddo. All around 
are wooded hills and the cypress, palm, bamboo and evergreen oaks 
spring up on every side. Charming suburbs, with snug hedgerows and 
shady lanes, nestle around the bustling city, which is itself broken into 
magnificent parks adorned with artificial lakes, pavilions, and temples 
which are used for civil as well as religious purposes. The very heart 
of the city is a bewildering succession of these temple gardens, and 
here is the official quarter, which comprises an area of five square miles 
surrounded by a triple line of fortifications and containing the former 
palaces of the nobles. These great structures, as Avell as the castle of 
the Tycoon (who was formerly the real ruler of Japan), are built on the 
summit of a range of hills. Massive walls and gateways, macadamized 
roads, deep moats in which are myriads of wild fowl, with groups of 
buildings standing upon bold elevations, green slopes, overhanging 
groves, and everything which the fine artistic sense of the Japanese 
mind, aided by nature, can suggest, combine to make this district of 



654 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



r 

R 

> 
o 

R 

H 

O 

o 




JMIMiiiiiaiillMiMiliMiliililiM 



EUROPEAN HABITS. 655 

the city one of the most alluring spots in the world. The residences of 
the daimios surrounded the palace of the Tycoon, but with his degrada- 
tion and the entrance of foreigners to the empire many of the nobles 
deserted their homes and retired in disgust to the country. Space 
which was formerly monopolized by such useless magnificence is now 
covered with government buildings, cotton, woolen and paper mills, 
colleges, schools, arsenals and foundries. In the imperial university are 
100 foreign instructors, and the schools and colleges are attended by 
60,000 or 70,000 pupils. The youth of the land are bright and ambi- 
tious, as several of the universities of America know full well. 

Elementary schools are being established throughout the empire ; 
the law of 1872 providing for 53,000 of them. Forty per cent, of the chil- 
dren of school age are receiving instruction, and among the youth and 
manhood of the land the fever to imbibe European ideas is at its 
height. Not only are the higher schools and colleges thronged, but 
private tutors of standing are besieged on all sides. One of these mas- 
ters at Tokio is an author of political and social Avorks and a translator 
from the best Western writers. His students already fill many important 
government offices, and others have established a newspaper which 
vigorously criticises all public acts. Throughout Japan there are 
between 300 and 400 newspapers and periodicals, and school books, and 
works on political, scientific, ethical, historical and poetical subjects are 
constantly issuing from the press. 

Outside of the district which may be considered as under the im- 
mediate patronage of the Mikado and the government, is the business 
and residence territory. Within this are miles of stone and brick build- 
ings in the modern style of architecture, with miles more of open booths. 
A horse vehicle is not so great a wonder in Tokio as in other portions 
of the empire, and carts piled high with goods of all descriptions are 
being dragged through the streets in endless procession. Bathhouses, fire- 
proof warehouses, mounted policemen ; natives in black coats and leather 
shoes as well as in native costume ; newspaper offices using the metal 
types and running off their sheets on cylinder presses ; telegraph wires, 
connecting not only the police districts, but the other chief cities of the 
empire with the capital ; locomotives running to Yokohama, the foreign 
mercantile settlement seventeen miles away, and others nowbuilding to run 
over lono^er lines ; sewinor and knitting machines and banks are thrown 
too'ether — the old and the new broutrht tosjether in strikinof contrast. 
But sufficient is seen to place the Japanese in the list of decidedly pro- 
gressive and remarkable people. 

In one of the most thickly settled districts of Tokio is a massive 



656 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

wooden bridge spanning the river Okawa. It is not a remarkable en- 
gineering achievement and only interesting as being the center of the 
empire and the point from which distances are reckoned — so many ri 
(two and one-half miles) from the " Nipon-bas," as the bridge is called, 
north or south. 

Tokio is the most noteworthy illustration of the spread of European 
ideas ; for here are manufactured from foreign models such articles as 
watches, clocks, globes, thermometers, barometers, microscopes, tele- 
scopes, knives, spoons, looking-glasses, rugs, carpets, clothing, etc.; but 
in all the large cities and towns, the new is crowding out the old, and 
even pickles, condensed milk, fancy soap, patent medicines, wines and 
brandies, are swinging into line. 

UNWORTHY OF JAPAN. 

Legalized suicide is an institution peculiar to China and Japan. It 
is called " harri-kari " in the latter empire, and the mode of legalized 
procedure is to disembowel one's self with a sharp knife ; this is pecul- 
iarly Japanese. Efforts are being made to suppress the disgrace, which 
is still a hideous instrument employed by cruel and autocratic daimios to 
punish those who have offended them ; the unfortunates are ordered to 
commit harri-kari, and such is the power which the princes often have 
over their subjects, that the self-murder is generally committed. On the 
other hand, it is often considered a privilege of which the nobility them- 
selves take advantage. 

STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE. 

The common Japanese houses have frameworks of wood, to which 
are fastened reeds or bamboo, and the interstices filled with mud, with 
wooden door and window frames covered with paper, broad eaves and a 
veranda running completely around. The rain doors, or outer shut- 
ters, protect the inner ones during stormy weather. Within are paper 
partitions, which can be slid' out of sight, and the whole house thrown 
into a hall to accommodate the pleasure-seeking people. No house is 
without its gem of a garden. It matters not how tiny it is, the ground 
is laid out in beautiful groves of dwarf shrubs which surround miniature 
lakes, little streams over which green arches are thrown to represent 
bridges, or leafy bowers which would scarcely accommodate a company 
of Lilliputians. The houses are often loaded with blue lilies and other 
flowers, while these artificial landscapes are enclosed with bamboo fences 
over which creep trailing vines and plants. 




# i: 




vionboliaim. 

jAPflNESE.t 



MONGOLIAN 

cSQU,MAUA.i 



V.-'tl' bUliILM 



WITHIN THE HOUSE. 657 

The palaces of the nobility are simply several of these houses, 
united by corridors of stone or wood, roofed over with cement, and sur- 
rounded by a continuous rampart of smaller whitewashed structures, in 
which the domestics reside. The Mikado's palace is a "yashki" of larger 
dimensions, comprising many courts and streets, and scores of houses, 
pavilions and corridors, with beautifully varnished, gilded and sculptured 
roofs. 

When the sound of the tocsin is heard from the fire tower there is 
naturally great alarm ; for fires in all the cities of Japan are des'tructive. 
It is estimated that Tokio is burned all over once every seven years. 
When the flames fairly get a headway the most that can be done is to 
pull down a great area of buildings, and remove the goods in their imme- 
diate pathway to the nearest fire-proof warehouse. This is shaped like 
a tower, built of wood and encased with cement or mud, sometimes a 
foot in thickness. The doors and windows are built of the same mate- 
rial, are closed upon the approach of a conflagration and the cracks plas- 
tered up with mud. Candles have been lighted inside to convert the 
oxygen of the air into carbonic acid gas, so that the building is made 
absolutely fire proof. These warehouses, or low towers, are also used 
upon the approach of the typhoon or hurricane. 

Fire, wind and earthquake are the three forces of nature with which 
the Japanese are obliged to contend, and their houses, which are seldom 
more than thirty feet in height, are constructed with reference to the 
latter. If they are two stories high, the second is built more substan- 
tially than the first (experience has taught them that this is the safer 
plan) — the upper one comprising the living rooms and the lower the 
cellar for the storage of provisions. 

WITHIN THE HOUSE. 

The same delicacy of taste and sense of propriety are noticed in 
the interior as in the exterior arrangements. Simplicity, cleanliness, 
harmony of design and coloring, and comfort are the uppermost feat- 
ures. Thick mats of rice straw cover the floor, over which members 
of the family walk barefooted. Writing is done by kneeling before a 
table about a foot high When the letter is finished the table is put 
away in a cupboard. The family eat sitting on their heels around a 
small table. After dinner every person takes a nap of several hours 
In the evening comes another meal, and after the table is cleared men, 
women and children produce their pencils, brushes, paints and papers, 
and give exhibitions of their skill. The height of the artist's ambition 

is not so much to excel in delineatingf Nature's moods as to draw and 

^ 42 



658 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



paint in the most surprisingly ingenious methods. He will put in ahead 
here, a tail there, a tree in one corner, a house in another, a leg in the 
air, an arm beneath, an eye glancing out of space, and when all have 
tried themselves in guessing what it all can mean, a few rapid strokes of 
pencil and brush will join everything together and form a tolerable 
picture. 

Other games succeed the artistic efforts, and they are enjoyed by 
son, father, grandfather, even to the fourth generation ; and the same 
universal love of diversion is witnessed out of doors, where the natives 
fly kites and indulge in feats of skill, everyone entering heartily into the 
sport, from the infant who can hardly walk to the sire who can just 
totter around. When night comes, they envelop themselves in large, 

warm night robes, placing 
their day clothes either in 
an open cabinet or upon a 
frame which stands near,and 
repose upon a straw matting 
covered with a quilt, with a 
wooden block stuffed at the 
top for a pillow. It is cus- 
tomary,also,to have a teapot 
with cups beside the bed, 
with conveniences for heat- 
ing, so that the day may be 
" ushered in with one or more 
cups of the favorite bever- 
age. Day and night the 
brazier is kept burning, and 
if the Japanese is not drink- 
A JAPANESE BEDROOM. jj^g tga, he is usually some- 

where in the vicinity of the teapot, smoking and gossiping with his friends. 

THE LAST RESTING PLACE. 

Regard for the dead is manifested by the Japanese in the same way 
as by the Chinese. The ancestral tablet is placed with the household 
gods, and the family altar is their most sacred shrine. If the body is 
interred, it is buried in a sitting posture, with the hands folded. The 
coffins are invariably circular. The ceremonies at the grave are con- 
ducted by priests, and even here there is little of that depressing spirit 
of mourning manifested, which, with some, is considered a religious as 
well as a social duty. The nearest relatives are dressed in grayish white, 




AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. 659 

the men wear coarse straw hats, and the women discard their elaborate 
ornaments, merely wearing a comb in the hair. The cemetery is bright 
with flowers, and each family has its own enclosure, marked with simple 
stones or massive granite monuments. 

If the deceased has expressed a desire to have his body burned, 
after the ceremonies have been performed in the temple, the corpse is 
carried to a small house, placed upon a stone scaffold, and being con- 
sumed in the presence of priests, the bones are carefully drawn from the 
fire by men armed with sticks. The remaining ashes are placed in an 
urn, and carried to the tomb by the relatives. 

AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. 

Government and people combine to make Japan a garden, and to 
utilize every possible acre of ground. The land is divided into small 
holdings, irrigated, enriched and cultivated according to the Chinese 
methods. The plough generally in use is a heavy piece of wood fastened 
obliquely to a beam, and hollowed out so as to receive a piece of iron 
which serves as a share. When the land has been inundated from the 
canals in early spring, it is broken up into a liquid paste and the rice is 
cast into the ground by hand. It is then harrowed; when the young rice 
begins to shoot it is transplanted and reaches maturity in October. 
The transformation of the tea plant into commercial forms is accom- 
plished through the same processes in Japan as in China. When you 
are Intimate with the agriculture of either country you can "farm it" in 
the other. 

As horticulturists, however, the Japanese stand alone in certain 
specialities. They seem even to carry their feats of legerdemain into 
this department. They will grow you a cedar many feet in circumfer- 
ence or only a few inches ; a head of lettuce larger than a bushel basket 
or smaller than a rose, but healthy and productive in either case. Among 
other wonders in this line a sight-seer mentions the vigorous appearance 
of a fir, a bamboo and a cherry tree, which were growing in a box 5x2 
inches. It is by the application of this remarkable skill that the Japanese 
are enabled to delineate upon the tiniest pieces of ground, the boldest 
and most charming landscapes. 

With the introduction into Japan of steam power and modern 
machinery the native manufactures are already undergoing many changes, 
not always for the better. It is an open question, therefore, whether in 
certain lines of work the Japanese have not reached their greatest per- 
fection. Their lacquer work and their bronzes are the finest in the 
world. For the former they have become so noted as to have given a 



66o PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

common word to the English language — japanning. The varnish which 
they use is mixed slowly and smoothly upon a copper palette with the 
coloring matter, and after being applied five or six times, being allowed 
to dry after each application, is scraped and polished with a stone or 
bamboo utensil. The mother-of-pearl figures are cut out and colored 
underneath, placed upon the varnish and undergo the same process as 
the wood. 

The bronzes are not only noted for the fineness of the metal but 
for the beauty of the finish. They are richly decorated with figures 
representing national heroes, mythological personages, and historical 
events, as well as birds, animals and landscapes. The swords of Japan 
are almost as famous as the Damascus blades. In short, as workers in 
iron, copper and brass they are unexcelled. 

Their paper, which they make from the mulberry tree, is tough, 
glossy and fine, and is used for napkins. The bark of the tree is boiled 
in an alkaline composition, washed, and mixed with a preparation of 
rice ; being thus reduced to a smooth paste, the mixture is formed into 
sheets by being pressed between bamboo laths. 

The Japanese tend their s ilkworms as carefully as their children. 
The art of weaving is, by legendary account, of celestial origin, and is con- 
sidered as of as royal a nature as it is in China. Thelovely maiden who 
brought the art to earth returned to her home in one of the heavenly 
constellations, and upon the seventh day of the seventh month, as the 
stars appear, Japanese women and girls spread beneath their kindly rays 
silken threads of various colors, offering fruits and flowers to the divini- 
ties who control the cunning of human hands. 

THE JAPANESE AS ARTISTS. 

In the decoration of their fans, houses, metal and wood work, and 
the arrangement of their beautiful parks, the Japanese exhibit their 
artistic talents to the best advantage. Birds, flowers and fruit are their 
favorite themes, and they delineate them in perfect forms and exquisite 
colors. But when they come to the representation of landscapes, where 
perspective is required, their efforts are crude in the extreme ; in fact, 
they are such masters of detail that they can not conceive how it is 
that every feather and shade of color should not be distinctly brought 
out of the bird upon the wing in the far distance as well as every line 
of the palace which stands in the foreground The Japanese have made 
a close study of anatomy, but Japanese artists slur the "human form 
divine" most shamefully. It is generally draped and properly attired in 



THE FIRST, LAST, 



66l 



native costume, when appearing in their pictures, and a Japanese sculp- 
tor would be a curiosity indeed. 

Like the Chinese the Japanese are persistent musicians, although 
they produce but little 
music. Music is part of 
every woman's education, 
her favorite instruments 
being a three-stringed 
banjo and a larger instru- 
ment which is placed up- 
on the ground and played 
with slender strips of 
bamboo. 

THE FIRST, LAST. 

There is one entire 
race of people who en- 
gage in fishing — the 
Amos, who inhabit the 
island of Yezo, to the 
north of Niphon. They 
are the aborigines of the 
archipelago. In appear- 
ance they are small and 
thick set, with wide fore- 
heads, black, horizontal 
eyes and fair skin. The 
women dress in zouave 
style, wear broad- 
brimmed hats with a 
conical center, or simply 
cloths tied over the head. 
The men have tieht-fit- 
ting pantaloons, with a 
cloak fastened with a 
sash, the cloth for which 
is made from sea-weed. 
The Ainos have no traditions of their origin, but they believe 
they came -from the west, although they differ from all the tribes 
of Eastern Siberia. They worship the fish and the wolf and make 




I— ( 

u 



D 

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1/1 

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662 , PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

no attempt to cultivate their land. The Ainos were formerly masters 
of the archipelago, north of Niphon, and after being driven from that 
island fought stubbornly for many years and were not reduced to com- 
plete subjection until the fourteenth century. They are rapidly decreas- 
ing in numbers and are being crowded into the northern districts of the 
only island which remains to them ; so that before long it is probable 
that they will be extinct. 

THE COREANS. 

It seems probable that the Coreans are of the great Tungoosic stock 
to which the Mantchoos belong and which has spread over so great a 
portion of Northern Asia. Their language is Mongolian, and they are 
both taller and stouter than either the Chinese or Japanese. But 
although they have been conquered by the Mantchoos, the Japanese 
and the Chinese, the latter have retained the supremacy, and they render 
even a less tribute to the empire than does Mongolia. Their religions, 
however, are borrowed from China and the nature of the government is 
Confucian. 

Literary attainment is the basis of political preferment. The 
examinations all take place in Saul, the capital of the kingdom, the 
preliminary one being conducted annually, and those of higher grade 
when His Majesty is in need of government officers. The king is abso- 
lute, although there are near to him the Counsellor of the Right, the 
Counsellor of the Middle and the Counsellor of the Left. The six 
Chinese departments appear in Corea, the Interior, the Treasury, the 
War, the Public Works, and the departments of Justice and Religious 
Rites. Each department has its head, whose title, translated, is " deci- 
sive signature," and he is assisted by several " helps-to-decide " and 
" helps-to-discuss." 

The provinces into which the kingdom is divided have each a gover- 
nor, who has six assistants ; these assistants, who are rulers of districts, 
are aided by six other officials upon whom, in turn, depend six other 
functionaries. Three and multiples of three seem to be considered 
magic numbers. 

The audience hall of the King's palace, which is of the Chinese 
form of architecture, is faced by three gates ; the approach from the gates 
to the first flight of steps is flanked on either side by eighteen granite 
slabs upon which are engraved the different ranks of His Majesty's sub- 
jects and which mark also the precise point to which they may advance 
toward his divine presence, when a royal reception is on hand. These 



COMING FROM THEIR SHELL. 663 

slabs do not indicate government grades of honor, particularly, but the 
social ranks of Corean society, A nd here we stumble against the magic 
number again — thirty-six ranks or castes. 

In Saul, the capital of the kingdom, are two royal palaces, the Old 
and the New. The former was erected five hundred years ago, when 
the capital was laid out, and occupies the cardinal point of honor, facing 
sou,th. The New Palace was built a hundred years later for a crown 
prince, and when he became king he did not choose to abandon it. So 
the old one was deserted. The New Palace faces the north, the second 
cardinal point of honor. Upon state occasions the king of Corea always 
faces toward the sunny south and his most honored subjects are placed 
opposite him. 

COMING FROM THEIR SHELL. 

After the Japanese opened the gates of their sea ports the Coreans 
were the most secluded people in the world. Until brought to it by 
force of arms they refused even to have commercial communication with 
China and Japan. For many years maritime intercourse was not allowed 
between Corea and China, but communication was by way of a narrow 
road along the sea coast, which was given up principa lly to wild beasts. 
Until quite recently there was little intercourse save on occasion of the 
annual embassy and of the periodical fairs in Mantchuria. 

The dread of Russian invasion and annexation, however, has, of 
late years, induced Corea to rather encourage friendly relations with 
Western Powers, that she may have friends to protect her in a possible 
hour of need. In 1876 Japan relinquished her traditional claim to trib- 
ute and was granted commercial privileges. Corea was thrown open to 
American and Chinese commerce in 1882, and the result of such action 
by the progressive party was the massacre of the Queen, the heir appar- 
ent and his bride, and thirteen ministers who favored foreigfn intercourse. 
The Japanese legation barely escaped a like fate and fled from the wrath 
of the Corean conservatives. A month afterwards, however, they 
returned to Saul, under the protection of a military escort, and Japan 
made preparations for war. The usurper who had overturned the gov- 
ernment surrendered to a Chinese force, the king was restored to 
authority, and Corea can no longer be called the Hermit Nation, although 
she can more fittingly lay claim to the title than any other. Soon after 
the success which attended the efforts of America and China to enter 
her doors, Great Britain and Germany were favored with commercial 
treaties. 



664 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

WHY THEY FEAR THE PRIESTS. 

A singularity of this very singular people is that religion, in the 
cities, has no hold upon them. Not a single temple or church spire 
points the way to heaven in Saul or any other walled city. For this 
wonderful absence of sacred edifices two explanations have been given. 
One is that three centuries ago a body of Japanese soldiers gained 
admittance to several important Corean strongholds, disguised as Bud- 
dhist priests, which was the important step toward the subjugation of the 
country, and that when the invaders withdrew, after having ruled for 
many years, the Coreans passed a law that hereafter no priest should set 
foot within the gates of a walled city ; the second theory, or native state- 
ment, being that the Buddhists had become so corrupt in the cities that 
they were expelled by the Confucians and relegated to their monasteries 
in the country districts, which still exist. So that although Buddhism, 
Taouism and Confucianism have their votaries, and nearly all the state 
gods of China are worshiped, the uniform and dreary appearance of 
the low Corean buildings is not broken by the graceful lines of temples 
and pagodas which relieve the monotony in neighboring lands. 

THEIR SUPERSTITIONS. 

The Coreans are honey-combed with Shamanism, although their 
exclusive disposition keeps out the Shamans. Below the gables of 
stately royal palaces, may be observed a row of bronze figures, resem- 
bling nothing, and everything hideous, which are placed there to scare 
away evil spirits. This mode of frightening them is patented by the 
King. His humbler but still prominent subjects are allowed to post 
upon their outer doors colored placards representing the figures of two 
famous generals, who are reported to have had great success in captur- 
ing and destroying demons of disease. The common people rest satis- 
fied with fastening a wisp of rice-straw to their doors, or a piece of cloth, 
thereby deluding the demon into the belief that he has got satisfaction 
when he seizes upon these articles. Upon New Year's day, the good 
spirits are supposed by the Coreans to call upon the Lord of Heaven, 
and to so engage His attention, that the evil spirits come to earth to see 
what damage they can accomplish there ; to keep them away from their 
homes, the people take the cuttings of hair which they have collected 
during the year, and burn them in front of their houses. The Coreans 
have their household spirits and a deity, who is sent by the Supreme 
One to bless little children, and keep them out of the clutches of the 
demons. 



MEN AND WOMEN. 665 

The people accredit the naming of their country — the land of the 
Morning Calm — to a great spirit, and claim that their first king was de- 
scended from a dragon who changed himself into a man, ascended to 
heaven and married the daughter of a god. Afterward "they came down 
to Corea where the king was born. 

MEN AND WOMEN. 

The woman of Corea is simply the property of either her father or 
her husband. Her seclusion before marriage, the negotiations preced- 
ing marriage, the marriage feast and the closely veiled bride whose beau 
ties are unknown to the bridegroom, are true Oriental features. The 
separation of man and wife after marriage is Turkish. The man is 
everything in Corea, even to the point of being made to legally suffer 
for his wife's faults. 

The prevailing color of the Corean costume, whether of man or 
woman, is a bluish white. Short jackets, loose trousers and tunics are 
the chief garments, the number of the latter being proportionate to the 
rank of the wearer. " It is perhaps unfortunate," says a traveler, "to 
have fixed upon so delicate a hue, as it would require more than human- 
ity to preserve it. The faint blue of the land of the Morning Calm soon 
fades, by contact with the dirt of the world, into the the gray of com- 
mon day." Officials wear the same style of garments, but throw into 
them the brightest colors of the rainbow with the most reckless extrava- 
gance. Soldiers have dark blue uniforms, dashed with crimson, decked 
with ribbons, and over the breasts are their badges of valor. 

The men's tunic is confined at the breast and the women's petticoat 
is also fastened at that point. The sleeves are about two feet wide, 
partially sewed up at the ends, so that they serve as pockets and travel- 
ing bags. A tobacco pouch always hangs at the waist of both man and 
woman. On the inner side of the tunic around the neck is a white band 
of cotton, which stands in place of our collar. The materials of dress 
are silk, cotton and grasscloth, the latter being made of hemp. Grass- 
cloth is used for every-day wear by the lower classes and as a badge of 
mourning by all, as it is in China — a kind of sackcloth of the Hebrews. 

The mourning costume is also distinctive in cut from the regular 
one, that of the man consisting amonor other thino^s of a hat which curves 
down like an umbrella around his face and of a cloth screen before his 
face. With this species of blinders the poor man wanders around society, 
it being incumbent upon the members thereof to let him alone. For 
three years he is shut out of all communion with his fellows, if he is in 
mourning for his father, and for two years should he grieve over the 



666 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

loss of a mother. If the man is a love-sick swain it sometimes happens 
that he pines away for a dozen years, one death of a relative following 
another and keeping him from marriage. 

As the upper classes dress in the grasscloth of the lower when they 
go into mourning, so all classes are privileged under the burden of grief 
to assume the face screen which, ordinarily, is the badge of office, or the 
mark of distinction of the government official, 

Corean shoes resemble those worn in China, except the soles are 
studded with nails. The men's hats consist of the skull covering and 
the superstructure of silk woven upon a bamboo frame ; so that a Corean 
with his hat on — and he wears it every moment except when he is 
sleeping — resembles a man who has turned the lining of a modern hat 
down over his forehead. The betrothal hat is made of yellow straw and 
usually appears on the Corean's head when he is seven or eight years of 
age. The court hat has a high oval crown, fits tightly over the forehead 
and has two wings which extend from the sides. They are said to signify 
that the wearers are "all ears" for the royal commands. Rank is 
measured by the thickness of these artificial ears, the Emperor being 
particularly honored by having his placed upon the top of the hat 
— he is supposed to listen to nobody. There are also special in-door 
hats, but underneath them all are the tails of the men twisted around a 
stick of coral or amber. 

There is no great variety of female hats, as the Corean woman is 
debarred from the privilege of showing off her fashions, but those of the 
higher classes occasionally appear on the street or borne along in a 
palanquin with a low structure upon the head which resembles a parasol, 
beautifully and deeply fringed. 




THE GREEKS. 

HETHER the first Grecians were Asiatic Hellenas, or Phoe- 
nicians who founded a colony across the sea as many years- 
before Christ as we are hving after, does not much concern us. 
We know that the Greeks were for centuries the nucleus of 
the world's best thought, and that they have passed down to 
us a grand literature and a beautiful architecture. We know 
that they are Aryans, and that they were the first of the Indo- 
European stock to found a state ; that they were subject to 
Rome, to Venice, and to Turkey, and for half a century or 
more have been independent. They even objected to be 
directed in the establishment of their modern kingdom by England, 
France and Russia, the Powers which had assisted them to throw off the 
Turkish chains. Foreign princes, however, were appointed to direct 
Hellenic affairs, and revolt followed revolt, until the son of the King of 
Denmark was chosen to take the helm of state. That was a quarter of 
a century ago, and more than twenty-five years after Greece had revolted 
from Turkey, and had seen her olive and fig trees cut down and burned 
and her territory devastated. 

THE ACROPOLIS. 




Athens, anciently decorated with innumerable master-pieces of arch- 
itecture and sculpture, still retains in ruins some traces of her former 
splendor. Ragged outlines exist of that ancient citadel, the Acropolis, 
from which the people could see magnificent evidences of their genius 
spread over the plains below ; temple upon temple arose in sublimity, 
and their ruins are still grouped around that square, craggy rock, 1,000 
feet long, 500 feet broad and 1 50 feet high, upon which stood the Acrop- 
olis in all its majesty. Within its great walls are the remains of the Par- 
thenon, or the temple of Minerva, a pile which even now stands among 
the wonders of the world. 

Forming the entrance to the Parthenon was a wonderful temple of 

white marble ; all that remains of this are six columns with lofty arches^ 

667 



668 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 






V- l!iiii:i-:i i I"! 



9 

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w 

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TEMPLES OF JUPITER AND THESEUS. 669 

Of the Parthenon itself, the interior of which was for some time used as 
a Turkish mosque, there remain eight cokimns in front, with several 
colonnades at the side, and the mutilated figures of magnificent groups 
of statuary representing conflicts between the gods and other mytho- 
logical tales. But ruined as it is, the general aspect of the temple is 
sublime. 

The Temple of Neptune, another theatre belonging to the Acrop- 
olis, is in a better state of preservation than the Parthenon, and though 
grain is now growing in its broad arena, enough of the structure is still 
in sight to give the observer a grand idea of what it once was. North 
of the Acropolis are the ruins of the Erechtheum, the most venerable 
of all the religious temples of Athens. 

TEMPLES OF JUPITER AND THESEUS. 

Sixteen grand columns still stand of the Temple of Jupiter, which 
was seven hundred years in building, and at the time of its completion 
one of the most magnificent structures in the world. The exterior 
was decorated by about 120 fluted columns, sixty-one feet in height, and 
more than six feet in diameter. It was 354 feet long, 171 feet broad, 
and contained the celebrated statue of Olympian Jupiter, in ivory and 
gold. This great temple stood southeast of the Acropolis on the right 
bank of the Ilissus. 

Northwest of the city is the Temple of Theseus, the best preserved 
of all these architectural monuments. It was the tomb of the King ; to 
its walls the slave fled for refuge, and once within was safe from harm. 
The large plot of ground in its center was worn smooth by the feet of 
thousands of Athenian soldiers, called to muster. 

LAW AND PHILOSOPHY. 

But a Turkish burial place occupies the hill of the Areopagus where 
the Athenian court expounded the laws, and from which Paul preached 
the new doctrine. The Lyceum, in which the learned Aristotle lectured 
and taught his philosophy, consists of a few broken walls ; and a modern 
house and garden occupy a portion of Plato's and Socrates' Academy. 

THE ACADEMY. 

The simplest and most affecting pieces of Greek art are to be found 
among the graves of the old heroes and philosophers, statesmen and 
politicians, which are reached by passing through a squalid district of 
modern Athens, westward toward this famous Academy, or public pleas- 



670 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ure grounds and groves in Avhich Socrates and Plato taught. It became 
in time a suburb of Athens, and along one of its most beautiful avenues 
the famous dead were laid. 

The collection of dense poplar, olive and elm groves from a moun- 
tain to the north of Athens, sweeps down the plain of Attica a few miles 
to the west of the city until it reaches the insignificant remains of the 
foundations of the vast walls of the Piraeus. This cool band, watered 
by a narrow river which throws out numbers of refreshing branches, is 
ten miles long, by two in width, and it must have been a great relief for 
the perplexed philosophers and agitated statesmen to have escaped from 
the bustle and plots of the city and the dust of the plain to its shades 
and accompanying songs of birds. The brooding of its calm beauties 
upon a great reflective spirit, might reasonably have produced a broad, 
unimpassioned philosophy. Here also the athletic youth of Athens run 
their races, along the public thoroughfares strolled the beauty and nobility 
of the city, and, as if to further impress the fact that the world is deter- 
mined to obtrude itself upon the most godlike thoughts, the majestic 
Acropolis, in the distance, speaks of wordly glories from its framework 
of green as one looks toward the capitol down a vista of mighty trunks. 

To reach the tombs and the groves you are obliged in these days to 
encounter filth and rags, a smoky railway station resonant with disagree- 
able sounds, and the pleasanter sights of classic faces, with, now .and 
then, the graceful figure of a peasant, clad in the national costume of red, 
white and blue colors. 

The ruins lie far below the present surface of the ground, and 
where an excavation has been made are covered with a wooden door to 
protect the sculptured faces of the monuments. When we say that the 
parting scenes between father and mother, mother and son, at the bed 
of death, or the heroic suffering of the warrior, breathing out his soul in 
the field of battle, are treated with classic simplicity, the general reader 
will recognize the fact that Greek art speaks to the world in noble and 
unexaggerated forms and does not attempt by bold strokes to depict 
heart-rending griefs and stormy passions. 

Over an abrupt hill, a few minutes' walk from this hallowed spot, is 
a long deep gorge running parallel with the road which leads to Athens. 
This was the Barathrum, where criminals were executed, refused the 
rites of burial, and whose bodies were watched by their grim sentry until 
they fell into decay. A late visitor to this spot draws the following 
striking sketch : " In the present day, all traces of this hideous history 
have long passed away and I found a little field of corn waving upon the 
level ground beneath. But even now there seemed a certain loneliness 



A GRAND STAND. 67 1 

and weirdness about the place — silent and deserted in the midst of 
thoroughfares, hidden from the haunts of men and hiding them from 
view by its massive walls. Nay, as if to bring back the dark memories 
of the past, hawks and ravens were still circling about as their ancestors 
did in the days of blood attached, I supposed, by hereditary instinct to 
this fatal place, ' for where the carcass is, there shall the eagles be gath- 
ered together.'" 

A GRAND STAND. 

A short distance to the west of the Acropolis is a low hill, at the 
base of which is a limestone wall, from which projects a pedestal carved 
out of the rock and ascended by steps. " This interesting place has been 
preserved almost in its integrity, and, as we look around," says a late 
visitor, "we are carried back to the times when some six thousand 
Athenian citizens were here assembled ; when the orator, standing upon 
the pedestal, could survey the Acropolis with all its temples, the venera- 
ble Areopagus and beyond the city the extended plains and villages of 
Attica with corn fields, olive grounds and vineyards." 

A LINK BETWEEN OLD AND NEW. 

As might be expected, the museums of Athens are rich in antiqui- 
ties, but that care is not observed in their arrangement and the restora- 
tion of fragmentary works of art which makes the museums of Italy of 
such satisfactory interest ; so that if one is not an expert himself, or 
can not obtain the services of some member of the University or other 
learned Greek, he will wander about bewildered and dissatisfied. There 
is one class of figures which have been excavated from cemeteries in 
Megara, Cyrene, Tanagra and other localities west and north of Athens, 
viz. :^ — terra-cotta figures, often delicate in form and color, averaging 
nine or ten inches in height. They represent ladies and shepherds, 
usually gracefully draped, but some of them are badly modeled, as if 
the work of inexperienced hands. The old Greeks mention a class of 
tradesmen who made toys for children, and scholars have compared 
their descriptions with these figures and conclude that they fit one 
another. The dresses of the ladies are often pink and blue, with golden 
fringes, the hair is fair and drawn back from the forehead, while the 
styles of costumes might have been copied from the Greek ladies and 
peasants of to-day. This terra-cotta work, which, in its coloring resem- 
bles the modern Bisque ware, is chiefly found on cupboards and in 
cabinets of private houses at Athens, although the museums are not 
without them. In one particular the collection of antiquities is remark. 



672 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ably complete. Attic vases, lamps and inscriptions have been indus- 
triously collected, studied, deciphered and classified, and much precise 
historical information has been thereby gained. 

MODERN ATHENS. 

Such ruins and evidences of ancient life as these, with a few new 
wooden houses, one or two solid structures, and two lines of planked 
sheds which formed a bazaar, is a sketch of Athens as it was several 
years after Greece had become independent of the Turks. Her great 
harbor of Piraeus, once connected with the city by broad walls five 
miles in length, was a piece of deal boarding projecting a few feet into 
the sea, to serve as a landing stage for small boats, and a wooden hut 
for a guard. The walls have not been rebuilt ; but Athens contains a 
population of over 85,000 people, and Piraeus is a flourishing manu- 
facturing suburb, containing an imposing array of steam factories. The 
miserable wooden buildings and crooked streets, which at first disgraced 
the city, have given place to broad and clean thoroughfares, and impos- 
ing edifices devoted to learning — the University, whose faculty con- 
sists of about fifty professors and tutors ; the Academia, the observa- 
tory, the school of Technology, the Museum, the Zappeion and the 
Arsakeion (a college for the higher education of women). 

In point of beauty the institutions of learning take the lead. The 
University stands out in classic outlines, its white columns contrasting 
strangely and strikingly with its deep red interior wall. The Arsakeion 
is a great structure of white stucco, with marble portal separated from 
the boulevard by a handsome iron railing. The Greek and French 
academies are superbly constructed of Pentelic marble, the latter costing 
over a million dollars. Other institutions, which have been named and 
which show the tendency of the modern Greek, are equally grand and 
durable. A plain, square palace for the King ; a splendid edifice for the 
Young Ladies' Institute — that tells the story. And "not one of the 
least interesting of street sights in Athens are the long files of children 
of both sexes from the public schools and orphan asylums, as they take 
their afternoon walk through the boulevards — the boys in gray or blue 
uniforms, and the girls in homespun frocks and spotless white pinafores. 
They are the ever moving sign of the ever progressive educational life 
in Greece." 

The zeal which is observed in all classes of the Greeks must be 
genuine ; there is nothing like a hot-house growth about it. Education 
is not compulsory, and yet the state expends more, proportionately, in 
the cause than any other nation in the v^^orld. The very children are said 



MODERN ATHENS. 673 

to cry for books and run away, later, from their country homes, and heroic- 
ally deny themselves almost the necessities of life, that they may enter 
the gymnasia or University of Athens. The ambition to enter the latter 
may be also tainted with aspirations of a political nature, for the Univer- 
sity has had many eminent men connected with it, patriots and states- 
men as well as scholars, and its wide-awake professors do not allow any 
national movement to pass by without having a voice and taking a hand 
in it. 

The popular system of education nas four grand divisions. First 
come the communal, or elementary schools, in which are taught the com- 
mon branches, the history and geography being trimmed to Grecian 
tastes. The Hellenic schools are devoted to French, Latin and Greek 
and the gymnasium to Latin, Greek, French, English, German, the nat- 
ural, mental and moral sciences. The University is expected to cover 
the ground of colleges in other countries. A Virginia gentleman, who 
sees certain weaknesses in these eager, ambitious Greeks, thus relieves 
himself : "At present one sees a nation of school children, satchel in 
hand, going to the newest sciences to be fed with the latest develop- 
ments — hearty, winsome, eloquent and obliging children withal, but 
entirely too much given to gongs and pancakes. A sound castigation 
now and then from reasonable people, a decided set-down of national 
conceit, some glimmering intuitions of the geographical proportions and 
importance of other countries, a little logic of events, and economy both 
political and private, both in word and in deed ; these are elements 
toward the realization of that pining for nationality which has become 
a malady with the Greeks." 

Modern Athens lies on a plain, spreading out from the Acrop- 
olis like a fan. Around it are the other historic elevations which have 
been mentioned, overlooking the new city with an air of boldness and 
dignity. The famous olive groves near the city, in which the old phi- 
losophers walked, and the Queen's garden, which half encircles the 
King's palace, and which has not inaptly been called "the city's leafy 
crown," are welcome reliefs to the gray old hills and ruins and the 
houses of yellow stucco. South of the garden rise the ruined columns 
of the Temple of Jupiter. The King's palace is in need of the beauties 
of the flowers, lakes and winding walks of the lady's garden, for it is a 
plain building of white marble, without any pretensions to architectural 
comeliness. A broad boulevard passes in front of the palace, garden, 
square of Olympium (where Jupiter's Temple is), the Acropolis, and the 
Temple of Theseus, after which it swings around Athens entire. The 

principal hotels of the city are in the Square of the Constitution, sepa- 

43 



674 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

rated from the King s palace by a small grove of orange trees. The 
street of Hermes extends from this square toward the Piraeus road, 
over a mile away. Other streets which cross the square penetrate this 
busy quarter of the city, with its hotels, coffee houses, politicians, tobacco 
shops, book stores, cheap jewelry booths, and gaudily dressed citizens. 
The Cathedral or Metropolitan Church is large, and colored outside with 
red and yellow stripes ; there is no other religious edifice in Athens so 
imposing, although several small Byzantine churches hold the attention 
because of their quaint style of architecture. 

THE GREEK AND HIS COSTUMES. 

In Athens and other large towns the jacket and white skirt of the 
old-fashioned Greek, with leather pistol pouch, are giving place to Anglo- 
Saxon and French costumes. The blue trousers and crimson sash of 
the Cretan, however, are being more slowly discarded. They are quite 
becoming and constant attention to cleanliness is not so necessary as 
when a man is wearing the short white petticoats which were character- 
istic of the national dress. The peasant woman in the national costume 
is now seldom seen in the streets of Athens, even in the vicinity of her 
busy market place, but the shepherd often wends his way to that point, 
dressed in his hooded cloak of sheepskin, and driving before him his 
goats or turkeys. From shepherd to lady is not so great a stride as it 
would be in many other countries ; for even in the highest society her 
dress and deportment is quiet — classically quiet — and there is little of 
that ostentation which in many countries makes the gulf so wide between 
the rich and poor. 

PORTERS AND MERCHANTS. 

Here, in fact, will be gathered representatives of most of the clear- 
cut Grecian types of the humbler people. The peddler pushing his cart 
before him, or the prouder proprietor of the little stall, are both crying 
up their goods and apparently attempting to drown the newsboy's shout. 
They may all be incipient samples of the coming Greek merchant, who 
has in his nature the cunning and enterprise of his ancient forefathers, 
but finds his country too small a field for his talents. It may be best 
that they remain in Athens, as many of their countrymen in Asia Minor, 
in Africa, in Arabia, India and the islands of all the Eastern seas, who 
have engaged in larger ventures have spread the impression over the 
world that Greek merchants are personifications of shrewd unscrupulous- 
ness. The most earnest of the street characters, after these small trades- 



THE GREEK AT HOME. 675 

men, are the Maltese porters, who with coils of rope over their shoulders 
are on the look-out for travelers, or purchasers of heavy goods who may 
wish to have them transported. "If the purchaser is furnishing a house," 
say.s one who knows, "the scene becomes amusing; for unless the shop- 
keeper knows his customer's residence and an agreement is made with 
him to send the articles home, the stranger as he passes through the 
fashionable quarter of the town may be surprised to find himself followed 
by a procession of Maltese porters, in single file, the first shouldering 
a bedstead, the second a wardrobe, the third a washstand, the fourth a 
centre-table, while chairs, pots and frying pans bring up the rear." 

The sight-seer notices that even in the hubbub of the market-place 
■every one is polite. Men take off their hats to each other when they 
meet and when they part. The customer even observes the same courtesy 
in entering and leaving the shop of the tradesman who, he knows, will 
swindle him if he can. Bearded friends are even more demonstrative. 
They kiss each other on the cheeks, pressing each other's hand the while, 
as if they had not met for half a lifetime. When finally they are free of 
each other it is observed that they commence to finger strings of beads, 
and this they do, not that they are saying their prayers, but merely for 
want of something to do with their hands. 

There are dishonest Greek merchants as there are dishonest commer- 
cial orentlemen in England and America, but the wholesale slauofhter of 
their characters, in which crime many Europeans indulge, is quite unjust. 
Their ways of dealing are often not as direct, as blunt, as those of 
Western nations, and their shrewdness — often merely employed as a 
chess or a checker player would his nimblest wit — has gained the advan- 
tage of many members of the commercial world. Their ideas are also 
offensively republican, and in all territories where Turkish influence is 
felt it is useless to expect anything but the blackness of the foulest char- 
acter to fall upon the Greek. 

THE GREEK AT HOME. 

What they are at home, what the Greeks are in Athens and in 
other large towns ought to be an assurance that, abroad, they are not 
entirely delivered to the Evil One. Classical scholars, who are also 
historical students, find that the Greeks of 2,000 years ago are the Greeks 
of to-day — oftentimes with the same features, virtually speaking the 
same language, subtle, vain of dress and of martial bearing, proud, 
ambitious, intellectual, inquisitive, restless and patriotic — both man 
and woman, priest and layman. The family relation is sacred. Fathers 



676 ^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

sacrifice themselves to give their children good educations. Brothers 
will not marry until their sisters are provided for; and the daughter or 
sister is expected to "listen to reason," and, if she does not find the 
gentleman really distasteful, to abide by the judgment of her elders. 
The Greeks are emphatically a chaste people- — so say they who have 
lived among them. They are a temperate people; for though they 
drink wine made from pure grape juice, fermented in barrels, they leave 
rum and brandy to foreigners and sailors. Of the foreigners. English- 
men and Americans are reported to be the hardest drinkers. The 
Greeks are hospitable as in the ancient days — they feed a beggar before 
they listen to his story. 

The majority of the dwelling houses are found in the newer por- 
tion of Athens, as compared to the district whose nucleus is the King's 
palace and the Square of the Constitution. They are generally built of 
cobble stones, with an entrance through a gate and courtyard for the 
first flat family and another front door for the second flat people. 
Each house has its balcony, which is generally occupied by the lady of 
the house and her friends, who, during pleasant weather, visit each other 
out-of-doors and enjoy the sights. Inside, the furnishings are so plain 
as to make the rooms seem almost bare. A few rugs on the floor, chairs 
and sofas, with gaily colored ceilings, however comprise the chief addi- 
tions to plain boards. 

Behind the house, again, is the garden, where the average Greek 
lives when at home, if he is not smoking or gossiping in his balcony. 
"In very many of the gardens, or in the court yards of private dwell- 
ings, the visitor notices small fragments of ancient sculpture set up 
against the wall or inserted in it ; portions of vases, bas-reliefs, a trunk- 
less head, or a headless trunk, inscriptions, etc., which were discovered 
for the most part on the spot where they are now seen, having been 
turned up in the excavations during the progress of the building. The 
removal of antiquities from the country is now forbidden by law, but 
the discoverer is permitted to retain them as his personal property." 

LIFE AND DEATH. 

It will be during the winter and early spring months that the aver- 
age Athenian will most revel in the charms of his climate. The rains 
of autumn are followed by a soft, glorious sunlight, and though a brisk 
northern zephyr may occasionally stray into the city and snow may 
whiten the summits of neighboring mountains, all in all Old Probs is 
a god who rules with wonderful discretion. During the late spring, 
summer and fall, hot blasts sweep over the plains of Attica and the 



THE FAMOUS LAURIUM MINES. 677 

Athenian is covered and choked with dust without, or driven to his 
house by swarms of insects to undergo partial suffocation, to the baths 
near the city, to his country estate, or to the islands of the seas. 

Necessarily, the social season of Athens is confined to the winter 
and spring months. Society is exclusive, although its entertainments 
are on a small scale. The royal dinners and balls, enjoyed several times 
monthly, are given in the palace — in one of the finest halls of Europe — 
and at these gatherings the men and women of the best society reveal 
the fact that the former are the lovers of dress ; for no gentleman who 
can appear in a gaudy uniform with a decoration neglects to make him- 
self prominent. The season is closed with the carnival, the upper classes 
maintaining the same good breeding which marks their conduct in sea- 
sons of unlicensed conviviality ; the mass of people, however, throng 
the streets attired in fantastic costumes, and act as common mortals 
always do during the carnival season. 

Toward this scene of boisterous gayety comes a Greek funeral pro- 
cession, the priests, or it may be, a single priest, in front, chanting his 
service. Loud voices are hushed, grotesque head pieces are removed 
and the sign of the cross is upon every breast. The corpse is borne in a 
light, open casket, and is attired in every-day garments ; the head is ele- 
vated as if the shut eyes were gazing in adoration at the picture of the 
Virgin, which is placed upon the breast. Should the deceased be a 
female, her cheeks and lips are painted red. A peculiarity of the Greek 
procession is that the mourners do not follow the coffin in solemn 
couples but group around it, as if loth to leave the side of their dear 
one. " When a person of distinguished position dies," says a late U, S. 
Minister to Greece, " the funeral procession becomes an imposing spec- 
tacle, with the bishop and priests in their gorgeous sacerdotal robes, 
numerous lighted candles and martial music. I once saw the body of a 
venerable bishop of the Greek Church carried in procession through the 
streets of Athens. He was seated in his bishop's chair, elevated above 
the people, and was clothed in his canonical robes with mitre on head 
and the crosier uplifted in his hand. A cloth around the forehead 
bound it to the back of the chair, but not sufficiently close to prevent 
the head from bobbing up and down, as if the dead man's pale and rigid 
features were saluting, for the last time, the people among whom he had 
exercised his holy office for over three score years. In this position he 
was placed in the grave, a peculiar honor to his ecclesiastical rank." 

THE FAMOUS LAURIUM MINES. 

The district south of Athens, in Southeastern Attica, is a collection 
of mountains with a few villages, the only one of historic interest being 



678 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Ergasteria ; and that village is only famous for the mines near it. To- 
the left of Athens is Salamis, to the right, but further north, the plain 
of Marathon, and to the south the mines of Laurium. Silver, lead, zinc 
and antimony have been taken from the rocky promontory from remote 
antiquity. They are known to have been successfully worked in Themis- 
tocles' time up to the commencement of the Christian era, and tradi- 
tion even makes the founders of the industry to be the ancient Phoeni- 
cians. They were a very important source of Athens' wealth, supplying 
her with money with which to build her fleets and maintain her power;: 
in fact, there is reason to suspect that many vessels were constructed by 
the Athenians as much to obtain a firm possession of the mines, which 
were more than a score of mountainous miles away, as to maintain her 
political freedom. 

Nicias, the Athenian general — the cautious, the pious, the super- 
stitious Nicias, who, with Demosthenes, was put to death because his 
fleet was destroyed by the enemy, the gods through an eclipse of the 
moon having ordered him to risk an engagement — Nicias, the pious cap- 
italist, worked the mines of Laurium, and drove his thousand slaves under 
ground into the stifling atmosphere laden with the poisonous smoke from 
the lead furnaces. This was the fifth century B. C. During the Pelo- 
ponnesian War there appear to have been some interruptions in the 
workings, and in the first century of our era, Strabo says that these, 
once celebrated mines were exhausted ; that new mining did not pay, 
and that people were smelting the poorer ore and the scoriae from which 
the ancients had imperfectly separated the metal. From that time until 
the latter portion of the present century operations were conducted in a 
heartless fashion. In 1863 Marseilles capitalists purchased the mines, 
with the privilege of working them or using the scoriae from which the 
ancients had not completely separated the ore. The modern enterprise 
was so successful that the Greek government repented of its bargain and 
complications arose which overturned several ministries and caused 
France and Italy to interfere to protect the interests of the Marseilles 
capitalists. The government claimed that they attempted to evade pay- 
ment of ground rent. The chasm was bridged, however, by the sale of 
the mines to a Greek company. 

The town which modern companies have built is occupied by about 
3,000 operatives. The refuse which the ancient miners threw from the 
bowels of the mountains and piled near the openings of the pits in im- 
mense hillocks, is much of it covered with earth and vegetation ; but 
neither French nor Greek company has found it profitable to open up 
new veins of ore, but continues to excavate the refuse and truck it down 



marathon's plain. 679 

to the port of Ergasteria, where it is smelted. The result is much lead 
and little silver. Many of the old pits — centuries old — are still open, 
and entrance into the earth is effected by means of good steps, the 
passages being two or three miles in length ; they are on a colossal 
scale, well arched and carefully supported according to the strict injunc- 
tions of Athenian law. It is said that in some of these vast passage- 
ways are many inscriptions, in which the name of Nicias appears. 

MARATHON'S PLAIN. 

A crescent-shaped strip of land by the sea-shore, looking toward the 
east and surrounded by hills, on the direct line of travel across a bold 
peninsula to Athens — this is the famous plain of Marathon. When the 
Athenians marched through a broad valley to the southwest and came 
upon the plain, the Persians had landed at its northern extremity, where 
the water was deep, and there was no swamp land along the shore. The 
Grecian army marched out to meet them, for had the Persians been 
allowed to gain the village of Marathona, they would have rounded a. 
mountain spur, descended into the plain of Attica, and put themselves 
between the Greeks and their capital. But marching along the crest of 
a chain of hills, the Greeks covered Marathona, and ventured out into 
the plain to give the host of invaders battle. The central point of the 
conflict is fixed by a mound of clay, thirty feet high, upon which formerly 
stood a lion of victory ; but the lion has mj'steriously disappeared and 
the mound has been honey-combed by antiquarians. It is half a mile 
from the sea, and a mile from the steep slope of one of the hills. The 
plain is treeless, but a few small fields of grain, in season, cluster around 
the battle mound, and herds of cattle wander along the peaceful shore 
which was once alive with hosts of proud and then affrighted Persians. 
There are a few silent herdsmen about, either sleepily watching their 
charges, or bathing in the blue waters ; but, it may be, that there is no 
other sign of life on land or sea. The Italian beggar, though he has 
penetrated to most historical spots, does not disturb the serenity of the 
picture. The plain is six miles by two, and Lord Byron tells us that the 
Greek government offered him this entire tract of land for a sum which 
would be equivalent to less than five thousand dollars. 

ROCKY SALAMIS. 

Ten miles west of Athens is " Rocky Salamis," with its lofty moun- 
tains and rocky hills. It was the key to the harbor of Piraeus, which, 
in turn, covered glorious Athens. Li the seventh century B. C. it became 



680 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

a portion of Attica, for although it contains only thirty square miles it 
had been made a kingdom by the father of the mighty Ajax. Solon 
was born within its barren limits and so was Euripides, but most of all 
is the stanch isle famous for the victory which Themistocles gained over 
the fleet of Xerxes, near its rocky shores. In modern times it has been 
a place of refuge to which the people of Attica have retreated when 
pressed by the Turks. 

On the bay of Salamis, north of the island, is a wretched village con- 
taining a great marble pavement and around whose huts lie vast frag- 
ments of pillars and capitals. To this wretched village of Eleusis cling 
the most sacred memories of ancient Greece, and these fragments of 
ruins mark the sites of the grand temples in which were celebrated the 
religious mysteries in honor of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and the 
representative of the procreative power in nature. From gross mytho- 
logical representations the festivals were gradually so refined that they 
were believed to be symbolic of the unity of God and the immortality of 
the soul. The religious exercises were free to all, but in the secret alle- 
gorical representations no one participated except the initiated ; we say 
free to all, but an exception was made in the cases of murderers, bar- 
barians, slaves, epicureans and, later, of Christians. But notwithstanding 
these exclusions, the broadest minds of Greece and Rome, from Plato 
to Cicero, were enthusiastic in praise of the purifying influences of the 
Mysteries. Cicero, who was one of the initiated, has this to say of them : 
"Much that is excellent and divine does Athens seem to me to have 
produced and added to our life, but nothing better than those Mysteries, 
by which we are formed and moulded from a rude and savage life to 
humanity; and indeed in the Mysteries we perceive the real principles of 
life, and learn not only to live happily but to die with a fairer hope." 

FROM ATHENS TO THEBES. 

If the Athenians retain any of their ancient animosities toward the 
Thebans, they must take a grim satisfaction in the low estate to which their 
city is fallen. The road between the two places is good, and although a 
great semi-circular fort, built of square hewn stones with its massive towers, 
still commands the passes of the mountains which separate Boetiafrom 
Attica, it merely frowns upon the traveler, but is harmless. It is a relic of 
the time when Attica was obliged to protect every approach to Athens, 
and especially when Sparta and Thebes were banded against her. This 
fort was a garrison, capable of accommodating not merely an army, but, 
in case of a sudden invasion, many shepherds with their flocks and 
herds. The straight wall is perfect, the curved side having fallen to 



FROM THEBES TO MOUNT PARNASSUS. . 68 1 

pieces in many places. The chief point of defense must have been 
where the fort passes over a huge rock which bars the one path toward 
which the roads from Boetia converge to pass the crest of a mountain 
on their way toward Athens. From the fort, two or three miles distant, 
can be seen the mountain pass which commands a complete view of the 
plain of Thebes and the whole of Boetia, the scene of so many great 
battles, — Plataea, Leuctra, Coronea, Chaeroneia and others, the latter 
being the battle ground upon which Philip of Macedon crushed the 
liberties of Greece. After the death of Philip, the Thebans attempted 
to regain their freedom, but the son, Alexander, was even to be more 
feared than the father, for he took their city, leveled it to the ground 
and sold its inhabitants into slavery. It was rebuilt, destroyed by the 
Romans, and, as if man were not stern enough, nature has opened its 
jaws to swallow it and has many times shaken down its walls. So that 
there is, perhaps, no city which stands upon its ancient site having so 
few fragments to show of its past life. With the exception of a few 
foundations in the ground and several inscribed slabs stowed away in a 
rough shed, ancient Thebes has disappeared from the face of the earth, 
architecturally speaking, and is known principally as a city which 
furnished many bold warriors the poet Pindar and the brave and virtu- 
ous Epaminondas. 

Modern Thebes contains a few thousand people, and near by is 
pointed out what purports to be the tomb of St. Luke. Its water sup- 
ply is excellent, being led from adjacent springs through conduits of 
marble, which are, by the way, one other remnant of ancient days. 

FROM THEBES TO MOUNT PARNASSUS. 

From Thebes, toward the west, toward Mount Parnassus and Del- 
phi, is through a rich country, in many places marshy. The famous 
battle sites in this region are passed by, some of the towns surrounded 
by faint outlines of ancient walls. Skirting around the shores of Lake 
Copias splendid specimens of the hill forts are seen, the walls, as were 
those of Athens' maritime port, being constructed of square hewn 
stones, clamped with iron and lead. In fact, remains of these wonderful 
fortifications are so common among the mountains which separated for- 
mer rival states that they have often escaped particular mention. From 
the lake toward the three-peaked mount, covered with the snows of 
heaven and sacred to Bacchus, Apollo and the Muses, the journey lies 
through Chaeroneia, which has its grand acropolis, a huge fort upon 
a rock which commands the country around the lake and toward 



682 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the northwest — toward Thessaly and ancient Macedonia, from whence 
marched the great conqueror of Greece. Although the fort wall is but 
a few feet in height, it is placed upon the edges of sheer descents or 
natural fortifications, and even now shows an outline of fully a mile 
running over the rock. A curiosity which no traveler misses, albeit 
there is nothing historical about it, is the little open-air theatre cut out 
of solid rock, a copy of the enormous structures in other parts of 
Greece and Italy. But from Chaeroneia came the industrious and wise 
Plutarch, and the great historian and biographer was wont to sit in this 
little rocky theatre and enjoy what hours of leisure he had. Near the 
theatre is a beautiful Greek fountain ; beautiful maidens, wearing neck- 
laces of gold and silver coins and garments of rich embroidered wool, 
are working in the gardens of the houses, a marble lion, in whose 
upturned face as he crouches upon a mound of earth is expressed the 
heroic grief of fallen Thebes and conquered Greece, are a few contrast- 
ing pictures which meet the tourist who lingers at Chseroneia. 

But sooner or later, every traveler in Greece, as every native did in 
the olden times, reaches the oracle of Delphi. The scenery along the 
different routes which lead to Mount Parnassus (or as modern geog- 
raphers have it Mount Liakura), is calculated to draw one away from 
himself into the region of the gods — and the shepherds and mountaineers 
have a firm faith in their existence, especially if their native town has 
rocked and heaved, or a milder earthquake has sent a boulder into their 
midst from an insecure height. Many of their songs and ballads bear 
witness to the honesty of their beliefs. They are a vigorous and long- 
lived people and bear the greatest animosity toward Charon, their god 
of death, when he claims the life of the young. 

The story goes — where it comes from no one knows — that one of 
these simple shepherds was in the habit of feeding his flocks near the 
base of Mount Parnassus, where two of its peaks come so closely 
together as to form a dark, mysterious gorge ; from the fissure burst 
forth a mighty fountain, or stream. Near by was a small opening in the 
ground from which arose a cool vapor. It was a charming place for the 
shepherd's goats, and they quietly browsed and nibbled, unless by 
chance they approached too near the issuing vapor. Then they sprang 
about as if they were mad. The shepherd investigated, breathed the 
divine vapor and immediately commenced to prophesy. The wonder 
spread from shepherd to shepherd, from hamlet to hamlet, until the 
oracle of Apollo became established and the inhabitants of a neighboring 
town, upon one of the slopes of the mountain, united to form the town 
of Delphi. Nobility joined with peasantry, and the next we notice is 



FROM THEBES TO MOUNT PARNASSUS, 683. 

that the fame of the oracle has extended over Greece, and that the 
fountain which issued from the cavern between the sacred peaks was 
confined in a great square basin cut from the rock, and the vaporous 
fissure was surrounded by a grand temple of marble. Within the tem- 
ple was a golden statue of Apollo and 3,000 exquisite works in bronze 
and marble. Over the chasm from which arose the inspiring vapor was 
a three-legged seat — a bronze tripod, formed of three intertwined ser- 
pents. . Upon the tripod was an awe-stricken woman, and before her 
were gravely attentive priests, and men and women whose heads were 
bound with olive garlands or fillets of wool. The vast temple was 
thronged with silent spectators and worshipers at the shrine of the god. 
Those whose heads were bound had come to consult the oracle upon 
matters of state, war, adventure, or private moment. The priestess was 
of low birth ; the priests, or interpreters, were nobles. As the woman 
breathed the ascending vapor she began to writhe and at last to rave 
incoherently to the multitude. Her words, however, were interpreted by 
the attending priests, the oracle being immediately delivered in verse, 
or handed over by them to the poet of the temple. 

The fame of the oracle spread from Greece over the civilized world, 
and pilgrims from many lands were attracted to Delphi. The priests 
were thus able to collect information of a truly cosmopolitan range, and 
the responses which issued from the shrine in answer to the inquiries of 
warriors, statesmen, and even kings, were to the world divinely wise and 
prophetic. The fame of the oracle made Delphi a wealthy city, but in 
the many subsequent wars through which she passed, her people were 
obliged to witness the destruction of their own town, and the denuding 
of the famous temple. With the rise of Christianity, also, the power of 
the oracle decayed, and the priestess of the temple, through her far-seeing 
attendants, thus confessed it when the Emperor Julian, in 362 A. D., 
came to receive divine instruction: "Tell the Kingr the fair-wrouo^ht 
dwelling has sunk into the dust ; Phoebus has no longer a shelter or a 
prophetic laurel, neither has he a speaking fountain ; the fair water is 
dried up." 

A few years thereafter, the Emperor Theodosius closed the pagan 
oracle. The marble temple fell into ruins, the cleft from which issued 
the inspiring vapors was filled up by Christians, and after time and piety 
had done their work, the huge hand of the earthquake fell upon the 
scene, tumbled the ruins down the cliffs, and cast a mighty boulder into 
the basin of the fountain in whose sacred waters the pilgrims purified 
themselves before approaching the shrine of Apollo. But the spring 
still gushes from between Parnassus' peaks, and upon a small plateau 



684 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

far above the modern town of Castri, are marks of a race course where 
the public games were celebrated as early as the sixth century B. C. 

ON SACRED GROUND. 

Climbing one of the off-shoots of Parnassus by a steep, rocky path, 
a table-land, usually covered with green, is reached ; on one side towers 
the gray, round peak of Apollo and the Muses and the smaller white peak 
sacred to Bacchus. The word sacred is used with a reservation, for the 
orgies which were held in his name near this peak were so shameful that 
they were celebrated by the women of Attica and Delphi at night. They 
were clad in fawn-skins, danced about with wildly streaming hair and 
swung about the thyrsus, the staff entwined with ivy and surmounted by 
a pine cone, or a bunch of vine leaves, which was Bacchus' godlike wand 
of office. The ox, which was sacred to the god, was, by some illogical 
freak, always torn to pieces, and in very ancient times human sacrifices 
were not uncommon. 

In a hill opposite to Parnassus is an immense cavern ; its roof thick 
with stalactites and its floor with huge, snowy stalagmites. It was a 
favorite place of refuge in both the Persian and Turkish wars, but its 
classical interest lies in the story which makes it the birthplace of Hero- 
phila, the first sibyl who prophesied at Delphi. 

CORINTH AND THE PELOPONNESUS. 

As Corinth was the key to the Peloponnesus, in a military sense, so 
it is the natural starting point for the tourist in his travels. No great 
masters of literature lent their names toward its adornment, but it ever 
maintained the commercial character with which it was endowed when 
the Phoenicians, or some other mercantile colonists, gave it birth. Its 
wealth furnished the means by which Athens was so harassed during 
•the Peloponnesian war, and until it became jealous of the growing 
power of Sparta, its sympathies and fleets were with the latter as against 
both Thebes and Athens. Corinth was the center of the league formed 
.against the Romans, who, in revenge, during the second century B. C, 
utterly destroyed it. A century thereafter, it was rebuilt by Julius Csesar, 
.and for 1800 years was alternately in the hands of Romans, Venetians 
and Turks. During the Greek revolution the latter burned it to the 
ground and in 1858 the straggling efforts of a new city were swallowed 
by an earthquake. The most of modern Corinth is built around the 
ruins of the ancient city, and is already a busy town. 

Old Corinth exists only in a few broken walls and seven giant pil- 



Agamemnon's city. ' 685, 

lars, each formed of a single stone. But the supreme attraction is the great 
citadel or acropolis, called the Acrocorinthus. It is an isolated hill, 2,000 
feet high, separated from the mountain range on the north by a wide 
plain. At its foot lie the ruins of Old Corinth and the new town_ 
Anciently, the city was surrounded by walls which included her gigantic 
watch-tower. She had two harbors, one on the ^gean coast, the other 
on the Gulf of Lepanto, which opens into the Adriatic sea, the latter 
being connected with the city by two strong walls. The approach of an 
enemy from Rome or Persia, from Athens, Thebes or Sparta, could be 
discerned miles away; Grecian foes, in fact, could scarcely have vent- 
ured out from their cities before they would have been discerned by the 
watchman upon the acropolis. According to military authorities the 
Acrocorinthus is the most gigantic natural citadel in Europe, not except- 
ing Athens or Gibraltar. 

The surface of the rock is a mile square, and inside the wall which 
bounds it are the ruins of a large Turkish town, its poor deserted 
houses having been built almost entirely from the marbles and stones of 
Old Corinth. About the middle of the plateau, where it descends quite 
abruptly, is the famous well of Pirene, which Grecian mythology makes 
out to have formerly been a broken-hearted mother, weeping crystal tears 
at the death of her son. The water averages twelve feet in depth and 
is absolutely colorless, or so nearly so that it is impossible to discover 
where its surface touches the marble steps by which one descends. A 
ruined marble structure stands over the fountain, covered with Greek 
inscriptions. The well of Pegasus is also worth drinking from, although, 
the statue of the famous steed, which formerly surmounted it, is gone. 

AGAMEMNON'S CITY. 

South from Corinth, passing between chalky hills, with goats and 
bees on every side, one comes upon the ruins of Mycenae, the city of 
King Agamemnon, the stately king who led the Grecian forces against 
Troy to avenge his brother's insult. The walls of the city may be 
traced running along the backbone of a ridge which rises from a plain,, 
beyond which are a deep ravine and a chain of high mountains. They 
are built of enormous blocks of stone, and the principal gate is of a like 
style of architecture, over it being two stone lions who seem about to. 
dispute the passage of any one beneath them. 

Outside of the city walls, or the citadel, is a hill, within which are 
situated two chambers, circular in form and constructed in the titanic 
style, which has given rise to the story that Mycenae's walls were built: 
by the Cyclops. The largest of them is 40 feet high and 50 feet broad. 



686 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



The lintel-stone of the entrance is 27 feet long, and from above it 
grows a fig tree, which throws a soft shade over the blackness of the 
doorway. The chambers, or structure, have been called "the treasury 
of Atreus" — Atreus being the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. 
But the position of the subterranean chambers, outside the walls of the 
city and separated from it also by a ravine, has led thoughtful investi- 
gators to consider it as a tomb — as the tomb of Agamemnon. 

THE MOST ANCIENT GREECE. 



Beyond Mycenae, nearer the sea, is Tiryns, and Argos lies upon the 
shore. These three cities, Tiryns being surrounded by a fortress of 
more primitive construction than that of Mycenae, were the scenes of 

the very earliest Greek settlements. Per- 
seus, the son of Jupiter, is, in fact, said 
to have lived at Argos, to have ruled 
over Tiryns and to have founded My- 
cenae. The walls of Tiryns, which are 
covered with thistles, are built of rude 
stones and occupy a low hill. The ruins 
seem to consist of a small fort with an 
outer wall, several towers and a remark- 
able covered gallery. 

Unlike Mycenae and Tiryns, Argos 
is a modern town, exhibiting many marks 
of prosperity. Its manufactures of silks 
and carpets are not unimportant, and, in 
promise and performance, it ranks perhaps 
next to Athens. Ancient Argos, upon 
whose site it is built, has always been 
considered the oldest settlement in 
Greece, its history stretching so far back 
into mythology that its early portion is valueless. In the peninsular of 
Argolis, if not near Argos, Hercules himself is believed to have 
been born. Argos was at one time the head of a powerful Doric league, 
and was a city of famous musicians, of artists and of priests. Latterly, 
Sparta robbed it of its supremacy, as Argos crushed Mycenae. The 
most noteworthy remains of its former magnificence are those of its vast 
open-air theatre, cut from the rock, and overlooking the blue bay of 
Argolis, with lofty mountains all around. Some seventy tiers of seats 
are still to be counted, and there are doubtless many more at the foot of 




EMBOSSED SHOULDER STRAP. 



SPARTA AND MESSENIA. 687 

the hill covered with rubbish. The town's little museum has several 
striking pieces of statuary illustrative of ancient Greek art. A relief of 
the head of Medusa, on a square block of white marble, is a memento of 
the adventures of the mighty Perseus. 

Near Argos, where the plain opens upon the sea, is the Lernean 
marsh where Hercules obtained his victory over the hydra-headed mon- 
ster, and not many miles away is where he conquered the Nemean lion. 
The entire plain of Argos, in fact, is so famous, and the natives were of 
so heroic and adventurous a spirit, that other nations often spoke of the 
Greeks themselves as Argives. 

SPARTA AND MESSENIA. 

The next point of great interest, going south from Argos, is Sparta, 
and on the road between the two places, a rugged hill is passed, where 
Epaminondas, the great man and general of Thebes, received his death- 
wound and died in the moment of victory, with the names of his two 
daughters upon his lips. There is also an ancient town called Tegea, 
containing a church with five domes, which is erected upon the site of 
the temple of Minerva ; in this latter structure was long preserved the 
skin of the Calydonian boar — another of Hercules' victims. 

Modern Sparta is a fresh-looking town, with broad streets, sur- 
rounded by groves of olive trees and fields of corn, and beyond are 
■clayey hills and snowy mountains, flecked with patches of bright green. 
The substantial looking houses, with their bright gardens and orchards of 
orange trees, are enclosed by white-washed walls. Naturally, the old 
acropolis stands near the site of old Sparta, of which virtually nothing 
remains. The museum contains among its small array of antiquities a 
head, found in the neighborhood, and supposed to represent Lycurgus. 

Still swinging in an irregular circle around Peloponnesus, and 
leaving Sparta for the west, another locality must be noticed, for it was 
made famous by the battle of Leuctra in which Epaminondas broke the 
power of the tyrannic Spartans and founded a city as a place of refuo-e 
for all who were oppressed. The modern town of Sinano, built upon a 
plain fringed with high hills, occupies the site of ancient Megalopolis, 
into which were drawn the people from forty towns of Arcadia, but 
which was finally burned by the Spartans and its inhabitants slaughtered. 
A few miles west of Sinano is the rude village of Leondari, which lies 
uoon the edge of the old battle-ground. 

Beyond, toward the Adriatic Sea, are the fertile plains of Messenia, 
whose beautiful cities and bounteous harvests of wheat, the Spartans 
coveted and conquered. For three centuries the Messenians exiled 



688 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



themselves to Sicily, where they founded Messina, but at the end of that 
period the descendants of the conquered people joyfully responded to 
the invitation of Epaminondas (369 B. C), returned to possess their 
native land and built the new city of Messene. Here it is, or at the 

foot of a mountain peak near their 
city, that the ancient Messinians made 
their last stand for their country, un- 
der the brave Aristomenes, and whose 
shield, three centuries later, Epaminon- 
das set up as a standard on the battle- 
field of Leuctra. The ruins of the second 
Messene, built under the direction of the 
Theban patriot to the sound of the flute, 
are still visible on the plain and over sev- 
eral bold ridges of land. "The walls 
must have been thirty feet high. Their 
huore stones are fitted totjether without 
mortar. One of the high towers still stands, 
and you can trace portions of others and 
mark the course of the walls over the crest 
of several hills. But most surprising is 
the central gate, called the gate of Arcadia. 
It is double, containing a circular court 
sixty-two feet in diameter. This court is 
all lined with masonry of gigantic stones, 
and has niches which once contained 
statues." 

From the summits of the surrounding 
hills, the monks and villagers of the plain 
^ saw the mighty flames which announced 
the destruction of the Turkish navy by 
that of the allied powers, at Navarino. 
VENUS OF MiLo. f hc samc bay of Navarino, over twenty- 

two centuries ago, witnessed the great sea-fight between the Athenians, 
under Cleon, and the Spartans, in which the latter were defeated. 

A FAMOUS STATUE. 

At this point we leave the Peloponnesus, for a short time, to visit 
an island of the sea, some seventy miles east of Lacedsemonia, of which 
Sparta was the capital. Milo, one of the Cyclades, was early colonized 
by the Lacedaemonians, and, at the time of the Peloponnesian war, its 




PEACEFUL OLYMPIA AND HER GAMES. 689 

capital, which was called by that name, was a great city. But it was cap- 
tured and ruined by the Athenians, its adult males put to death and the 
balance of the populace sold into slavery. The works of art, which, 
within the past century have been found in and about Milo, indicate 
that the city partook largely of the enthusiasm which Phidias and his 
school inspired for both the sublime and the beautiful. The great mas- 
ter was in the height of his fame a few years before Milo was destroyed, 
and among other works of art which were discovered near the city, dur- 
ing the early part of the present century, the Venus — the Venus of Milo, 
in the palace of the Louvre, Paris — is believed to be, at least, the work 
of one of his imitators. 

PEACEFUL OLYMPIA AND HER GAMES. 

We now travel north toward a beautiful valley, into which the 
fierce wars between the states of Greece did not enter for several cent- 
uries more than a thousand years — Olympia, the scene of the great 
games celebrated in honor of the father of the gods. Their origin 
antedates history. The first firm step upon which one can stand is the 
recorded fact that they were revived by the King of Elis in 776 B. 
C. At first the contestants were confined to Peloponnesus, but the 
favor was afterward extended to the whole of Greece and to Rome. For 
ten months previous to the celebration of the games the combatants 
trained in the great gymnasium, and when the month of July came 
around heralds started out to traverse every state of Greece and pro- 
claim the cessation of hostilities ; and whether in peace or war the ter- 
ritory of Olympia was held inviolable. 

The most sanctified spot of the sacred valley was the grove, which 
enclosed a level space about 4,000 by 2,000 feet, in which were the tem- 
ples, monuments, altars, theatres and grounds for the celebration of the 
games. On two sides the sacred grove was bounded by clear streams 
of water, on the north by rocky hills and westward it looked toward 
the Ionian sea; a broad way crossed the grounds from east to west, 
along which the processions passed in honor of the proud victors. The 
two most magnificent buildings were the "Olympium," which contained a 
colossal statue of Zeus by the renowned Phidias, as well as other splen- 
did figures and paintings, and the Heraeum, dedicated to Hera, the wife 
of the god, and the queen of Heaven. In the latter temple was' the 
table on which were placed the garlands of wild olive twigs cut from a 
sacred tree of the sacred grove for the brows of the Olympic victors. 
There were also great buildings erected to preserve the thousands of 
offerings which poured in from wealth and genius throughout Greece. 



44 



690 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

At the eastern end of the grove were the stadium and hippodrome, 
where the contests took place. 

The stadium was the foot-race course and measured 606 feet 9 
inches ; and from this circumstance was estabhshed tlie Greek unit of 
measure, a stadium. Upon the games themselves, which were celebrated 
every fifth year, the Greeks founded a system of chronology which con- 
tinued in force from 776 B. C. until 394 A. D. The Roman emperors 
commenced the " New Olympic Era" in 131 A. D. 

It will thus be seen that for nearly twelve centuries, at least, the 
Grecians indulged in these contests of strength and skill, the victors 
being as much honored as if they had carried a great battle for their 
country. They w^ere generally exempt from public taxation, statues 
were erected to them, poets of the land celebrated them in song, and 
they became, in fact, not only the favorite children of their native states, 
but the heroes of Greece. Emperors, even, entered the lists, that their 
names might shine with a greater lustre. 

With the exception of the priestess of Ceres, women were excluded 
from the games. They were even forbidden to be present, on pain of 
being thrown headlong from the Typa^an rock. Several of the priest- 
esses came off victors in the games, but the women, as a rule, when they 
had aspirations beyond the household, devoted themselves to politics^ 
art or poetry. One of the most noted of these women flourished 
nearly a century before Pindar, the Theban, arose to celebrate in verse 
the glories and triumphs of the national games and victors. Sappho, 
although born in Lesbos, off the coast of Asia Minor, formed a school of 
poetry, gave birth to the Sapphic metre, and gathered around her the 
bright minds of her own sex from many distant islands, and from Greece 
itself. 

OLYMPIA'S RUINS. 

A faint reflection of the glory of the games shines through history, 
and only a few traces of the great temples have been brought from the 
ruins of an earthquake. Broken segments of columns mark the site of 
the Temple of Zeus, and several blocks of stone tell where w^as his altar 
in the central part of the Olympic grounds. Opposite Zeus' Temple was 
that of Hera, his wife, standing in the corners of the grove ; her temple 
is likewise buried almost from view. Phidias' great statue of Zeus in 
ivory and gold has disappeared, but the grand creation of Hermes (Mer- 
cury) by Praxiteles, which was placed in the Temple of Hera, has been 
partially recovered, and, with other broken fragments so incompletely 
illustrating the magnificence of the past, is stored away in an unworthy 



ARCADIAN SIMPLICITY. 69 I 

museum. The temples which protected the votive offerings to the gods 
are yet to be explored. The gymnasium and the stadium are partially 
excavated, and the hippodrome hides its curiosities. The river Alpheus, 
upon whose banks Mercury is said to have slaughtered the sacred cattle 
which he stole from Apollo, has somewhat changed its course since the 
sacred grove was abandoned and is eating its way toward the hippo- 
drome, which is immediatel)' above the stadium. 

ARCADIAN SIMPLICITY. 

In order to reach the gulf of Lepanto, after viewing the ruins of 
Olympia, you journey in a northeasterly direction through a country 
bordering upon the far-famed Arcadia. This country is believed to have 
given birth to the Grecian Hermes ; more particularly, Mount Cyllene 
is said to have had the honor of being his birthplace ; four hours there- 
after he invented the lyre, at nightfall filched the sacred cattle from 
Apollo, and thus commenced his wonderful career in the fields of ad- 
venture,^ music, letters, gymnastics, agriculture and general ingenuity, 
generosity and rascality. The mountain is in the northeastern part of 
Arcadia and is the highest in the Peloponnesus. 

Arcadia was an elevated tract of country, girt and intersected with 
mountains, and almost isolated from the rest of Greece. So that when 
civilization had advanced to high and complex forms in the remainder 
of the country, the people of Arcadia were dancing and singing, tending 
their cattle and flocks in the fertile valleys of the east and hunting in the 
dense forests of the west. It is believed these "Arcadian" customs were 
accompanied by human sacrifices as late as the time of Alexander the 
Great. Although poets of all ages have grown rapturous over the beau- 
tiful simplicities of life which ruled in fair Arcadia, its inhabitants were 
rather so notorious for their ignorance that the Greek synonym for a 
blockhead was, for ages, an Arcadian youth. 

SOLDIER MONKS. 

In the mountainous region between Arcadia, Elis and Achaia in 
Northern Peloponnesus, was originated the revolution of 1821 against 
the Turkish government. From the Convent of St. Laura, upon a 
wooded hill, the Archbishop Germanos, of the Greek Church, first raised 
the standard of revolt wlrich was productive of so much ill and so much 
good to the people of his country. 

Further north is the great Convent of Megaspelion, which is built 
against the mouth of a great cave, and above it towers a high hill, upon 



692 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

whose rocky face are stamped three crosses by nature and by God ; 
withhi the cave is a church and a number of cells. The convent itself 
is built solidly beneath, the upper portion of the massive pile consisting 
of several square towers, toward which many terraces of lighter buildings 
seem endeavoring to reach their summits. The monks of Megaspelion 
endeavor to prove that St. Luke wrote his gospel in Achaia and that 
the Virgin Mary appeared to two of their brothers, directing them to 
seek for her portrait in the Peloponnesus. By Divine guidance a goat 
was led to the cave and back again to its shepherdess. The animal 
bleated pathetically in the face of the maid, and appeared, furthermore,, 
with its beard dripping with cool water; so she returned with it finally to 
the miraculous cave, where, beside the crystal spring, she found a radi- 
ant image of Mary, modeled in wax and resin. The shepherdess was 
guided to the two brothers, and together they took possession of the 
treasure, which is still exhibited, dirty but entire, as the handiwork of 
St. Luke. 

But superstitions are not all which give interest to the convent. 
Its monks not only have furnished Grecian refugees with shelter but 
have fought the Turks in at least one pitched battle, upon a terrace named 
the Great Cross beyond the monastery. Here the holy men will point 
out, with open pride, a ruined building and portion of a tower, the 
remains of the Turkish garrison ; and among the treasures of the con- 
vent are two badges of the Order of the Saviour conferred by the King; 
upon soldier monks. 

THE GREEK CHURCH. 

Since the revolution the Greek Church has been a national institu- 
tion, incorporated into the constitution of the kingdom. In fact, so 
important a feature of its composition is it that the first article of the 
Hellenic constitution proclaims the " Orthodox Oriental Church of 
Christ " to be the dominant religion, and that " proselytism and all other 
interferences prejudicial to the dominant religion are forbidden." During" 
Turkish dominion the Greek Church was left untouched, as something 
which it was policy to leave untouched. Perhaps this policy of non- 
interference would not have been followed could the Porte have seen a. 
Greek bishop blessing the banner of revolt, and Greek priests opposing 
their own good swords and guns to Turkish and Egyptian soldiers. 

The Greek Church, therefore, which split off from the Church of 
Rome, on both doctrinal and ceremonial points, is itself split into three 
sections on the sharply-divided lines of race conflicts. Russia, Turkey 
and Greece has each her separate religious head. The supreme tribu- 



THE STYX. 



69: 



nal in Greece, as in Russia, is the Holy Synod, consisting of archbishops, 
bishops and one or two priests, appointed b}- the Crown. Two officers 
of the government have also the right of assisting, although they do not 
vote at its deliberations. The synod elects the bishops, but the Crown 
confirms and invests them ^vith the powers of office. 

So interwoven is the power of the Church with the structure of the 
state that the Greeks can not 
understand how one can fall 
without the other. Each 
priest, therefore, is a warrior, 
each bishop a general, and 
each monastery a castle, not 
to be taken without a fierce 
assault. 

The above being a diver- 
sion from the mountains of 
Achaia into the by-paths of 
history, w e continue our 
classical and historical jour- 
ney. 




THE STYX. 

From Megaspelion to 
the Styx is a ride of a few- 
miles through deep valleys 
and over pine-clad hills, un- 
til you come to Mount Chel- 
mos, with its three peaks. 
From the eastern one, over 
lofty and precipitous rocks, 
■often covered with snow, fall 
the waters of the Styx to the 
depths below ; they issue 
from a frowning cliff", the 
scenery around is weird and desolate, and it is no wonder that the 
Greeks associated them with the waters of the infernal river over which 
Charon presided. "By the Styx !" was their oath of most terrible 
earnestness. The waters of the Styx were believed to be poisonous and 
destructive to all metals, gold not excepted. Alexander the Great was 
reported to ha- e been poisoned by them. The waterfall has lost its 



A GREEK CROSS. 



694 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



name of the Styx, but the ancient horrors are reflected in the modern 
appellations — the " Black Waters," the "Terrible Waters." 

THE WATERS OF LEPANTO. 

From the summit of any of the hills in this region one may look 
over the Gulf of Corinth, or Gulf of Lepanto, and see on the opposite 
side the snowy peaks of Parnassus. We have visited Parnassus but 
must linger long enough on the southern shores of the gulf to call to 
mind one of the greatest naval conflicts ever fought ; blocking the Gulf 
of Lepanto, and spreading out for three miles, vi^as the Christian fleet 
commanded by Don John of Austria — Spaniards and Italians loaded 
into 300 vessels, 80,000 strong, while majestically moving over its blue 
waters was the Turkish armada, with 120,000 men who believed them- 




BAS RELIEF— GREEK OF FIFTH CENTURY. 

selves to be invincible. Among the allies, after Don John, if not before 
him, the person in whom we take most interest was Cervantes,' who was 
nothing then but a common soldier. He lived, however, to see the 
Turkish fleet destroyed and to write himself o.ie of the kindest-hearted 
satirists who ever became famous. Don John lived to have the Pope 
weep for him and to say of him, " There was a man sent from God and 
his name was John." 

BEYOND THE HISTORIC WATERS. 

The Island of Corfu, or ancient Corcyra, lies off the coast of 
Albania, Turkey, formerly the Epiius of old Greece. It is a moun- 
tainous country, cut up by fertile valleys, and blessed with a mild cli- 
mate, the favorite summer resort of the King and Queen of Greece, and 
hallowed by many associations. Corfu was colonized by the Corinthians 
twenty-five centuries a^o, and a few short years thereafter became so- 



A FAMOUS SOUTHERN ISLE. 695 

powerful that she vanquished her parents In the first naval engagement 
vi^hich history records. It has been a kingdom ; the property of the 
Romans, Normans, Venetians, French, Russians and Turks ; finally fell 
by treaty under the protectorate of Great Britain, and was ceded to 
Greece, its rightful owner. Ulysses is said to have been cast upon the 
island when tossed about by the gods on the stormy ocean, and from 
which he sailed home to his faithful Penelope, who had been so beset 
with suitors during his absence. Here Themistocles and Aristotle spent 
a portion of their exile, and Octavia and Antony were married, "^itus 
after the conquest of Jerusalem ; Helena on her way to Palestine in 
search of the true cross ; Augustus Caesar, who gave peace to the 
world ; Diocletian, the persecutor of the Christians; and poor blind Beli- 
sarius " are some of the illustrious persons who are said to have landed 
or sojourned on this island. It was near here, also, that the allied 
powers met to form their armada in battle array and move on toward 
the Gulf of Lepanto and the death of Turkish supremacy on the waters 
of the Southern seas. 

The city of Corfu and capital of the Greek monarchy is on the 
eastern coast of the island, only five miles from the opposite shores of 
Turkey, toward which its citadel boldly opposes itself, firmly planted 
upon a rocky point which projects out into the sea. At the west end of 
the town is another fortress, and still another on a small island one mile 
distant. It is the residence of a Greek archbishop, a town of tall, white 
houses and beautiful bays. " Less state!)' than Malta, and without the 
majesty of Gibraltar, Corfu surpasses both in its union of strength with 
softness of repose." 

Opposite Corfu are what were once the Epirus, Thessalia and 
Macedonia of ancient Greece, now Turkish territory 

A FAMOUS SOUTHERN ISLE. 

Far to the south — to the southern limit of the Grecian archipelago 
and the southernmost point of European land — ^is the Island of Candia, 
or Crete, in whose mountains which line the coasts was the famous 
labyrinth, or cave, of the Minotaur. Minos, the King of the island, is 
said to have been instructed by Jupiter, his father, in the government of 
his kingdom, and Lycurgus, again, to have founded the Spartan laws 
upon those of Crete. To Crete and the Minotaur came the tribute of 
seven youths and seven maidens from Athens, whom the Minotaur de- 
voured in his labyrinthine grotto until he was killed by Theseus. Even 
then the Grecian hero would have fared badly had he not in his posses- 
sion the clew of thread given him by Ariadne, the King's daughter, who 



696 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



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y :-.. 



















.-jr 



'^_ > 



s. 



\ '/i^^ . 







had fallen in love with him, and who 
thus furnished him with the means by 
which he found his way out of. the 
labyrinth. 

The Pelasgians, who were abo- 
rigines of Italy and Greece, and the 
Phoenicians settled Candia, which, 
1000 B. C, was conquered by the 
Dorians. Afterwards a number of 
democracies arose upon the ruins of 
the Dorian government, and in the 
first century B. C. it was conquered 
by the Romans. When the crusaders 
conquered Constantinople, in the 
thirteenth century, Candia fell under 
the able sovereignty of the Vene- 
tians, who held it against Turkish 
invasions for over four centuries. 
Since then some portion of the Chris- 
tian population has been in rebellion 
against Turkish rule, although the 
island forms a province, or vilayet, of 
the Ottoman Empire, which is gov- 
erned by a pacha and two counselors — 
one Turk and one Christian. There 
are eight dilapidated forts on Candia 
built by the Venetians. An arch- 
bishop and six bishops of the Greek 
Church have their residence on the 
island, this being the prevailing reli- 



gion. 



^i-MW*MI*i*#W*T 



AMONG THE VINEYARDS. 

In ancient times Greece was 
famous almost as much for her vine- 
yards as her battle-fields, but her 
wine-producing territory has contin- 
ually been contracted under the deso- 
latlne ravao^es of war. From the 
neiofhborhood of Athens comes a del- 
icate wine, but there are few famous 



HOME LIFE IX COUNTRY AND TOWN. 697 

vineyards on the main land until you reach the Peloponnesus. The 
vineyards on the slopes of the Gulf of Arcadia, in the western portion 
of the peninsula, and on the Gulf of Argolis, in the east, although they 
suffered greatly in the Greek w^ar of independence, produce several 
brands of wine which connoisseurs esteem ; from the latter locality 
come the malmsey wines. 

But it is upon the islands of Greece, as in the days when Bacchus 
was so popular a god, that the most luscious grapes are gathered and 
thrown into rough vats to be trodden under foot by men and women. 
The Island of Santorin, among those farthest distant from the mother 
country of the archipelago, is the most noted for its vineyards and wines. 
It is of a curious formation, consisting of a circle of land surrounding a 
volcanic crater which is filled by the sea. The external slopes furnish 
the wine lands, and every available piece of soil is under cultivation. 
The yields are so highly esteemed as to be branded, metaphorically 
speaking, with such stamps as " Wine of Bacchus," and " Wine of the 
Night." Byron has celebrated the wine produced in the Isle of Samos, 
and that which Tenedos yields is the comm.on table wine of the Orient. 
The Ionian isles are rich in vineyards, Cyj^rus being still a leader. The 
wine of the commandery of the Knights Templars has a bitter-almond 
flavor, being made in the vicinity of Paphos — that ancient Phoenician 
city near Avhich Venus is said to have risen from the sea, and in which a 
famous temple long stood erected to the memory of the foam-sprung 
goddess. There are other varieties of wine, but they are all fermented 
and matured in earthen \'^ssels, which are of exactly the same shape as 
those used by the ancient Greeks, being long, with two handles near the 
top, and tapering almost to a point at the bottom. 

HOME LIFE IN COUNTRY AND TOWN. 

In m.aking a tour of the historical spots which stud the stanch, 
rocky little kingdom, one finds everywhere around him the same strik- 
ing mixture of the ancient with the modern ; or, rather, it might more 
truthfully be said, outside of the larger towns is ancient Greece herself. 
The shepherd wanders over the hills with his flocks, carrying his crook 
and playing upon his lute. Ugly dogs are as anxious to tear a stranger 
in pieces as to assist him in keeping his sheep and goats together. The 
peasant is there in his feminine dress, and perchance he has graduated 
into the proprietor, not only of a vineyard, but of a house for the accom- 
modation of travelers. This latter building is two or three stories in 
height, with balconies on eA"ery side, from which the most glorious views 
of the classical land can be obtained ; for there are few inns, on the line 



698 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



of travel, which do not stand on high ground. On the first floor of the 
house is a great array of wine barrels, standing in a cool room. There 
is also a spacious kitchen, whither the dozen or more sunburnt laborers, 
with their picturesque red caps, short skirts and straight-cut features 
repair for their noon-day meal. A table cloth is spread for them in the 
middle of the floor, upon which are placed simple food and a jug of 
wine. Each man is entitled to as much as he can eat and drink, besides 
about a dollar a day. 

The huts of the village in which they reside are grouped near the 
inn of their master. Having finished their generous repast they repair 
to the vineyard on the sunny slope of a hill and continue their work of 

dressing the vines. 
First, however, they 
must stop to have a 
chat with their 
wives, sisters and 
friends, who, in a 
clear, deep spring, 
which h as been 
gathered into a great 
basin or trough, are 
washinor their linen 
and beating it with 
heavy wooden clubs. 
The women wear 
head-kerchiefs of 
yellow or some light 
color, and are coarse- 
ly but neatly dressed. 
Some of them have acquired Turkish customs, and will retreat alf sight 
of a man, or cover their mouth and eyes with a handkerchief. A favorite 
occupation of the Greek peasant women is the rearing of silkworms 
and the making of embroidery. 

Hospitality and health beam from every eye, and it is truly a pretty 
sight, after having viewed old ruins and gray and snowy mountains, to 
suddenly come upon a little village roofed with red tiles and a group of 
fresh-looking women and girls, attired in scarlet flannel aprons, holding 
their distaffs in their hands with the bunches of wool upon the ends, who 
pleasantly wish you health, or present you with roses " for luck." The 
married women are recognized by the black trimmings to their scarlet 
aprons ; the unmarried ones wear red trimmings as well as aprons. 













MODERN GREEK PEASANTS. 



GREEK WEDDINGS. 699 

When a feast of the saints comes around their simple attires are 
discarded for gold-embroidered red aprons, white dresses, silk chemise 
fronts, and Mitterino- necklaces and g^irdles. If the weather is fair a 
dance takes place out-of-doors, upon a grassy plot or even slope. The 
men seldom dance. The girls generally dance before an admiring rustic 
crowd, the leader being distinguished by an apron of delicate silk. 
They are often ranged according to their height, a dozen mere infants 
bringing up the line. They move slowly in a circle, with gliding 
motions, some of the graceful steps and figures having descended to 
them for centuries ; one of the dances, " trata," has obtained a national 
character, for to its measure eighty women of Greece, with their chil- 
dren, once glided over a steep cliff to avoid being captured by the Turks. 
To see these beautiful peasant girls in their national dances, the valleys 
below, the mountains around, and health and grace proclaiming them- 
selves in every motion, one can imagine Terpsichore herself looking 
down from old Parnassus in admiration. The fact is not recorded, how- 
ever, that the goddess of the song and dance was a patron of false 
tresses , for Greek peasant girls nearly all wear them, and always of the 
opposite color from the natural hair. 

GREEK WEDDINGS. 

•^ Religious feasts and wedding feasts have their special dances, 
although at the latter, of course, men, married women and girls all par- 
ticipate in the festivities. The married women dance in groups near 
the men and the Q^irls also rino^ all around. The weddinof o-uests are, 
some of them, attired in handsome costumes, and it is not unusual for 
the husband and his orroomsman to be dressed accordino- to the latest 
European styles. The elders usually wear blue or red jackets, snowy 
fustanellas, leo-o-ing-s and shoes. 

The marriage, which takes place in a church, is attended by the whole 
country. The chief priest of the monastery, the archimandrite, dressed 
in black with a high cap, is assisted by several brothers, especially if the 
parties are of some prominence. In these quiet Greek towns, every one, 
from priest to peasant, makes the most of any event out of the ordinary 
course of placidity. The assistants appear in gorgeous robes of blue, 
yellow and red, or any other color which strikes their fancy. Very often 
their dresses are donated by pious ladies of the church, who have no 
further use for them. 

The marriage ceremony is simple, and includes the blessing of the , 
couple by the archimandrite, who touches their foreheads and cheeks 



700 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



with his official ring. He then takes a ring from the finger of each and 
places it on that of the other. He solemnly consecrates two large 
wreaths of orange blossoms, lifting them to his lips and placing one on 
the head of the bride, the other on that of the bridegroom. Several 
times the bridal procession, consisting of the priests, boys with lighted 
candles and the wedded couple, marches around the communion table, 
the bride and bridegroom bowing to their friends in the church. Three 
times the bridal couple receive the communion cup from the archimandrite, 
who presents it once to their near relatives. He then gives the bride and 




GREEK BRIGANDS. 

brideo^room the kiss of benediction and is himself saluted on the hand. 
The usual kissing succeeds, after which the procession marches to the 
scene of the feast and dance, showers of rose leaves falling upon all heads. 
In the small hamlets the marriage services and subsequent proceedings 
are devoid of any of the above metropolitan accompaniments, they 
being a specimen of what might be expected in a large town. 

BRIGAND AND PEASANT." 

The most corroding spot upon the modern body politic of Greece 
is briofandaare. Reckless and ad\enturous bands, at first formed to resist 



ANCIENT GREECE IN TURKEY, 70I 

Turkish rule, are now robbers by trade and make the lives of travelers a 
constant uncertainty. Adventurers, vagrants, outlaws from justice, and 
deserters, swell the roll continually. The brigands may have friends 
and relatives among the peasants and villagers, or may overawe peaceful 
communities so that they will be fed and protected. The chiefs of bands 
are even said to have their friends among statesmen and politicians who 
use them as agents and ropers-in. It frequently happens that prominent 
citizens and leaders of the people keep on good terms with these out- 
laws that their own relatives and friends will be safe from capture and 
molestation. Thus the brigands are protected by the high and the low. 
When an atrocity has been committed which the government can not 
possibly overlook, troops are sent into the region where the robbers 
were last seen. For their own safety the shepherds and peasants are 
obliged to warn their predatory associates of the approach of law and 
order. This they accomplish by many ingenious methods. They have: 
agreed with the brigands upon certain marks which may be cut upon 
sticks or marked upon rocks which are left in secret places. If the 
peasantry do not have an opportunity to repair to these places of deposit 
before the military detachment enters their village, they take their sticks- 
and begin cutting marks upon them, both to remember the conversation 
and to enable the brigands — some of whom are generally posted on a 
hill in the vicinity with excellent field-glasses — to observe what is 
going on. 

There is one other cause for the continued existence of this disgrace, 
and that is the protection afforded it in the districts bordering upon 
Turkey ; or at least the indifference evinced by the Porte in bringing to 
justice those who commit crimes in Greek territory. 



ANCIENT GREECE IN TURKEY. 

Ancient Epirus and Thessaly include the Turkish districts now 
bordering upon Greece ; and to the northeast was the great Macedonian 
monarchy. The northern boundary of Ancient Greece was in the same 
latitude as is Constantinople, but its eastern limits did not reach to its 
present longitude by about one hundred miles. It is also somewhat of a 
coincidence that those provinces which fell first to Rome and then to 
Turkey were inhabited by a mixed race of Pelasgians (aborigines of 
Greece) Grecian immigrants, Illyrians and Thracians — the latter two 
tribes springing from the same stock — which were never considered as 
Hellenes, or pure Greeks, but rather as a mongrel and an alien race. 

Yet these countries gave birth to some of the strongest states and 



702 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

characters which figure in ancient history. King Pyrrhus, monarch of 
this country, was one of the early giant kings of the barbaric world Avith 
whom the Roman Empire contended and the mother of Alexander the 
Great was a princess of Epirus. 

Thessaly was the most fertile province in Greece, consisting chiefly 
of two plains between lofty mountains with two clear, beautiful lakes set 
into their green surfaces. But the people were not as peaceable as in 
its physical appearance the country seemed to be. Rich families de- 
scended from the original conquerors of the soil, held the land, which 
was cultivated by serfs. 

Besides the slaves of the soil, who preserved no rights, there were 
several subject tribes which had votes in the Amphictyonic council. 
This was an association of tribes for mutual protection and for the 
worship of one deity, which originally inhabited Thessaly or the neigh- 
boring country. It was the special patron of the Delphic oracle, and as 
the fame and the power of the oracle spread the influence of the council 
likewise extended. Philip of Macedon used the league as a weapon 
with which to murder the liberties of Greece, and, although organized 
for peace, it was the cause of many conflicts, even between the tribes 
and cities which were members of the council. In one of these wars, 
which the league called sacred, many cities of Phocis, a province of the 
association south of Thessaly, were entirely destroyed. The council 
had two places of meeting, one being at Delphi and the other at Anthela, 
near Thermopylae, in the temple dedicated to Ceres. This latter was 
in the Phocians' country, and they were charged with various sacreligious 
acts against property dedicated to the gods and visitors to the oracle. 
How long this council endured is uncertain, but the two principal wars 
in which it engaged were separated by two centuries and a half. 

Notwithstanding the leas^ue the Phocians built a wall from the 
western gate of Thermopylae pass to keep out the Thessalians, the 
remains of which may be traced from near the Polyandrium (a monu- 
ment to the Greeks who fell before the Persians) to the Gulf of Corinth 
on the western coast. This was in ruins when the Spartans defended 
Thermopylae. The eastern gate of the pass was formed by a mountain 
and the shores of the Maliac Gulf, the ground between being impassable 
because of the morass on the edge of the bay and the hot springs which 
had been led to the soil, which mio^ht otherwise furnish a footing-. This 
gate of the pass is now a broad swampy plain. 



THE ITALIANS. 

[HIS people is a family of the great Graeco-Roman group, 
which comprises the natives of Greece, Italy, France and Spain. 
The Latin branch, or tribe of the Italian race, early attained 
r the sovereignty over their own people, over the Gauls in the 
north, the Greeks in the south and the aborigines (Etruscans 
^(| and lapygians) in the east and extreme southeast. On the 
Palatine Hill, probably as a frontier defense against the Etrus- 
cans, commenced to rise the first crude buildings which were 
to form the nucleus of the great City of the Seven Hills and 
the mightiest empire of the ancient times. When this infant 
Rome was finished, it is said to have consisted of about a thousand 
dwellings, irregularly arranged. Strangers were invited to the new 
settlement, and the next we hear of it, it is the city of the Latin 
confederacy, or of Latinum, where the Senate meets and metropolitan 
life is at its best. 

MODERN ROME. 




After some twenty-six hundred years we find a city inclosed by some 
twelve miles of walls, one-third of which area only is inhabited. One- 
half is strewn with ancient ruins, and the balance is laid out in eardens 
or vineyards. The city occupies a marsh on each side of the Tiber and 
the slopes of the seven hills, the greater portion of Rome being on the 
left bank. 

CAPITOLINE HILL. 

The center of interest is the Capitoline Hill, the smallest but most 
famous of the group. On the summit of this rocky mountain were built 
three magnificent capitols, which were destro}-ed by fire, the modern 
structure being erected partly on the foundation of the ancient temple. 
From the Capitoline Hill, or that portion of it called the Tarpeian Rock, 
state criminals were thrown. The remains of the ancient capitol, in whose 
spacious portico the people feasted when their Emperor returned to 
celebrate a triumph, are confined to a small section of the superstructure 

703 



704 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and wall, and a portion of the great flight of steps leading to the temple. 
Besides the capitol, or the great Temple of Jupiter, were the Temple of 
Jupiter Tonans and the magnificent Tabularium, wherein were stored 
the public records of the empire, which contained its treasury and served 
as a library and lecture building. The remains of the latter structure 
still have an imposing appearance. 

From the south of the capitol to the city walls are cultivated land, 
beautiful gardens and vineyards. From the great northern entrance of 
Rome to the foot of the .hill runs the Corso, a street about a mile long^ 
passing through the site of the ancient Campus Martius, an open space 
of many acres, where the ancient Romans were wont to assemble and 
indulge in games and other amusements ; this is now the most densely 
populated portion of Rome and given up to trade. On each side of the 
Corso are palaces and churches, while to the right, about half way up, 
branches off a noble street leading to the immense Jesuit convent and 
church. 

THE PANTHEON. 

The strip between the Corso and the Tiber, is densely populated by 
the smaller classes of traders, the poor and the beggars of Rome ; 
market places and shops are there galore. In this quarter, however, 
stands the Pantheon, one of the grandest remains of all Rome's great- 
ness. It is also the best preserved. Standing near the center of the 
ancient Campus, and erected nineteen centuries ago as a temple to all 
the heathen gods, it was consecrated twelve centuries ago as a Christian 
church, under the name of Sancta Maria ad Martyres. But the name 
of Pantheon yet clings to it, and the huge rotunda with its lofty dome 
rises above the surrounding squalor in all the impressiveness of Roman 
architecture. Its portico, over a hundred feet m length, with triple rows 
of mighty granite columns, the capitals and bases of which are marble, 
is one of the most remarkable productions of artistic genius to be seen 
in Rome. Much of the bronze roof, which these pillars support, has 
been removed by various Popes to be used in the interior decoration of 
the Vatican, as have also many fine marbles from the body of the Pan- 
theon. But the monument stands in its general features of gran- 
deur. Once within, you seem to stand beneath a miniature heavenly 
vault, your illusion being only dispelled when, upon glancing upward, you 
see the floods of light pouring through a large opening in the dome and 
scattering itself, as if by magic, to every altar and niche of the interior. 
Originally, the exterior of the dome was covered with plates of silver, 
but these were removed and bronze ones substituted. A modern copy 



THE VATICAN AND ST. PETER S. 705 

of the Pantheon is the world-famed St. Peter's, and thus there is a double 
bond of union between the ancient and modern religion of Rome. 

THE VATICAN AND ST. PETER'S. 

The Upper Town, so called, lies on the slope of the Pincian and 
Quirinal Hills, consisting of palaces, villas, churches and convents, gar- 
dens and beautiful walks. In this locality were the favorite promenades 
of the Romans. On the summit of the Quirinal is the famous pontifi- 
cal palace and garden. From it is obtained a striking view of the castle 
of St. Angelo, with its great circular tower, mounted with cannon and 
protected with ramparts and ditches. It commands the bridge which 
forms the principal means of communication between the two portions 
of the city. St. Angelo looms up like a ponderous warrior guarding 
the approach to the Vatican, consisting of the palace and the basilica 
of St. Peter's. This wonderful creation of architectural genius and 
religious fervor can not be described in a few, or many, words. St. 
Peter's must be seen and felt — the approach through the great circular 
court, its palatial front and mighty dome, the grand central nave, with 
its gorgeous ornaments and many statues, and its chapels, tombs and 
altars ! Then passing from the right to the Piazza of St. Peter's, up the 
wonderful staircase called Scala Regia, we turn to the left and enter the 
Sistine chapel of Michael Angelo, for it is next to impossible not to 
associate him with it in the sense of ownership. His genius looks down 
from the ceiling in The Creation, The Fall of Man and The Deluge, 
while The Last Judgment, pronounced by some the greatest of all 
paintings, has drawn the eyes of the world to the end wall, which is a 
little more than forty feet across. " Upon this work Michael Angelo 
spent seven years of almost incessant labor and study. To animate him 
in the task Pope Paul III., attended by ten cardinals, waited upon 
the artist at his house, an honor," says Lanzi, who records the fact, 
" unparalleled in the history of art." 

PETER'S PRISON. 

The old Mamertine prison, whose walls are built of such enormous 
stones as to prove the structure a relic of Rome's ancient monarchs, is 
supposed to be the gloomy work of Martins, or Mamertius, the fourth 
king of the city who flourished 600 B. C. There is a Catholic legend to 
the effect that St. Peter or St. Paul was confined in one of its damp cells, 
and, having converted the jailer, a spring of water sprang up from the 

stone floor to enable him to baptize him. Beneath the floor is a dungeon 

45 



7o6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



which has been found to be of great size and in which the conspirators 
of CataHne were strangled to death, 

THE LIFE OF TO-DAY. 

The Vatican is divided from the Trastevere, or the portion of the 
city on this side of the Tiber which is not within the province of the 
Church, by an inner wall. This district is bounded by the river and a 




STREET SCENE IN ROME. 



ridge which rises 300 feet above it. Along the northern half of the 
heights is carried a broad street which is a favorite promenade of the 
Roman youth ; and the largest fountain of Rome graces a commanding 
site, its torrents of water seeming, from a distance, to rush through three 
mighty arches. Many other fountains beautify the modern city. Col- 
lected in these refreshing localities may occasionally be seen the beau- 



THE CATACOMBS. 707 

tiful Roman maidens of the artist, dancing and singing "for a bit," or 
seated about in careless grace. In the squares also where the fountains 
play and to which the tired curiosity seeker instinctively repairs to bring 
before his eyes something besides ruins, the Roman beggar is at his best — 
there and at the doors of the great churches. But even the plague of 
mendicancy is being somewhat alleviated through government efforts, 
and it may be that these characters which have made Rome noted will 
disappear as effectually as the old-fashioned, mild and romantic Roman 
peasant. 

Something, or somebody, to satisfy artistic cravings, however, may 
be found in the dreary Campagna, that great pestilential tract which sur- 
rounds the city and includes the greater portion of ancient Latium. The 
ground is low and often flooded from the Tiber. The small lakes are 
formed by craters of extinct volcanoes. Wars, pestilences (especially 
the Black Death in the fourteenth century) and the overflow of the 
Tiber may account for the present unhealthfulness of the Campagna, 
which according to Livy always had that reputation in some degree, al- 
though it once was well cultivated and adorned with, such villas as those 
of Domitian and Hadrian. 

The Campagna is deserted except by the poorer classes of peasants 
and shepherds, and in summer, when the most dangerous vapors arise, 
they, too, flee to Rome or neighboring localities. But in autumn the 
pasturage is in many places rich and abundant, and then the herdsmen 
and shepherds descend from the Apennine mountains with their cattle, 
goats and sheep. They are the figures for the artist's pencil — shep- 
herds with broad-brimmed hats, great cloaks, their feet swathed in rags, 
their hair and beard long and profuse. 

THE CATACOMBS. 

As the shepherd of the Campagna pipes along over the morasses 
and fields of sward to his pasture grounds, with his dogs and fiocks, he 
is quice likely to be walking over whole streets of the dead. The cata- 
combs of Rome, those subterranean vaults which line the dark passage- 
ways for many dreary miles, are outside the city walls and approached 
by stone steps, which descend to openings in the rock from the famous 
Appian Way. Within these labyrinths, whose rocky walls are so many 
sealed tombs and which occasionally expand into wide and lofty cham- 
bers, are deposited the bodies of countless Christians of the primitive 
church — bishops and laymen, but martyrs almost invariably, as the inscrip- 
tions upon the tombs eloquently and pathetically testify. These impos- 
ing chambers were, no doubt, churches. In the repeated wars which 



7o8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Rome suffereei many of the catacombs were clestro)'ed, and to circuni- 
vent future ravages the Popescaused thousands of bodies of the ihustrious 
dead to be removed to pUicesof safety. It is possible that from this city 
of the dead, whose inhabitants have been reckoned by the milhons and 
the length of whose streets is hundreds of miles, although its pollution has 
been sealed from those who pass along its rock)- ways, may still arise inllu- 
ences which have their effect upon the marshy, steaming Campagna above. 

THE COLOSSEUM AND THE FORUM. 

But we now return to the Capitoline Hill, having crossed the river to 
explore the Vatican and the freshest district of modern Rome. B)' a steep 
descent from the hill we reach the Colosseum in what is now known as 
the Campo Vaccino, or cattle market, thus indicating the purpose to 
which the great Roman Forum has for centuries been devoted. In 
ancient times, also, the markets formed an important feature of the Forum, 
a great portion of which was devoted to the assemblies of the people. 
Here were hung up for the benefit of the public the laws of the Twelve 
Tables, and afterward the calendars of the courts, written upon white 
tables, that the citizens might be informed as to legal proceedings. One 
portion of the Forum was, in fact, devoted to trade and the other a public 
assembly ground and the scene of banquets and gladiatorial sports, the 
two being divided b)- the platforms from which the Roman orators 
addressed the citizens. After Caesar's time the Roman Forum lost its 
political and popular character, and with the erection of the Colosseum 
it became almost entirely the center of those cruelties called sports. 
Triumphal arches were also erected by the Emperors, such as those of 
Constantine and Titus, and splendid monuments and temples, some of 
which still stand. On the east and south the Forum was bounded by the 
Sacra Via, upon the highest point of which stood Titus' arch, and which 
connected the Colosseum with the other wonders of the Forum. 

It was the original intention of Augustus to build a great amphi- 
theatre in the center of Rome, and Vespasian and his son Titus realized 
the former's bright hopes with the help of the vast number of Jewish 
workmen which he brought as captives from Jerusalem. The site selected 
was in a hollow between two hills which Nero had caused to be made 
for an artificial lake. The great structure, which was 615x510 feet, was 
in four stories and in three different styles of architecture. It was dedi- 
cated by Titus 80 A. D., with a brilliant programme of games and gladia- 
torial shows, numbers of men and thousands of wild beasts being killed 
to satisfy the 80,000 spectators who are supposed to have been present. 
Later this was the arena where many of the early Christians suffered 



THE ITALIAN PEASANT. "JOC) 

martyrdom. Otherwise the Colosseum has few historical associations. 
It is supposed to have remained entire until the eleventh century, when 
Rome was sacked by the Normans and the Colosseum partiall)' demolished 
to destroy its utility as a fortress. In the fourteenth century it was a 
favorite arena for bull-fights and it afterward became a hospital. Its 
walls were used as building material for Roman palaces and attempts 
were made to transform it into a bazaar and a saltpetre factory. Then a 
cross was planted in the center of the still grand ruin, with small chapels 
around the walls, and once every week it was customary to hold exercises 
in memory of the saints and unknown martyrs who suffered for their 
faith. Subsequently these were removed and the excavations which 
followed revealed a multitude of chambers and passages whose uses are 
unknown. 

From a point beyond the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the 
ruined Palace of the Caesars, and beyond the present city walls, Ijut 
which was once not far removed from the very center of Rome, stands a 
long procession of fragmentary aqueducts. The most noted of these 
are the aqueducts of Marcia and Claudia. The water supply of modern 
Rome is along much the same course; in fact, the works of Marcia and 
Claudia have been partially utilized. 

THE ITALIAN PEASANT. 

The Italian is not a peasant from choice and no Italian who is 
wealthy enough to own a farm would think of occupying it. The owner 
graces his property long enough to collect his crop moneys, leaving it 
the rest of the year in charge of hired laborers, who are crowded 
together in little villages. Here and there throughout the country are 
great tracts of land, upon which are masses of buildings, surrounded by 
high walls and deep moats, mementoes of the days when hordes of bar- 
barians might sweep down from the North at any moment, burn the vine- 
yards and destroy the grain ; the bandits came later to terrify the life of 
the prosperous farmer and make it more agreeable for him to live in 
town with his wife and family. 

Much in the same way the country population have got into the 
habit of emigrating to the cities and towns. They usually have acquired 
trades such as those of masons, carpenters or house painters, and from 
their busy hands came many of the superb structures which grace both 
the ancient and modern cities of Italy. Many of them gather not only 
competencies, but fortunes. Yearly they return to their beloved fields 
and valleys to spend their idle months, and finally, perhaps, to live. A 
case in point is that of a gentleman of Piedmont who became chief 



7IO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

director of the great tunnel, on the Apennines, above Genoa, at the 
time of the construction of the railway there. At length he retired to 
his country home, and employed several hundred villagers to transform 
his hut into a palace and his bare rocks into a park. Other young men, 
especially of the Northern districts, turned up their noses at the plow 
and sought their fortunes in Austria and Germany ; so that, as an 
observer of this feature of peasant life once remarked, "in Italy are to 
be found boors who for half the year are, at Vienna, bankers,barons and 
even counts, of the Holy Roman Empire." 

Those whom circumstances force to stay at home and till the soil 
are apt to ape metropolitan ways. They are social by nature, and would 
rather live huddled in a squalid hamlet than out in the country where 
each man may have his own vineyard and plenty of pure air and fresh 
Avater. "In their dingy provincial towns they huddle together, land 
owners, farmers and most of the laborers ; and every town gives itself the 
airs and revels in the light gossip of the capital ; every town has a cafe, 
or a score of cafes in which to idle away time, all with their tawdry, 
smoky, gilt and mirrored rooms." 

It is a common plan in Italy for the land owner and his laborers to 
share the profits in kind, the proportion varying with the fertility of the 
land. The peasant furnishes the implements of husbandry and half of 
the laboring cattle. If he is so poor that the land owner is obliged to do 
this for him, to support him while he tills and also furnish him with seed, 
his position becomes most unenviable. The primitive plows, rakes and 
harrows which Virgil would recognize are plentiful, but, through the 
exertions of the as^ricultural collecres and societies of the larfje towns and 
cities, they are being replaced by modern implements. 

FLORENCE AND THE REPUBLICS. 

Ancient Florence was completely destroyed by the Ostrogoths, but 
was rebuilt by Charlemagne. While the foreign rulers of Italy were 
busily looking after their own crowns they allowed the cities to rebuild 
their ancient walls and granted them various popular rights, as a means 
of keeping out other invaders and making the people contented. The 
German Emperors had their own representatives who acted in concert 
with parliaments and councils, and collected the imperial tribute, but 
republican seeds were thickly sown from necessity. As wealth increased 
the cities became more anxious to defend their possessions, and every 
citizen was proud to contribute nearly his entire wealth to his native 
place, which, as it took into its embrace weaker towns or cities and 
extended its popular form of government, became eventually a republic. 



FLORENCE AND THE REIT HLICS. 7II 

Under the o^uidance of the Lombard Leao^ue, the chief cities of 
Italy threw themselves against their Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, and 
for the first time in modern Europe forced despotism to treat with 
republicanism. One of their gifts was the office of the podcsta, a 
foreign knight or imperial representative, chosen by the people of each 
cit}', to act as criminal judge and executioner. He was assisted by two 
native judges, and accountable to the people and their laws for his con- 
duct. In seasons of tumult between the Guelphs and Ghibellines (the 
national and imperial parties) and between the nobles and the people, 
the great middle classes of citizens placed almost absolute power in his 
hands. 

The republicans of Florence were among the first to scent the 
dangers to their liberties which lurked in the office, and soon lopped off 
its worst functions. Even then, by the thirteenth century, they were 
noted throughout Europe for their enterprise and wealth, their proud 
spirit of freedom and their intellectual vigor. Their city was known as 
the "Athens of Italy," and therein was already seen one of the most har- 
monious unions of wealth and art in the world. But the ereat stumb- 
ling block in the way of her political freedom was the podesta, a creature 
of the Emperor and his party. In 1250, therefore, the citizens, repre- 
sented by fifty groups of militia, assembled in the square of Santa Croce 
and chose a council under which the podesta was to act or be deposed. 
The militia next razed the towers which were the strono-holds of the 
Ghibelline nobles, and recalled the Guelphs, who had been exiled ; 
under the latter party the republic attacked half a dozen neighboring 
towns, among them Pisa, and forced them to sign a treaty of peace fav- 
orable to the Church and Italy. Soon after the establishment of the 
republic the government also reformed its finances (and virtually the 
monetary system of Europe) by coining its florin of a certain weight and 
fineness and maintaining it thus, through its great commercial power, as 
long as the republic endured. With the exception of a few )'ears, when 
the imperial party was in the ascendant, the republican spirit of Florence 
was not seriously depressed. She was the head of the national party in 
Italy, and often defended the free cities of the country against the designs 
of the nobles, and, later, of the Church of Rome. The citizens of Flor- 
ence were divided into arts or trades. Some of the lowest, particularly 
the woolen trade, were unrepresented in the government. They therefore 
rose in rebellion and besiecfed the Palazzo Vecchio, where the si<)fnoria, 
or council, met. But after a few short months the power returned to 
the nobles, rich merchants and citizens of the major arts, and the leaders 
of the popular uprising were mostly banished or beheaded as rebels. 



712 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE MEDICI FAMILY 

It was at this juncture that the Medici commenced to come into 
notice. For fifty years various members appeared as champions of 
the people against the nobles, holding high offices and being preeminent 
in the field of commerce. Cosmo de Medici owned banking houses in 
all the great cities of Europe, and immense and productive farms, and 
held a monopoly of the alum mines of Italy. Rivaling in wealth most 
of the princes of Europe, he spent vast sums in the erection of public 
edifices, the encouragement of artists and poets and the introduction 
of Grecian and Eastern literature. The Albizzi faction, or family, 
were not as wealthy as the Medici, but for fifty years controlled 
the republic, and native historians give them the credit of bringing 
it to the grandest height of glory in wealth, arts, science and 
literature without infringing upon a single popular right. The two 
parties came into conflict, and Cosmo exiled his rival and followers. 
During the' latter years of his power the active leadership of Cosmo's 
party was assumed by the bold-spirited Luca Pitti, who built two great 
palaces from the gifts of the people. To the last, Cosmo lavished his 
wealth upon the public, and obtained such complete control of the 
republic that its offices became party gifts, to be divided between his 
friends, or bought and sold like merchandise. But his munificence was 
so great that at his death Florence went into deep mourning and upon 
his tomb was inscribed the "father of his country." 

Cosmo's son was an invalid, and his rule being by proxy, met with 
little opposition, but when Lorenzo assumed the leadership — the grand- 
son of Cosmo, as wealthy as he and greater in intellect — the ancient bit- 
terness of the Pazzi returned ; Lorenzo and his brother barely escaped 
assassination, but the Pazzi were killed, crushed or exiled. 

The masterly steps by which Lorenzo advanced to such a height of 
popularity as to be hailed with one accord as " the Most Magnificent 
Lord " belong to history ; how he carried by storm the heart of the King 
of Naples, who had him in his power; how he fought with the Pope and 
then had his son made a cardinal ; how by these unions with the auto- 
crat of Naples and the Church of Rome, both hostile to the republic, and 
his destruction of popular institutions at home, he murdered his country's 
best interests — these are purely historical subjects. Lorenzo's claim to 
the admiration of posterity rests upon the splendid work of his grand- 
father, which he continued with the greater wisdom of his broader nature ; 
for, besides being the most courtly man of his times and a patron of 
native and Grecian arts and scholarship, he was himself a poet and a 
scholar, continuing, through his financial agents, the collection of rare 



THE CITY FROM THE MEDICI VILLA, 713 

manuscripts, begun by Cosmo. He reckoned among his intimate friends 
Poliziano, Puici, Demetrius the Greek, and Giovanni della Mirandola ; 
the latter being described by Machiavelli as "a man of almost supernat- 
ural genius who, after visiting every court of Europe, induced by the 
munificence of Lorenzo, established his abode at Florence. 

It seems, however, as Lorenzo's end approached, the wealth and 
prodigality of his family, and most of all his own, had seduced the peo- 
ple from an honest love of pure liberty and plain morals. Savonarola 
had already appeared — "mighty, mystic, in the midst of a vast sensual- 
ity, with a holy vehemence, converting the soft Italian tongue into a very 
judgment trumpet of denunciation." He preached not only against the 
abuses of the Church, but against the abuses of the state, for which the 
Medici were mainly responsible. The tall, robust and dignified Lorenzo 
was so struck with the holy passion of the diminutive monk that when his 
last sickness came upon him he desired to receive absolution from him. 
"Savonarola," it is said, "refused him neither his consolation nor his exhor- 
tations ; but he declared that he could not absolve him from his sins till 
he proved his repentance by reparation to the utmost of his power. He 
should forgive his enemies ; restore all that he had usurped ; lastly, give 
back to his country the liberty of which he had despoiled it. Lorenzo 
de Medici would not consent to such a reparation ; he accordingly did 
not obtain the absolution on which he set a high price, and died still 
possessing the sovereignty he had usurped." 

THE CITY FROM THE MEDICI VILLA. 

The most perfect picture of the City of Flowers is obtained from 
Fiesole, the site of the ancient market-place or town which was the 
parent of the stately Florence. Upon these heights, overlooking the 
city, the elder Cosmo built him a villa and laid out beautiful gar- 
dens, to which resorted the stately and royal Lorenzo to muse, to 
plan, to plot, to suffer and to repent. From this point Florence, her 
populous suburbs and outlying villas, vineyards and gardens, appear to 
be one vast city, its majestic form, garlanded with flowers and wreaths 
of green, lying prone upon the ground and shaded by a circle of gently 
sloping hills. The Arno is her yellow girdle. It was in Lorenzo's 
neighboring villa at Careggi that the interview with Savonarolo is said 
to have taken place. 

GALILEO'S HOMES. 

The villas in which Galileo resided are more famous, in this age of 
the world, than any which were glorified by the magnificence of Lorenzo. 



714 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

His own villa, the one to which he repaired to pass the last dark years 
of his harassed life, is situated beyond the hill Arcetri. " It is an ivy- 
draped, gloomy, desolate-looking abode." His observatory, a rude 
tower, is not far away. The father of astronomy passed his younger, 
hopeful days at the villa of the historian, Guicardini, perched upon a 
beautiful height called Bellosquardo. Near the northern entrance of the 
quaint old building is a bust of Galileo with a tablet chronicling his 
residence of fourteen years within its walls. The grounds are laid out 
in pretty gardens, the present owner retaining a remembrance, no doubt, 
of the fact that its former illustrious guest was a passionate lover of 
flowers. From the roof of the villa, the center of which is railed off and 
furnished with sofas, tables, chairs, etc., may be obtained another glori- 
ous panorama of Florence and its historical buildings and spots, and the 
beauties of the surrounding country. 

"There is the vine and olive-clad valley of the Arno ; the Cascine, 
the favorite promenade or drive, the Hyde Park of Florence ; the Poggio 
Imperiale, and, leading to it, that 

'" abrupt, biack line of cypresses 

Which signs the way to Florence,' 

and Fiesole, the ever beautiful ; and San Miniato, with Michael Angelo's 
fortifications ; and the encircling Apennines, the hills of Vallombrosa 
and Carrara ; and all down the undulating slopes of the Bellosquardo 
Hill, the greenly fertile farms displaying their treasures of grapes, and 
olives and figs." 

IN VALLOMBROSA'S V-ALLEY. 

The groves and convent of Vallombrosa (Shady Valley) are about 
fifteen miles east of Florence. The spot is of such romantic interest 
that it has left its impression upon the world of poetry. The divine 
Milton, Ariosto, Italy's poet of chivalry, and, later, Mrs. Browning, 
through "Aurora Leigh," have tasted of the solemn delights of Vallom- 
brosa. It is approached from Florence by way of the Valley of the 
Arno, and notwithstanding the forests of oak, chestnut and pine, the 
rugged hills and the long reaches of refreshing green, "thick as 
autumnal leaves that strew the brooks in Vallombrosa," after one 
reaches the village of Pelago, which is about five miles from the mon- 
astery, he must make the rest of the journey on foot, in the saddle, or 
in a sort of rude wicker basket, placed on sledges and drawn by oxen. 
The entire trip on foot is a constant delight to a healthy body, but the 
latter end is not pleasant to the lady invalids who may desire to drink 
of Vallombrosa's charms. 



WITHIN THE CITY. 715 

The massive convent building, with its great courts and towers, vi^as 
erected in the seventeenth century, but is now occupied by the royal 
school of forestry. The monastery was founded by the son of a noble- 
man. On a certain Good Friday in the eleventh century he went forth 
with his followers to attend mass at San Miniato al Monte, and on the 
way met a young man who had recently killed his beloved brother. 
Revenge and the code of honor then in force forced him to draw his 
sword upon his foe, his retainers doing likewise. His brother's murderer 
threw himself before him on the ground and begged for mercy. By a 
Divine miracle not only was mercy granted but forgiveness, and it is said 
that when the re-born nobleman and his former foe repaired to the 
church together for worship, the lips of the Saviour's image smiled and 
the head bowed in approbation. These facts so impressed themselves 
upon the mind of the young man that he became a monk, and, retiring 
to the solitude of the "shady valley," built himself a small cell, and, with 
two hermits who had already retreated from the voluptuous world of 
Florence, became the nucleus of the famous order of Vallombrosa. 

WITHIN THE CITY. 

There is no other city in Italy whose architecture is of so gloomy and 
massive a nature ; and to the solidity of her structures is due the fact that 
they are now in such an interesting state of preservation, having with- 
stood the sieges and attacks of contending parties for centuries. 

First among the glorious monuments to Florentine genius is the 
Cathedral, the greatest wonder of which is its grand cupola, planned and 
erected by Brunelleschi. This was taken by Michael Angelo as his 
model for St. Peters, the two, with the campanile near the cathedral of 
Florence, forming perhaps the most wonderful combinations of grandeur 
and grace among all the noted structures of ecclesiastical architecture. 
The cathedral, baptistry and bell tower are covered with a mosaic of 
black and white m'arble. The baptistry is an octagon in form, support- 
ing a cupola and lantern and guarded by three great gates of bronze, 
the two by Ghiberti being called by Michael Angelo the Gates of Para- 
dise. 

The cathedral, campanile and baptistry look upon the Piazza del 
Duomo and on one of the stone benches which faces their magnificence 
was wont to sit a man of classic features, large-eyed and majestic — 
Dante, the poet, reformer, afterward the exile, and, with Michael Angelo, 
the most revered of the many geniuses of Florence and Italy. 

Dante died at Ravenna, just beyond the Maritime Alps and the 
boundaries of the republic which exiled him. His bones have been 



7 1 6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Stolen several times, once to keep them from a cardinal of the Church, who 
wished to burn them as those of a heretic, and again by certain ones who 
"would not have the precious remains removed to Florence, which has 
made repeated efforts to honor the poet in death; Finally, 500 years 
after his decease, a great cenotaph was built in Santa Croce, but the 
little dome-like shrine in the Ravenna chapel still treasures the remains. 
From 1677 to 1865 Dante's bones remained hidden in a rough wooden 
box which was found deposited in the walls of the chapel while the 
building was being repaired in anticipation of the celebration of the 
600th anniversary of his birth. The day was observed with great mag- 
nificence in Florence, a statue of Dante being unveiled in the Piazza 
Santa Croce, ■ Among modern Italians of note there assembled were 
Ristori, Salvini and Rossi. 

Grouped around the cathedral are other religious edifices which 
elsewhere would appear of almost unrivaled grandeur, that of Santa 
Croce, being known as the Pantheon of Florence, containingmonuments 
to Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli, Michael Angelo and Alfieri. The Church 
of San Lorenzo was rebuilt from an ancient one consecrated by St. 
Ambrose. The architect was Brunelleschi. Within this grand casing 
is a memorial monument to Cosmo, with the popular title inscribed upon 
it of Paier Patria. Lorenzo de Medici is honored, monumentally, in 
the New Sacristry, his statue being a model of manly beauty. The 
Medicean chapel, gorgeous with the rarest marbles and most costly 
stones, stands behind the choir and contains the tombs of the Medici 
and those of the grand dukes, their successors. The Laurentian library, 
founded by a Medici, adjoins the church. 

POLITICS AND RELIGION. 

The Palazzo Vecchio, so long the seat of the Republican govern- 
ment, is an imoosing pile, surmounted by a tower 260 feet high, whose 
great bell used to warn the citizens of danger and call them to arms. 
The adjoining square contains magnificent groups of statuary. Michael 
Angelo's great fame rests in St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel, but in 
the judgment of some his statue of David Confronting the Philistine, 
standing in the square which fronts the Palazzo Vecchio, is his greatest 
work as a sculptor. 

In this square, also — the Piazza della Signoria — were laid the scenes 
of Savonarola's triumph and death. As an offset to the scandalous 
public amusements which were encouraged by the Medici and their party, 
under his direction a pyramid of carnival dresses, obscene pictures and 



POLITICS AND RELIGION. 



717 



portraits, cards, dice, gaming boards, etc., was formed in the square. The 
interior of the pyramid was filled with combustible materials and. on the 
top was a monstrous image representing the carnival. A great proces- 
sion of citizens, monks and children, bearing red crosses and olive 




"THE FATES," BY MICHAEL ANGELO. 



branches, marched to the "pile of vanities," the little ones sang, the 
great bell of the Palazzo tolled, the multitude shouted and the pyramid, 
went up in great clouds of smoke and sheets of flame. The same square; 



7i8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



witnessed his martyrdom, with two of his fellow monks, and there also 
his enemies saw him narrowly escape the " ordeal by fire " which was to 
prove him a child of God or of Satan. 

" The convent of San Marco, in which Savonarola lived during his 
protracted conflict with Rome, stands almost unchanged from his day. 
The walls are covered with exquisite frescoes by Fra Angelica, an artist 
of so devout a spirit that he is said always to have painted on his knees. 
In the cell occupied by Savonarola are shown his Bible, the margin 
filled with annotations in his own hand, and a volume of his sermons." 

PALACES AND GARDENS. 



Next to the Palazzo Vecchio is a great palace founded by Cosmo I., 
in the first floor of which are deposited the public archives and a library 

of 150,000 volumes and 12,000 MSS. 
The famous Florentine gallery of paint- 
ings, engravings, sculptures, mosaics, 
etc., occupies the second floor. The 
Pitti Palace, fronting upon a charming 
park containing marble fountains, green 
gardens and stately drives, is the mod- 
ern residence of the Grand Duke, and, 
while Florence was the capital of Italy, 
the home of the King. This is the un- , 
finished monument commenced by 
Brunelleschi to perpetuate the greatness 
of the family which fell before the power 
of the Medici. 

Behind the palace are the Boboli 
gardens, with their solid avenues of 
trees and hedges, waterfalls, grottos, 
flowers and statues. " The city is seen 
through a line of solemn cypresses 
which stand out against the dazzling 
walls and towers beyond." 

The Strozzi palace is a noteworthy 
type of Tuscan architecture — but the 
list is too great to exhaust in detail. 
Besides famous palaces, villas and churches, Florence reveals the fact 
that she lives in the active present ; for hospitals, lunatic asylums, 
theatres, academies, museums, colleges of medicine and agriculture, 




DESIGN FOR AN ORNAMENT. 



PALACES AND GARDENS. 



719 



etc., etc., are not only flourishing but growing in number. The Floren- 
tines are to-day witty and eloquent, shrewd and industrious, educated, and 
stable lovers of good government and inclined to reform. 

Among the geniuses of Florence must be placed Benvenuto Cel- 
lini, who was intended for a musician, but chose himself to become one 
of the most eminent engravers of his day, if not of any age. He w^as 
stamped both as a genius and an incorrigible youth before he was 
sixteen years of age, and was banished from his native town for having 




PLACQUE BY CELLINI. 

taken part in a duel. He entered the service of the Pope, having 
pleased him with the die which he made, from which that magnate's gold 
medal was struck, and helped defend the castle of San Angelo against 
the imperial troops. Having become noted both as a soldier and an 
engraver, he was received back into the good graces of the Florentines, 
continued to increase his reputation as an artist and a quarrelsome fel- 
low, fled from the city, returned to Rome, got into more trouble, went 



^^20 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



to France, appeared again in his native town, secured as a patron Cosmo 
de Medici, executed his " Perseus with the head of Medusa," and his 
"Christ," and estabHshed his fame' for all time. The best part of his 
smaller artistic works are his productions in metals, the embossed decor- 
ations of shields, cups, salvers, ornamented sword and dagger hilts, clasps, 
medals and coins. 

HISTORIC BRIDGES. 

The bridges which span the Arno are picturesque and historical. 
Farthest to the east is the Ponte alle Grazie, there being a chapel at its 
foot dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was here that Pope 
Gregory X., from his temporary wooden throne, with the dignitaries of 

the city around him, ad- 
dressed the multitude who 
were assembled below in the 
dry bed of the Arno, and 
decreed that the Guelphs 
and Ghibellines should be- 
come friends. But though 
the leaders of the rival fac- 
tions kissed one another, they 
were not so ready to "make 
up," and, beginning to quar- 
rel ao-ain in less than a week, 
brought the ban of excom- 
munication upon Florence 
as a city. 

The Ponte Vecchio is 
called the Jeweler's Bridge, 
because it is lined with shops 
representing that craft. 
From the Ponte Vecchio the ashes of Savonarola and his brother 
martyrs were cast into the Arno by order of the Signoria, that they 
might work no miracle detrimental to the city's interests. The Ponte 
a Santa Trinita is the most artistic of the bridges, its angles be- 
ing adorned with gems of art. A shocking and sad interest attaches 
to the Ponte alia Carraja. In 1304, a great May day fete was 
given in honor of a cardinal, and among other pageants, one had 
been prepared for him by which the horrors of hell were depicted 
by men, women and children, representing demons, who rushed about 
in flames of artificial fire, writhing and yelling, and punishing the 




BRONZE HELMET ORNAMENT. 



THE GENOESE. " 72 1 

wicked, the scene of the terrible picture being laid upon a fleet of rafts 
and barges which covered the river below the bridge. The wooden 
structure gave way under its human load, and the spectators were pre- 
cipitated upon the performers, the resulting casualty snatching away 
some member of nearly every family in Florence. Dante, it is related, 
upon this occasion, conceived his idea of the InfeT-no. Not far from 
this bridge stands a house bearing an inscription to the effect that it was 
once the dwelling of Amerigo Vespucci. 

THE GENOESE. 

The ancient inhabitants of Genoa, long before they were incorpor- 
ated with the Roman Empire, were Celts or Greeks ; this is as near as 
historians can get at their origin. In really historical times the Genoese 
were noted as brave and vigorous soldiers in the Roman legions and as 
untiring and enterprising merchants. When Genoa became a separate 
Italian state, she combined her military with her commercial strength, 
sturdily defending her galleys laden with rich merchandise, which covered 
the Mediterranean Sea, and carrying on wars with Pisa and Venice, 
which were her greatest rivals in trade. Pisa she crushed, while she was 
discomfited by Venice. In alliance with Pisa she drove the Saracens 
from Corsica and Sardinia and vigorously sustained the Crusades. She 
was torn with civil dissensions between Guelph and Ghibelline factions, 
democratic and patrician leaders, but in the sixteenth century the republic 
was restored by her great citizen, Andrea Doria. Her foreign rulers 
were expelled, German and Austrian influence was broken, and she, with 
other cities of Sardinia, became finally a portion of the kingdom of Italy. 

But whether ruled by Lombards, Turks, Germans, native citizens 
and princes, or the French, whatever her fortunes, she has wonderfully 
maintained her commercial standing. The city, Avhich is so picturesquely 
situated on the Mediterranean Sea, reveals its ancient warlike and com- 
mercial character. Palaces, churches, hotels and private dwellings, ter- 
raced gardens and groves of orange and pomegranate trees, cover the 
slopes of the hills down to the shore, " while the bleak summits of the 
loftier ranges are capped with forts, batteries and outworks which con- 
stitute a line of fortifications of gfreat streng^th and extensive circuit." But 
incorporated into the body of United Italy, the Genoese no longer dis- 
play their former bitterness toward sister cities. A few years ago, a 
portion of the huge chain which was drawn across the port of Pisa by its 
citizens to keep out the invading fleet, and which had been carried off by 
the Genoese when they blocked up the harbor and destroyed the com- 
merce of their rivals, was returned to the Tuscan port as an evidence of 

46 



72 2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

good-will. But the sting of those bitter contests still rankles in the 
memories of the states of Northern Italy, especially of Tuscany, where a 
proverb still crouches under the tongue of every citizen to the effect 
that Genoa has "a sea without fish, mountains without stones, men with- 
out honor and women without modesty." If the proverb had omitted 
most of its irony and had continued, "buildings without streets," the as- 
sertions would have contained more truth. 

From the sea and the splendid harbor, with its lighthouse 300 feet 
in height, the city and shores of the gulf form a grand panorama, but 
entering the port, it is seen that the streets are so narrow that foot passen- 
gers and mules, loaded with merchandise, pack them from side to side. 
They are dark, gloomy labyrinths, lined with tall marble buildings, many 
of them having been the elegant, spacious palaces of merchant princes, 
doges, and powerful families who ruled the state. The two most famous 
are the Palazzo Ducale, formerly inhabited by the doges (those supreme 
magistrates of the city for two centuries), and in which the senate now 
meets ; and the Palazzo Doria, presented in the sixteenth century to the 
great citizen who threw off the French and foreign yoke, and became 
President of the new republic. Other palaces contain large galleries of 
paintings, which are shown for a fee, but most of them are occupied as 
public buildings. Few persons, even of distinction, in modern Genoa, 
can afford to occupy these stately marble piles. They have, therefore, 
been transformed into hotels or business establishments; and it is a 
forcible reminder of the instability of worldly affairs to enter one of 
these imposing palaces, and find its noble porticos or lobbies supported 
by marble columns and occupied by hucksters and petty traders. 

Genoa has one of the most elegant theatres in Italy, and a statue 
of Columbus which is well worthy of notice. The Cathedral of St. 
Lorenzo, among her noticeable churches, is a grand old pile in the Italian 
Gothic style. And there is one line of streets — the Strade Balbi, 
Nuovissima and Nuova — which would be a credit to any European city; 
but the same decay of the nobility is here as in the lanes of Genoa. The 
stately palaces rise magnificently on either hand " built with a central 
quadrangle, bright with fountains, flowers and orange groves and open 
to the public view through a wide and lofty gateway," but the lower 
stories have, many of them, been transformed into mercantile establish- 
ments. 

NAPLES. 

Naples is famed for its beautiful bay, its noisy people, its historical 
associations, its ancient and excavated environs and the castles of Nor- 



NA.PLES. 



723 



man, Bourbon and Saracenic origin scattered in and around it. The 
city is divided into two portions by a range of hills, the eastern division 
being the oldest and most thickly populated. It contains the chief 
public structures, but many of the streets are very narrow and paved 
with lava, the houses being of such great height that they appear to 
overhang the pathways. The western or modern section is intersected 
by broad and splendid thoroughfares, among the most famous being the 
Quay, which curves around the bay for three miles, on one side being a 
row of palaces and on the other a strip of beautiful parks, adorned with 
temples and fountains, groves of acacias and oranges. 

The architecture of Naples is brilliant rather than impressive. Of 
its 300 churches the Ca- 
thedral of St. Gennaro r#!! ^J^ // 
is interesting as con- 



tammg 



of 




the tombs 
Pope Innocent IV. and 
Charles of Anjou. Next 
to its museum, and com- 
ing before it in the 
minds of the populace, 
are the Opera House of 
San Carlo, one of the 
largest and most fash- 
ionable in Italy, and the 
"Teatro di San Carlina," 
where all classes flock 
to witness the perform- 
ances of Pulcinella, the 
Italian " Punch." 

The fashionable 
promenade of Naples is 
the Villa Nazionale, be- 
ing nearly a mile long 
and two hundred feet 
wide, planted with evergreens and oaks, and containing temples 
dedicated to Virgil and Tasso, winding paths, grottos and a ter- 
race extending into the sea. Of the most famous castles, Nuova, 
is near the port and consists of massive towers and fosses. Be- 
tween two of the towers is the triumphal arch erected in honor 
of the entry of Alfonso of Aragon into the city. Within the castle 
are the barracks and armory, and the whole structure is connected with 



WALL PAINTING, POMPEII. 



724 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the royal palace by a gallery. The arsenal and dockyard, at which 
frequently lie the great iron-clads of the Italian navy, adjoin the castle 
and the palace. In the southern portion of the city is the Castle dell' 
Ova (of oval form), now used as a prison, and the castle of St. Elmo, 
situated on a bold point and said to be honey-combed under ground with 
mines and passages. The castle has been dismantled, however, and is 
now a military prison. Other castles, once occupied by the Swabian, 
Anjou and other reigning dynasties, have been transformed into prisons 
and courts of law. The municipal palace is a great structure, covering 
200,000 square feet of ground, in which all the city business is transacted, 

Several of the most 
noteworthy of the 
churches of Naples stand 
upon the sites of ancient 
temples, erected by the 
Greeks in the days of 
their prosperity in Sicily 
and Southern Italy. The 
Cathedral is said to stand 
on the foundations of a 
Temple of Apollo ; and 
others on the ruins of 
Temples of Mercury and 
Diana. In fact, the pillars 
and marbles of the heath- 
en structures have often- 
times been built into the 
later churches. The Ca- 
thedral itself is supported 
by more than a hundred 
columns of granite, which 
belonged to the edifice 
over which it was erected. 
In a subterranean chapel 
under the choir is depos- 
ited the body of St. Janu- 
arius, the patron saint of Naples. Two phials, said to contain his blood, 
are kept in the treasury of the cathedral. Upon occasions of public calam- 
ity and certain festivals devoted to him, the phials are brought forth 
and when, amidst the most solemn ceremonials, they are borne near the 
head of the saint (for he was beheaded) the body having been laid in the 




TOMBS OF POMPEII. 



THE BURIED CITIES. 



725 



shrine beneath the high altar, the coagulated substance is said to liquefy, 
bubble, rise and fall, the miracle lasting" several days and being the means 
of averting plagues and the eruptions of Vesuvius. 



THE BURIED CITIES. 

Naples is a contraction of Neapolis, the Greek for " new city." 
The original city is supposed to have been located on a ridge called 
Posilipo, in which were the residence and tomb of Virgil, the latter being 
at the entrance to a dark, romantic grotto. This ridge separates the 
Bay of Naples from the Bay of Pozzuoli, or Baiae. Around the shores 
of the latter beautiful sheet of water were the villas of the wealthiest 
of the Romans, and in its 
depths a corn-laden ship, which 
had barely escaped wreck, cast 
anchor and at the massive pier, 
which then stretched into the 
sea, discharo^ed its o-rain and 
human freight. Its most pre- 
cious human burden, in view 
of subsequent events, was the 
rugged, manly, eloquent Paul, 
Avho was on his way to preach 
the gospel at Rome. On the 
eastern shore of the bay fickle 
and fierce Mount Vesuvius 
towers over little towns and 
villages, which seem drawn to 
its fertile slopes by some unac- 
countable fascination. Its ancient crater, at one time partly filled with 
water, was the fortress of the rebel chief, Spartacus ; that was before 
it had buried Herculaneum and Pompeii, the former in mud, the 
latter in ashes. After eighteen hundred years of darkness, Pompeii is 
being brought to light, while a modern village stands over the mountain 
of mud which covers Herculaneum. 

The site of Pompeii remained long unknown, for the fearful convul- 
sion which destroyed it raised the sea beach to a considerable height and 
diverted the stream which formerly skirted its walls far from its ancient 
course. Finally, however, about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
operations were begun in earnest by the Neapolitan government, and 
owing to the fact that in many places sand, as)\es and cinders liad been 




GARDEN AT POMPEH. 



726 



PANORAiMA OF NATIONS. 



mixed with the immense vohimes of water which poured from the crater 
and formed a Hght covering of mud, the theatres, palaces, baths, houses, 
temples, with their statues and mosaics, were found in a remarkable state 
of preservation. Few skeletons were found, this circumstance going to 
show that most of the inhabitants were able to escape the general destruc- 
tion of the city. One remarkable exception to the comparatively small 
number of skeletons or casts, which have been excavated from the 
superb town or suburb, is the discovery made in excavating a Temple of 
Juno, From the position of the bodies it is evident that the deluded 
devotees had fled to their goddess for protection, and two hundred of her 

children there offered their last 



prayer to their divinity. The mi- 
nutest details of daily life and the 
most touching acts of heroism are 
revealed in the progress of these 
excavations. Taverns and bake- 
houses are entered, and the fruits 
and fish of the season are re- 
vealed, while loaves of bread 
which were never baked by arti- 
ficial heat are taken from ancient 
ovens. A sentinel at the city 
gate, young men and women 
clasping each other's hands, wo- 
men with their children, all escap- 
MARBLE TABLE FOUND AT POMPEII. [^^ f j-Qm the Streets of the city 

to the life beyond — some courting death and others fleeing from it — 
such are faint gleams of the hundred tragedies which are drawn from 
buried Pompeii. 

THE DEAD AND THE LIVING. 

Within the Museum of Naples are the majority of all the curiosities 
and treasures which have been brought from Pompeii and Herculaneum ; 
and in many cases the similarity of the domestic life of those days and 
the present is most striking — even the shape of the Pompeiian loaves is 
the same as the Neapolitan. ^ Pompeii, however, was the elegant suburb 
of Naples, the resort of the wealthy Romans who had villas in the 
suburbs, and whose palaces and gardens stretched from it for miles 
around the bay. So that we must not imagine that the streets of 
Pompeii ever resounded with the noise and bustle of Naples. 

The Neapolitans live in the streets, and of all the thoroughfares in 




VENICE RISING FROAI THE SEA. 727 

the world for shouting, jamming, screaming, singing, cursing ; for idlers 
intermingled with asses, mules, hand-carts and tradesmen working at their 
benches — for gesticulating, quibbing and throwing society into endless 
forms of confusion, the Street di Toledo, which intersects old Naples, 
stands without a rival in the world. Of late years, however, the mendi- 
cant classes have been decreasing and monks are not allowed to beg in 
publico 

VENICE RISING FROM THE SEA. 

If Venus rising from the sea was a subject over which ancient poets 
lavished their choicest colors, "Venice rising from the sea" has been an 
equally favorite theme with more modern writers. Though threadbare, 
It is an ever fresh and romantic topic — this rude tribe of Venetis fleeing, 
from the Goths to the marshes and islands of the Adriatic and in two 
centuries building a large city, and in three a magnificent one, which 
covered eighty of those Islands with arsenals, ship-yards, palaces, churches 
and great mercantile buildings. At first the people made salt and fished, 
then they traded in all parts of the world and established their commer- 
cial houses and factories in Rome and Constantinople. With the In- 
crease of their wealth their political power extended, and the Crusades 
made Venice the most powerful city in Lombardy, where almost all the 
riches of the East was concentrated. In the eighth century she be- 
came a republic, governed by a doge (duke). She was the acknowledged 
mistress of the Adriatic Sea, which for six centuries she annually 
"wedded" by casting a ring into its blue depths. " It is the only capital 
city of Europe that was not entered by an enemy from the downfall of 
the Roman Empire to the period of the French revolution." From Its 
origin to that time it bore the name of a republic ; when the govern- 
ment was overthrown in 1797, it was the most ancient republic, even in 
name, which history records. With the discovery of the passage tO' 
India by way of the Cape of Good Hope, Portugal snatched from Venice 
the commerce of the East. The Turks took away Cyprus, Candia and 
her possessions in the Archipelago and Greece. Thus Venice was clipped 
so that she no longer soared, but was limited to her Italian possessions 
and European trade. These, in turn, contracted more and more, so that 
now, unlike Genoa, she Is little else than a beautiful marble-like corpse. 

The Grand Canal divides Venice into two unequal parts, its tortu- 
ous course being intersected by 146 smaller channels. Over 300 bridges 
are thrown across these waterways, the most famous being the RIalto, a 
stone structure which spans the Grand Canal. Marble palaces, mighty 
church domes and public structures rise from the borders of the canals, 



728 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

both great and small, but in summer and autumn, when the tides are 
highest and their green waters so distinctly reflect these architectural 
charms, Venice is a double vision of wonder and beauty. 

The center of attraction is the shrine of her patron saint, the Square 
of St. Mark. It is said that during the first part of the ninth century a 
fleet of Venetian merchantmen was driven by a storm into the Egyptian 
port of Alexandria. In gratitude to Heaven for their deliverance the 
crews obtained the supposed body of St. Mark and transported it to 
their city. This apostle thus became the tutelary saint of Venice. 

THE CHURCH OF ST. MARK. 

Upon the east side of the great square is the Church of St. Mark, 
built in the form of a Greek cross. Above the doorway are four famous 
bronze horses, brought from Constantinople, and great domes tower 
above the cathedral spire and minarets. The most stately of them all is 
the campanile, or bell tower, which rises over the cathedral " like a huge 
giant guarding the fairy creation at its foot." The tower is surmounted 
by the figure of an angel, which is thirty feet in height. St. Mark's 
cathedral is constructed of brick, incrusted with richly colored marbles ; 
the statues and profuse carvings are exquisite. Buildings for the accom- 
modation of the Patriarch, trustees of the church property, etc., etc., 
stand in stately array around the square. 

Ruskin gives this rich coloring to the interior of St. Mark: "The 
church is lost in a deep twilight, to which the eye must be accustomed 
for some moments before the form of the building can be traced ; and 
then there opens before us a vast cave hewn out into the form of a cross 
and divided into shadowy aisles by many pillars. Round the dome of 
its roof the light enters only through narrow apertures like large stars; 
and here and there a ray or two from some far-away casement wanders 
into the darkness and casts a narrow phosphoric stream, upon the waves 
of marble that heave and fall in a thousand colors along the floor. 
What else there is of light is from torches, or silver lamps, burning cease- 
lessly in the recesses of the chapels ; the roof sheeted with gold, and 
the polished walls covered with alabaster, give back at every curve and 
angle some feeble gleaming to the flames ; and the glories round the 
heads of the sculptured saints flash upon us as we pass them, and sink 
again into the gloom. Under foot and over head, a continual succes- 
sion of crowned imagery, one picture passing into another as in a dream ; 
forms beautiful and terrible mixed together ; dragons and serpents, and 
ravening beasts of prey, and graceful birds that in the midst of them 
drink from running fountains and feed from vases of crystal ; the pas- 




THE PIGEONS OF ST. MARK— VENICE. 



A GONDOLA TRIP. 729 

sions and pleasures of human life symbolized together, and the mystery 
of its redemption." 

South of the Piazza is the Piazzetta, or Little Square, containing two 
great red granite columns, one surmounted by a figure of St. Theodore, 
who preceded St. Mark, as the city's guardian, and the other covered by 
the Lion of St. Mark. On one side of the Little Square is the Doge's 
Palace, which displays the ancient Venetian, the Gothic and the Renais- 
sance styles of architecture, as the original structure was erected in 813, 
and enlarged, rebuilt and redecorated for seven or eight hundred years. 

A GONDOLA TRIP. 

From the landing place of the Piazzetta a gondola, in gliding west 
along the Great Canal, would pass a great number of palaces, formerly 
the warehouses and business houses of merchant princes. Every con- 
ceivable style of architecture is represented. The best hotel in Venice 
was at one time a grand palace. We glide under the Rialto, that majes- 
tic stone arch ; and if we stopped to examine it we should find that it 
is divided above into three streets and that several rows of shops 
are established thereon. 

At the foot of the Rialto is a celebrated church, which occupies 
the site of the first religious structure erected in Venice, in 421. The 
" Frari " is famous for its colossal monument of Titian and its rare pic- 
tures. But to enumerate all the churches of Venice and the master- 
pieces of art found in the Fine Art Academy would be foreign to our 
purpose, for the Venice of to-day is but a ghost of the old Venetian 
Republic. " The Bridge of Sighs stretches across the canal called the 
Rio Palazzo and communicates between prisons on the east and the 
Doge's palace on the west bank. It is a covered gallery, and prisoners, 
when led to execution, passed from their cells across this gallery to the 
palace to hear the sentence of death passed upon them, and then were 
conducted to the scene of death between the red columns." 

MILAN. 

In opulence and enterprise Milan yields the palm to no city in Italy. 
Although its position is inland it lies in the way of the important Alpine 
lines of travel and by its thorough canal system is placed in communi- 
cation with the principal rivers of Italy. Silk, ribbons, cutlery, porce- 
lain, grain, rice and cheese are the chief articles of its great inland trade, 
and they blossom out into broad, well-paved, clean streets, elegant dwell- 
ings, and substantial business houses ; art palaces illustrative of the 



730 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Bolognese and Lombard schools; into public and private libraries, cele- 
brated conservatories of music, great hospitals and schools of every 
description — public, normal and technical The places of amuse- 
ment are on as grand a scale as the public buildings, and the 
Corso, or chief promenade of the city, is simply Parisian in its 
brilliancy. One of its arcades, with its bright shops and cafes and 
gay attractions, is the most favorite place of evening resort of 
this glittering thoroughfare and has been called " Little Paris." 
Milan, in "fact, is a modern city. Roman, Hun and Goth have 
assisted in obliterating nearly every trace of its ancient power and 
elegance. 

The most ancient of Milan's monuments is the Church of St. Am- 
brose, Bishop of Milan, founded by him in the fourth century. In this 
church the German Emperors were crowned Kings of Italy. In the 
Dominican Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is Leonardo da Vinci's 
" Last Supper," one of the greatest of the world's sublime paintings. 
Milan Cathedral, with its 4,000 statues, forests of pinnacles, and its 
great dome 355 feet in height, which has taken five hundred years in 
building and is not yet completed, is the magnet which draws most irre- 
sistibly toward the city. The church is in the form of a Latin cross, 
but pinnacles, statuary, carvings, fretwork, niches and every form of 
profuse ornamentation are so worked into the general design that it is 
difficult to see in the magnificent structure anything but a bewildering 
mass of details. Monuments of princes, prelates and saints rise toward 
the vaulted roofs within. The Church of San Carlo Borromeo has a 
dome second only in size to that of the Pantheon, and contains a wonder- 
ful marble group of the Saviour and Virgin. Among the public institu- 
tions of Milan the Lazaretto, the plague hospital outside the walls, is 
the most imposing. The buildings comprise four ranges, each 
nearly 1,200 feet long, and cover an area of thirty acres. Milan is the 
book center of Italy, and its newspapers and periodicals further mark it 
as a city which has a future before it as well as a past behind it. Its 
libraries are renowned over Europe, and one of them at least, the Ambro- 
sian library, is famous throughout the world of scholars for its remark- 
able collections of manuscripts. Among others may be mentioned 
fragments of Cicero's orations and letters of Marcus Aurelius ; a manu- 
script of Virgil, with marginal notes by Petrarch, who refers to his first 
meeting with Laura. There are studies by Raphael and Leonardo da 
Vinci. Connected with the library is a printing press, and its rich treas- 
ures are constantly being sifted, classified and digested by classical pro- 
fessors and editors. 



PISA. 73 1 

PISA. 

Pisa is a provincial town of Tuscany — Pisa, the rival of Genoa and 
Florence, whose merchant vessels were seen in every nook of the Medi- 
terranean Sea, whose navy destroyed the power of the Saracens in 
Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Isles, and whose soldiers were among; 
the bravest of the gallant crusaders — Pisa, one of the most powerful 
republics of the middle ages is to-day hardly a first-rate provincial town, 
surrounded by an ancient wall, with grass growing where once trod 
thousands of ambitious merchants and warriors. The marble bridge 
which spans the Arno has few rivals in Europe. The only other note- 
worthy objects of interest are the cathedral, baptistry, leaning tovv^er and 
Campo Santo. The cathedral, long without a rival in architectural 
beauty, and still uniting majesty with grace, was erected from Saracenic 
spoils and is a monument to the success of the religious war which the 
Pisans waged against the infidels. The baptistry was built later, being 
in the form of a gigantic dome, surmounted by an unimposing cone. 
Below the roof and extending to the cornice of its first marked division 
is what might be termed a rich central band of dormer windows, crosses, 
statues, carvings and graceful pillars. The leaning bell tower, or cam- 
panile, was completed subsequent to the baptistry. . Its eccentricity of 
deviating from the perpendicular was discovered in time to guard against 
its destruction by so distributing the pressure of stone in the upper stories 
and the weight of its seven huge bells that a firm equilibrium was main- 
tained. Between the baptistry and the campanile on one side and the 
old city walls on the other is the cemetery called Campo Santo, the 
enormous mound of earth in the center beinor the soil which was brou<>-ht 
from the traditional site of Calvary ; which was loaded into fifty-three 
vessels under the direction of an Italian Archbishop who was expelled 
from Palestine by Saladin. The cemetery is a beautiful oblong court 
surrounded by lofty arcades of white marble, placed there by John of 
Pisa and frescoed by Giotto and other eminent artists. Both ancient 
Greece and Rome have contributed rare bas reliefs, which stand the 
ravages of time much better than the paintings, many of which have 
faded or peeled from the walls. Within the sacred inclosure are a 
number of striking monuments of modern times, one of the most superb 
being that of Algarotti, the Venetian scholar who was so honored by 
Frederick the Great in life and in death. 

THE SICILIANS AND MT. ETNA. 

The natives are of a light olive complexion and of middle stature. 



732 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

consisting of the aborigines who are supposed to have emigrated from 
the continent of Italy, the Greeks who formed their earhest settlements 
at Messina and Syracuse, and the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, 
Goths, Arabs and Normans who overran the island in wars of conquest. 
Their lanofuaofe shows decided traces of the Saracenic invasion. The 
fisheries and vineyards of Sicily furnish employment to the majorit}^ 
of the inhabitants. 

In visiting some of the noted historical and mythological localities 
of Greece we have noticed the emigration of the inhabitants of the state 
of Messene to escape the arms of the ambitious Spartans. The founding 
of Messina, in Northeastern Sicily, originated from this emigration. It 
grew to be a great city, and although destroyed by a Carthaginian army 
it was rebuilt by Dionysius, one of the " tyrants of Syracuse," who ex- 
pelled the invaders. Messina was the first Roman dependency beyond 
Italy. The city is of strictly modern construction, one single colonnade 
remaining of what is known to be of ancient architecture. It has a 
splendid harbor, wide streets paved with blocks of lava, and all the ac- 
companiments of a city of 125,000. The city is about twenty-five miles 
northeast of Mount Etna, which is a feature of its rugged background. 

The largest volcano in Europe is apparently increased in size by 
being cut off from the northern chain of mountains by a valley. It rises 
from a plain on the land side, and directly from the Mediterranean Sea on 
the eastern side. Mount Etna is nearly one hundred miles in circum- 
ference, and from this stupendous mass rises the principal cone nearly 
1 1,000 feet above the sea. Eighty minor cones are seen to group them- 
selves around the giant, some of them being hills of considerable size — 
bare, covered with dark pine forests, or the lighter foliage of the beech 
and hawthorn. Rising from the center of a dreary plain, which itself is 
above the secondary cones, is Etna herself, bearing upon her head a 
snowy covering or a gray covering of lava and ashes. Below is the 
woody region and rich pasturage grounds and around the base of the 
mountain are vineyards and corn fields. The grandest view of Mount 
Etna is obtained from the sea, thirty miles of thecoast line being formed 
by streams of lava. Its side Is gashed by a gigantic gully, five miles 
across and surrounded by vertical precipices ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 
feet in height. Upon their faces are seen the courses of lava streams, 
and other evidences which force the observer to form In his mind a pic- 
ture of the wild primeval scene when the interior force burst its way 
through the mountain's frame. 

Etna has given vent to her fury many times within historic periods, 
her greatest season of activity being from 1 664-1 673, when whole villages 



THE CAPITAL. y;^^. 

with their inhabitants were covered with her gulfs of lava and water, the 
latter being either ejected from the crater or formed by the melting 
of immense fields of snow on the summit of the mountain. The last 
great eruption of 1852 started on their journey toward the villages of Zaf- 
farana and Giarra two streams of lava, one of them being two miles 
broad and one hundred and seventy feet deep. As it broke over the 
abrupt sides of the mountain, like cataracts of fire, the sight was one of 
which to dream for a lifetime. 

THE CAPITAL. 

Palermo, the capital of Sicily, was originally a Phoenician settle- 
ment, but after the Carthaginians captured it in 480 B. C, it fell succes- 
sively into the hands of the Grecians, Romans, Goths, Saracens and 
Normans. The kingdom of Sicily was founded by the latter, who 
retained the capital at Palermo, where it had been established by the 
Saracens. Palermo is picturesquely situated on a lovely plain between 
two mountain ridges and the sea, or, as it has been poetically called, in 
the "Golden Shell." Its harbor is well protected, but the city is sur- 
rounded by falling walls. Palermo is divided into four parts by two 
broad streets which intersect, the longrer of them running from the sea to 
the royal palace, before which stands a bronze statue of Philip IV. of 
Spain. The whole city is paved with lava blocks, and the water supply 
is drawn from the reservoirs at the corners of the streets, placed there 
by the Saracens who thus preached in this foreign land their gospel of 
pure water — "the greatest gift of Allah!" Palermo has numerous 
palaces and churches, but the most noted of the religious edifices is the 
cathedral which contains mausolea of Frederick II., and of Roger, the 
founder of the kingdom. St. Rosalia, the patron saint of Palermo, was 
a Norman princess who forsook the court for a wild cave in a rocky hill 
near the city. The cave is a holy shrine to which an annual pilgrimage 
is made, and the bones of Santa Rosalia are treasured in a chest of solid 
silver which is deposited in a magnificent chapel named after her. Pal- 
ermo's nunneries and monasteries have been suppressed. There was 
one to which an awful fascination attached — the Capuchin monastery 
— from the fact that underneath it were lonsf subterranean vaults in 
which the dead were placed in a standing position. The city contains 
numerous institutions of learning. The observatory in the royal palace 
is noted as being the point from which Piazzi discovered Ceres, the first 
of the asteroids, and made his other observations for his valuable cata- 
logues of the stars. 



734 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

SYRACUSE AND HER RIVAL. 

Syracuse, on the eastern coast of Sicily, was anciently the largest city 
of the island, being originally a Corinthian settlement. Its population 
has been estimated all the way from 500,000 to 1,200,000, including 
really five towns, inclosed by a wall and fortresses which extended for a 
considerable distance inland. The modern city is fortified, being com- 
manded by the heights of Achradina, which was within the limits of 
ancient Syracuse. The Syracuse of to-day is a city of narrow streets 
and ruins, of amphitheatres and paths. Its cathedral, as that of Naples, is 
built of material which once formed a portion of a heathen temple, the 
church resting upon the site of the structure dedicated to Minerva. 
Near the borders of three of the towns is the famous theatre hewn out 
of the rock, which could accommodate 24,000 spectators. It is much 
overgrown with bushes, but the lines of its vast proportions are still vis- 
ible, it being 440 feet in diameter. The prisons of Syracuse, hewn from 
the rocky hills of Achradina to the depth of eighty feet, are perfect, but 
the great palaces of the tyrants of Syracuse, who ruled the city with so 
cruel a power, with several short interregnums of popular government, for 
more than 250 years — the temples which they filched from the people are 
in ruins. In the third century A. D., after having remained independent of 
foreign rule for 90oyears,the city was conquered by the Romans, though 
•defended by the greatest mechanical genius of antiquity, Archimedes. 

Subterranean tombs have also been discovered at Syracuse — a 
gloomy city of the dead, in which those of all nationalities and relig- 
ions, worthy of the honor in the eyes of the ancients, have found burial. 
Southwest of the city are the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter. Other 
•evidences are at hand of the former power of the great city which 
joined vessels with the Spartans and destroyed the Athenian fleet under 
Nicias, the pious, and Demosthenes, the eloquent. Syracuse's rival was 
the Doric city of Agrlgentum, on the southwestern coast. Architecturally 
it was a beautiful city and was famous for its great trade in corn, oil and 
wine. It was ruled by tyrants, was destroyed by the Carthaginians, rebuilt 
by a tyrant, and became subject to the Romans and the Saracens. The 
modern town of Girgenti occupies the site of the flourishing city,exhibiting 
dirty lanes, wretched houses with fine balconies, many works of art, vast 
ruins of the ancient temples of Concord and Jupiter, immense granaries 
hewn from the rock, subterranean stone quarries from which building ma- 
terial was taken for the ancient city, magnificent painted vases taken from 
ancient sepulchres,the petroleum spring noticed by Pliny and the mud vol- 
cano described by writers of antiquity. Girgenti has many odd churches, 
but only 20,000 people, the population of Syracuse being about 300,000. 



THE SPANIARDS, 




THE BASQUES. 

HERE are many speculations afloat regarding the Basques, 
who principally inhabit the three provinces which form a tri- 
angle in Northwestern Spain, its base being the Bay of Biscay 
on the north. At least several groups of scholars have settled 
upon a common theory that the gypsies originally came from 
Northern India, but although the Basques have never been 
really dislodged from their mountain homes and have seen the 
barbarians of Europe moulded into such peoples as the Germans, 
English and French, and have withstood tides of conquest 
which have swept over their country from the three conti- 
nents, the knotty point as to their origin is so far from being settled that 
scarcely half a dozen philologists and historians have reached the same 
conclusion. The provinces which they now occupy in Spain constitute 
the ancient Cantabria, which native historians claim had as its pioneers 
Tubal, the son of Japhet, and his family. From this point spread the 
aboriginal population of Europe. They furthermore claim that they 
speak the very language which Noah received from Adam. Certain it 
is that their language is peculiarly their own. They call themselves 
" Euscaldunac," their country "Euscaleria" and their language " Eus- 
cara." 

The Basques have been named as remnants of the people of the 
Lost Atlantis, as Tartars, Huns, Finns, Phoenicians, Berbers, Latins, 
and Iberians, who occupied the peninsula of France and Spain when the 
Celts invaded the country 1600 B. C. From the fusion of Iberians 
(whoever they were) with the Celts arose the Celtiberians, who often 
were the enemies and sometimes the friends of ancient Rome, With 
them the mountaineers, or Basques, found it convenient to league them- 
selves. Augustus Caesar directed his troops against the Cantabrians. 
One of his armies was nearly starved, and a second narrowly escaped an 
ambuscade among the mountains. He was harassed on all sides by the 
hardy aborigines, and at one time retired in disgust. But Rome 

735 



736 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

was Stubborn as well as great. The towns of the Basques were 
burned and they retreated to the mountains to watch the con- 
flagrations and wait for the Romans to attack them there. They 
fought like wild cats in the mountains, those who were captured 
submitting with grim determination to the most fearful tortures. The 
Romans built their forts among the mountains and the Basques at- 
tacked from them their natural fortifications. No Roman force could sally 
forth without being surprised by their unconquerable enemies. New 
confederations of the native warriors were formed. A whole Roman 
army was destroyed. The confederation was crushed for the time being, 
and thousands of prisoners carried in chains to Rome. Many of them 
escaped, returned to the Pyrenees and formed a new league. This was 
dispersed by Agrippa. At length the Celtiberians became subjects of 
Rome, leaving the Cantabrians still intrenched in the Western Pyrenees. 
They assisted the Romans against the Gallic tribes and were defeated 
by the Goths on the plains of Navarre. But neither Goth, Vandal nor 
Moor dare pursue them to the mountains as did the Roman. They cut 
the Saracens to pieces and when Charlemagne's victorious army retired 
from the Ebro, his rear guard was attacked in a rocky valley and many 
of his bravest noblemen killed by the Basques. This brought upon them 
a series of conflicts, but the great King of the Franks could not crush 
them. 

The Basque provinces became allies of Castile and Aragon, and 
were incorporated into the kingdom, but they formed a confederation of 
small republics and with Navarre insisted for eight centuries upon retain- 
ing \}i\^\x fueros, or charters, from the imperial government, by which they 
were guaranteed home rule and exempted from duties on imported 
merchandise and all royal monopolies. They were not subject to con- 
scription for the royal army and no royal troops entered their land with- 
out the permission of the home authorities. Even during the reigns of 
Charles V. and Philip II. these provinces, in spite of imperial encroach- 
ments upon popular government in other provinces, stood forth as a 
brave democracy within a kingdom. Until they organized the Don 
Carlos rebellion against the reigning house, the Basques continued to 
enjoy their bill of rights, but this act resulted, by the war which closed 
in 1876, in its final abolition. 

When these distinguished sons of the Pyrenees (for each Basque is 
a noble) are not proudly and unflinchingly defending their homes and 
their rights, a variety of occupations are open to them. They are said to be 
the first of the Europeans who went fishingfor whales, and even now their 
fisheries upon the coast employ many people. It was from this coast that 



THE BASQUES. '] l'^ 

the fishermen and explorers went forth (so claim their descendants) to 
discover Newfoundland. The assumption of the Venetian Cabots, father 
and son, whom history has credited with the discovery, is boldly scouted 
by the proud Cantabrians. 

Metals and marbles of various kinds vein their hills, and they are 
miners. A simple spade or fork is about the only agricultural imple- 
ment with which they cultivate their small farms of four or five acres. 
Wheat, barley and maize are harvested. Although the soil of the valleys 
even is not very rich, the Basque peasant is industrious and his lands 
will compare favorably with those in other portions of the kingdom. His 
hills are covered with oak, beech and chestnut, generally to the very sum- 
mit. The climate is mild and salubrious, and the country is picturesque. 

Besides being unlike any of the dialects of Southern Europe, the 
Basque language is so difficult to learn that there is a popular legend to 
the effect that Satan spent seven years in studying it and thoroughly 
mastered but three words. One might believe the story and admire his 
ability after being confronted with such native monstrosities as these : 
Izarysaroyarenlurrearenbarena, or "the center of the mountain road," 
and Azpilcuetagaraycosaroyarenbcrecolarrea, or "the lower ground of 
the high hill of Azpilcueta." The Basques are of a poetic turn. Their 
bards attend the huskings and salute the washerwomen on the banks of the 
streams and the peasants at their plows, improvising pastorals and tell- 
ing stories and legends. Their theatres are built out from the mountains,^ 
and native tragedies and comedies are acted, which are pronounced 
remarkably vigorous and fresh. The poets also are honored with fes- 
tivals, in which they are escorted by a procession of horsemen in rich 
uniforms and great bear-skin caps, by musicians and dancers, to a plat- 
form or theatre, where they are happy to show their powers. Their amuse- 
ments, such as their pastoral dramas, are of a national character, the sub- 
jects being taken from the Bible, from Grecian mythology and even 
from Ottoman sources. Their dances, also, are institutions of the coun- 
try, such as the Olympian games in Greece. Formerly the priests took 
part in the excitements of the dance and the women were excluded; 
now their positions are reversed. 

Such gatherings as these draw the Basques from plain, valley and 
mountain — the women with their superb masses of brown hair, their 
small hands and feet, and the men with their massive features, firm 
mouths, black eyes and dignified bearing. The peasant appears in his 
gala dress — a blue cap, dark velvet breeches, a red scarf around his 
loins and a gorgeous vest, while his pear tree-stick, pointed with iron, is 
slung by a cord to his wrist. 

47 



738 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The most favorite manly sport is hunting the wild pigeon. " High 
up in the tallest trees of the forest, huts of branches are constructed. 
These huts, around which are arranged decoys, which are made to flut- 
ter whenever a flock of pigeons is signaled, accommodate from four to 
six huntsmen, each one stationed in front of a loop-hole made so as to 
afford an enfilading shot, which will kill a number of birds at once. At 
the sound of the chief's whistle, there is a simultaneous fire and great is 
the carnage. In some quarters great nets are stretched among the trees, 
and the birds, scared by the rattles and by the decoy hawks of wood and 
feathers which are thrown at them, quicken their flight and rush help- 
lessly into the snares." 

IGNATIUS LOYOLA. 

It is in the land of the Basques that Ignatius Loyola, the ardent, 
brave and worldly soldier, first saw this strange world so filled with 
transforming influences ; for the young soldier, fighting against the 
French, was wounded in both legs and was borne to his ancestral castle 
near the modern town of Azpeitia. Having exhausted his large supply 
of romances, the incapacitated soldier, in sheer desperation, fell back upon 
the " Lives of the Saints." But his active soul was fired, and from that 
time on, by a thorough course of study, by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
traveling generally on foot as a mendicant monk, by every possible 
course of thought, self-denial and industry he prepared himself to become 
the founder of that military order of Jesuits whose motto, P. A. C, 
indicates the complete submersion of the individual into the body; for 
P. A. C. {Perinde ac Cadaver) is "just like a corpse" and every Jesuit 
is sworn to obey the orders of his superior, as though he were clay in the 
potter's hands. 

The scene of Loyola's conversion is now a vast monastery, whose 
great dome is brought out with severe distinctness against a rocky mount, 
a short distance beyond. The unfinished wings of the mass of buildings 
give the imaginative, from a distance, the impression of a huge, imperfect 
eagle. Entering the vestibule from the peristyle, which has a semi-circu- 
lar front of black marble, plaster statues of Loyola, Xavier and other 
prominent Jesuits are observed. Passing into the church beneath figures 
of the Virgin and cherubs, one finds himself in a square, cold marble hall. 
" From the vestibule a door on one side opens into an arched passage, 
one side of which is formed by the house of Loyola, built of rough brick, 
and bearing over the door the inscription in gold letters on a black mar- 
ble slab: ' Family house of Loyola. Here St. Ignacio was born in 149 1. 
Here, having been visited by St. Peter and by the most Holy Virgin, 



SPANISH GYPSIES. 



739 



he gave himself to God in 1521," The apartment in which they are 
said to have appeared to Loyola forms an inner chapel of the church 
and is a shrine to which thousands of the devout repair. Besides the 
inscription which has been noticed, the escutcheon of the Loyola family 
appears upon another marble slab, it being two wolves disputing over a 
cauldron suspended by a chain. The unfinished portion of the left wing 
of the monastery consists of a simole wall, which is built in front of the 
castle or house of the Saint. 



SPANISH GYPSIES. 

From the Pyrenees to Granada the Spanish gypsy is on his travels^ 
camping by Phoenician, Carthaginian, Iberian, Roman, Gothic and 
Moorish fortresses ; pene- 
trating to Madrid with smug- 
o'lers and horse- thieves, but 
not of them ; wandering 
from Madrid to pick up the 
great mules of Western 
Spain and sellingand trading 
them over again , curing 
men and horses of various 
distempers ; dancing, sing- : 
ing in Seville ; camping in r 
the rocky caves within a 
stone's throw of historic 
Granada ; tinkering, pilfer- 
ing, fortune-telling — the 
Spanish gypsy is the gypsy 
of the world,the professional 
tramp who is not a vagrant, 
for he always has some osten- 
sible means of support. 

Seville, the birthplace a gyfsy chief. 

of Murillo, the greatest of Spanish painters, whose masterpieces 
adorn the walls of its grand churches, is also the headquarters 
of the gypsy musicians and dancers. Here will be found many set- 
tled people of their race, as in other towns of Spain. But the 
gypsy dancing girl is the interesting member of their community — 
she who exhibits to the eyes of Spain the motions of the Hindu maidens 
and the Egyptian guitar, and glides about to the strains of old Grecian 
and Phoenician melodies. Little children are brought up to the same 




740 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

perfection by ambitious elders, sometimes venerable grandmothers, who 
encourage their tiny bare feet with the guitar or castanets. 

It is not always for show and gain that the gypsies exhibit their 
accomplishments. Their marriage festivals are particularly boisterous 
and devoted to merry-making — music, song and dance. They have, 
also, their rude poets, whose themes are not always such as would com- 
m.end themselves to classical tastes. Cattle-stealings, prison adventures 
and other incidents of wandering gypsy life, with tender bits of love 
ditties and pastoral scenes, quaint scraps and catches, are various themes 
and elements of their verse-making. 

On account of the disorganized condition of society in Spain, much 
of the time, her gypsies, when they permanently take to travel, are 
among the most reckless and unprincipled of their race. They fre- 
quently encamp near remote villages, and when they have consumed and 
stolen everything they can, pass on to the next. Frequently they are 
driven away by the authorities. Then the women and children mount 
the lean asses of the band, ragged and long-haired men goading and 
beating the poor animals to increase their speed, the rear of the uncouth 
cavalcade being guarded by a small party on strong horses, armed with 
guns and sabres, and now and then defiantly blowing a hoarse blast 
upon their horns. 

CADIZ. 

From the Basque provinces to Cadiz, on the Southwestern Spanish 
coast, is from ancient land to ancient city ; but as Cadiz is the great 
starting point of foreign colonization and foreign conquest, and as here 
was taken the next chronological step in the settlement of Spain, it is 
well to rest awhile at the little city by the ocean, standing there square, 
trim and clean. It is surrounded by a wall, its houses are built of white 
stone, and from the water sides, for it is upon a long narrow isthmus of 
an island, nothing can be more fresh in the shape of a city. Cadiz 
has strong sea and land fortifications, and its fine harbor has been 
the scene of conflicts between the Spaniards, English and French, 
between the Spaniards, Moors, Goths, Romans, Carthaginians and 
Phoenicians. The Phoenicians founded it over three centuries before 
the founding of Rome and the ruins of one of their temples is there. 
From Phoenician to Carthaginian, from Carthaginian to Roman, from 
Roman to Vandal, from Vandal to Goth, from Goth to Moor, before 
they all were merged into the Spaniard, is the usual order of ownership 
for the sea-ports of Spain and for most of the country, varied somewhat 
by the position of the district. 



CARTHAGE IN SPAIN. 74 1 

CARTHAGE IN SPAIN, 

Across Southern Spain, on the Mediterranean is another fortified 
town, built on a plain surrounded by hills, the city stretching down to the 
sea. The entrance to its spacious harbor is narrow and is commanded 
by the fortifications on an island to the south. Its old streets, its old 
cathedral and its ruined castle on the hill are Moorish in the extreme, but 
the Moors only restored that city to something of its former magnifi- 
cence, which was the stronghold of the Carthaginians on the northern 
coast of the Mediterranean, and which was stormed and captured by 
the Romans 210 b. c. Thirty years previous it had been named 
New Carthage, and was designed as the Carthaginians' base of opera" 
tions in Europe against the Romans. Before that time Phoenicians 
had planted a fortress and a lighthouse upon a rock overhanging 
the city, in whose sides these bold colonists had found numerous 
caves in which lived the savasfe aborig-ines. Under Rome it was 
a city of wealth and importance, 40,000 men being employed in the 
neighboring mines of Tharsis, which formed the attraction of the 
Phoenicians. The Goths sacked the city, and even under Spanish rule 
it was the largest naval arsenal in Europe. But now the place is dilap- 
idated, its dockyards and arsenal are deserted, and only a few walls 
remain of the Carthaginian fortress held by the family of Hannibal, or of 
the lighthouse v/hich guided the ships to the Tarshish of Scripture, lying 
at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. 

" Local tradition declares that a superb piece of tapestry in the old 
dismantled cathedral was brought back from the Indies by Christopher 
Columbus on his first voyage, and was suspended there by him as a 
grateful recognition of God's mercy, in the presence of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. This is not quite exact. The truth seems to be that the 
tapestry was paid for by the gold which Columbus brought back with 
him, and that it represents the birds and beasts, the fruits and flowers 
of the New World, as far as he could describe them. That it was sus- 
pended by Columbus seems certain, attested as it is by the familiar 
escutcheon and legend which are placed over it. It will scarcely be 
credited that the cathedral is rapidly falling into ruins, and that the 
tapestry is rotting from the walls." 

SPANISH MOROCCO. 

The territory lying between these ancient towns and between the 
Guadalquivir River and the Mediterranean Sea is what may be called 
the Morocco of Spain. In Granada (which was the last of the Moslem 



742 PA^TORAMA OF NATIONS. 

kingdoms to fall) and Castile are, in fact, to be found about 60,000 
people who have kept their Moorish blood singularly pure, being known 
as Modejars. Despite the Inquisition, the banishments and burn- 
ings, the Moors not only remain, but they have impressed many of their 
customs upon the country. 

"In Toledo, in Cordova, in Granada, or in the older parts of Seville, 
it would be easy to believe oneself in a Moorish or Egyptian town. The 
narrow streets are inclosed by high walls, almost windowless, and perfo- 
rated by only a single low door. Everything looks gloomy and sombre. 
But peep through the iron grating which protects the doorway, and you 
will see 2^ patio bright with flowers and fountains and greenery. The 
windows of the chambers open into this quadrangle, and the inmates can 
enjoy light and air, bright sunshine and cool shade, without leaving the 
seclusion of their houses or being exposed to the gaze of any not belong- 
ing to the family. This style of architecture has been handed down 
directly from the Moors. And in numberless details of dress and daily 
life the same influence may be traced. The mantilla which forms the 
head-dress of almost every v/oman in Spain, is simply a relic of the veil 
universally worn by the wives and daughters of the Moslem. Wander 
into the outskirts of any town in Spain, and you will hardly fail to stum- 
ble upon groups of ragged, picturesque varlets, lying at full length upon 
some sunny bank, sunning themselves just as a group of Bedouins would 
do. Go out into the country, and you will hear the creaking of the 
waterwheel and see the patient oxen treading their ceaseless round, 
turning the ponderous machine, which has come down unchanged from 
the days of the Moors. The peasants of Andalusia, Murcia and Granada 
are seldom to be seen without a long staff, which they grasp and carry 
exactly as an Arab does his spear. The velvet hat of the Spanish majo 
is clearly a reminiscence of the turban. In private houses, hotels and 
cafes servants are summoned by clapping the hands as in the Arabian 
Nights." 

In the mettle, grace and docility of the horses of Andalusia, also, 
are seen the strong points of the Arabian steeds. Since the country 
was stocked by the Moors with their finest breeds they have somewhat 
degenerated ; still enough specimens of the famous stock remain to 
remind one of the Moorish rule. Since the decline in wealth and mag- 
nificence of the Spanish nobility, the demand for blooded horses has 
decreased. The celebrated breed of the sovereigns of Spain at Cordova 
is nearly extinct, and the wealthiest Andalusian nobles have only a few 
saddle horses. The noble Arabian steed, the pride of the Moor and the 
native sheik, is disappearing before the mules and asses which are used for 



SEVILLE. 743 

domestic, agricultural and transportation purposes. Immense droves of 
these animals are continually passing from Old Castile, where they are 
bred, to the rich pastures of Estremadura, where they are reared, and 
supplied to the rest of Spain, principally for transportation purposes. 
The asses even rival those of Egypt, being sure-footed, strong and docile, 
and nearly equal in size to the mules. 

SEVILLE. 

In fact, from Seville and the banks of the Guadalquivir to the 
Mediterranean Sea, the Arabs of Morocco have buried Phoenician, 
Roman and Gothic civilizations. Although the native place of the 
Roman Emperors Trajan, Adrian and Theodosius, called by Caesar 
Little Rome, and adorned by great edifices worthy of a favorite child of 
the empire, Seville is a purely Moorish city. The capital of Southern 
Spain during the ascendency of the Vandals and the Goths, it is still dis- 
tinctively Moorish. A few miles away are the ruins of a magnificent 
Roman amphitheatre — all that remains of the palaces and ambitious 
structures of half a dozen Roman emperors and conquerors. 

Time has not buried Rome completely out of sight, here in Moor- 
land. Massive stones of the amphitheatre now confine the waters of the 
Guadalquivir and appear in the walls of a neighboring convent, while 
during the five centuries that the Moors held Seville the city was rebuilt 
from the materials of former Roman edifices. Certain quarters of the city 
have not been changed, and one may there find cool shadows cast across 
the narrow, crooked streets, from spacious mansions, with ample courts 
and gardens. Attached to the mighty Spanish cathedral of Seville is a 
remarkable Moorish tower, to which a lofty pinnacle has been added 
since the city came under the Spanish rule. The tower formerly was 
part of a great Mohammedan mosque. It is now a portion of the 
Catholic church, within which are paintings by Murillo, whose house may 
be seen from it. Surmounting the pinnacle, 350 feet from the ground, 
is a female figure in bronze, fourteen feet high, which serves as a weather- 
vane and which is so nicely poised that it is swerved by the slightest 
breeze. 

The Alcazar, originally a Moorish palace, has been remodeled until 
it is a rival of the Alhambra in delicate ornamentation. It is the royal res- 
idence, and a royal one, truly. At a little distance from the palace is an 
octagonal tower, partly Moorish and partly Roman in its architecture; it 
is called the Tower of Gold. One story is that Columbus stored therein 
the first American gold ; on the other hand, it is alleged that the name 
was given to it long before Columbus ever set sail from Palos. 



744 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

But the Seville of to-day is not the capital of a Moorish kingdom 
with half a million people. Although when Ferdinand of Castile passed 
in as a conqueror, 300,000 Moors passed out, bound for Granada and 
Africa, it continued a great city until the discovery of America, when it 
almost reached its fornier plane of prosperity. Cadiz afterwards seized 
its trade, and with the decline of Spain as a commercial power Seville 
fell with it. It is still a beautiful city, surrounded by Moorish walls and 
Moorish towers. 

Seville was, furthermore, the headquarters of the Inquisition In 
Spain, but it was not until the Reformation, from Germany, commenced 
to send its New Testaments into Spain and make converts that it was 
brought to bear with such shocking cruelty upon the people. Single 
executions were thought inadequate to suppress the heresy, and the 
autos da fd, or public burnings, were inaugurated at Valladolid and 
Seville, and spread over the land. Barcelona, Cordova, and others 
had also, their gloomy prisons of the Inquisition filled with her 
etics until emptied by the atitos da fd. Ten years of such vigor- 
ous war stamped out Protestantism. 

CORDOVA. 

Ascending the river from Seville, a mass of sad-looking buildings is 
occasionally seen through the intervening groves of palm and olive trees. 
The road to the city is through gardens of roses, oranges, oleanders, 
with all the foliage of the Orient to give them a rich shading. As Cor- 
dova is approached — so long the capital and center of the great Moorish 
empire — its wall even has a patched and dejected air, traces of Roman, 
Gothic and Moorish workmen being discovered in it. Cordova was for 
three centuries one of the grandest centers of commerce and of a civil- 
ization far in advance of the rest of Europe ; a sublime city of mosques, 
hospitals, schools and palaces, the banks of the Guadalquivir being lined 
with extensive gardens in which were innumerable fountains, palm trees, 
and Oriental pavilions. Cordova was the metropolis of the industrious 
race which made Southern Spain bloom like a garden ; which laid out 
her rich plains into sugar, rice and cotton plantations; which brought in 
chemistry, paper, elegant manufactures, and the numerical system which 
we use to-day. Each garden whose orange and citron groves were 
reflected in the clear waters of the Guadalquivir was the haunt of the 
botanist. Like the Jews, the Moors were famous physicians. They 
taught medicine, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy when the rest 
of Europe was just emerging from primitive ignorance, so that the 
schools of Cordova educated the Christians of all nations, who sought the 



CORDOVA. 



745 



learning of the East which the Arabs had brouglit from Egypt, India, 
Persia and Asia Minor, via Morocco. The expulsion of the Moors and 
the Jews was a blow to Spain whose effects can never be entirely coun- 
teracted. 

The only striking architectural monument of this great empire 
which remains in its now lifeless capital is a superb mosque, which was 
built by the first caliph of the Spanish Moors after they rebelled against 
the rule of the Damascus princes. This able and amiable monarch, shel- 
tered by the Bedouins of Arabia and Africa from his Damascus enemies, 
was chosen by the sheiks as the leader of the Moors in Spain. It was 
in the middle of the eighth century that he landed on the coast of 
Andalusia, and commenced his tri- 
umphal march to Seville and Cor- 
dova. In his person were united 
the performances of the future. 
He it was who transplanted the 
palm into Spain. His mosque ab- 
sorbed the talent and skill of the 
most expert architects, masons and 
workmen among the Arabs and 
Jews — -in fact, the genius of the age 
was lavished upon its interior. To 
inspire enthusiasm, as well as to 
instill a spirit of humility and piety 
into the work, its princely founder 
is said to have daily labored with 
hod and trowel. Marbles came to 
form its beauties from the ancient 
temples of Europe, Asia and Africa, 
and when all was ready the Islam 
monarch looked upon what might 
be a stately grove of palm trees, 
their trunks taking every hue of 
the rainbow and their branches and 




A SPANISH GIRL. 



leaves lost w the profusion of the Arabesque decorations and vault- 
ed roofs. From the center of the buildino- naves run in all direc- 
tions. The Holy of Holies, where the Koran was deposited, was a 
recess roofed with a carved block of marble, lined with rich mosaics, and 
the cornices inscribed with Moslem texts in letters of gold. This inde- 
scribable sanctuary has not suffered at the hands of later architects, and 
is all the more impressive standing out in its ancient perfection from the 



746 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Catholic cathedral whose founders have generally covered the ornamen- 
tations and inscriptions of Islam with thick paint and whitewash. Other 
appropriate alterations have been made, which, however, greatly mar 
this grandest of the monuments of Moorish Mohammedanism. 

THE GARDENS OF SPAIN. 

Not only did the Moors bring the palm tree into Spain ; but soon 
rice and sugarcane were products of the country ; groves of mulberry 
and banana trees were waving ; and the almond, fig, orange, 
citron, pomegranate and pineapple were flourishing like native 
growths. The cactus also was given root, and not only run riot in the 
south, but became a striking garden ornament. It is in the gardens of 
Spain, in fact, as much as in the architecture, that the Moors have left 
their impress. Even without the flat-roofed buildings, the fountains and 
the arabesque work, when one wanders in these gardens which are in 
and around nearly every old town of Central and Southern Spain, and 
which are profusions of tropical foliage and fruit, the air laden with fra- 
grance, dates overhead, oranges and lemons within reach, he can scarcely 
believe himself in Europe. 

In some cities which are but ghosts of their former greatness, broad 
tracts which have been deserted and which once supported palaces, 
mosques or manufactories, are now planted, not only to tropical fruits, 
but to the apple, peach, plum and pear. But they flourish equally well 
as do wheat, maize and barley, with the grains of the tropics 

In fact, nature has made Spain one of the most productive of coun- 
tries, but the Spaniard, since the exit of the Moor, has not improved 
his opportunities. His neglect is partly owing to the fact that the 
Spanish nobility own immense tracts of land, which they are unable to 
cultivate, but hold from greneration to oreneration. The farmers them- 
selves are generally so poor that even the smaller holdings are covered 
with mortgages. As an instance of the disregard in which their rig-hts 
are held by the government, it is said that the proprietors of large flocks 
of Merino sheep, passing through the country, are privileged to drive 
their animals not only over village pastures but over private lands. 
The farmers are obliged to provide a broad passage way for these lordly 
sheep owners, " and no new enclosure can be made in the line of their 
migrations ; nor can any land which has once been in pasture be again 
cultivated until it has been offered to them at a certain rate." Improved 
methods of agriculture, however, are being introduced by foreign capi- 
tal, and the fertile plains of Granada, Murcia and Valencia, in some 



THE GOTHIC-ROMAN PRINCES. 74/ 

places still irrigated through the old Moorish water works, are being 
carefully and intelligently cultivated. 

Another branch of husbandry in which the Spaniards engage, but 
with their usual carelessness, is the cultivation of the vine. Yet, to a 
great extent, the natural advantages of the regions adjacent to the 
ocean and sea coasts of Southern and Southeastern Spain have counter- 
acted Spanish laxity. The most famous wine is the sherry, which 
comes from the district around Cadiz. Nearly all the brands which 
leave that port for Great Britain and this country are light, dry, table 
wines, containing naturally considerable alcohol and made more spirit- 
uous by additions from other fermented vintages, pure spirits, and decoc- 
tions and preparations drawn from over-ripe grapes. The choicest wines 
of the Cadiz district never reach the palates of foreign consumers, but 
are generally mixed with poorer sorts, which are thus mellowed and col- 
ored into all the outward appearance of the finest grades. There is a 
" mother of wine " as there is "a mother of vinegar," which is used to 
impart bouquet and color to cheap liquors, and although when it has 
been years in preparation, the stock being always kept up, it is abso- 
lutely disgusting to the taste, it becomes so potent in imparting the best 
qualities of " the true sherry " that a butt of it commands from ^800 
to ;^ 1,000. 

The country between Malaga and Granada, in Andalusia, is the 
home of the Malaga raisins and the Malaga wines. Three crops of 
grapes come annually from the vineyards of the Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains, the first being worked up into raisins and the other two into dry 
and sweet wines. Strong, dark wines are made from the grapes of Mur- 
cia and Valencia, the latter province having the best reputation. Of the 
Valencia wines, the Alicante stand at the head, being sometimes almost 
as thick and rich as syrup. Northern Spain is a wine-raising territory, 
but has no more than a local reputation. 

No, the wines of Spain can not be attributed to the* Arabs ; for the 
Koran prohibits wine. The Goths, however, were drinkers of wine, and 
into the land of the Goths we now go. 

THE GOTHIC-ROMAN PRINCES. 

The Moors drove the Goths far beyond Cordova, far beyond the 
great chain of Sierra Morena mountains, which stretch a mighty barrier 
across the whole of Southern Spain. This they surmounted, and through 
the rocky passes of the Sierra Toledo they also swept, besieging mighty 
Toledo itself, the capital of the kingdom of the Goths. Their victorious 
course lay from the battle-fields northeast of Cadiz over half a dozen 



748 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Stupendous mountain chains to the plain of Tours, where the Franks 
turned them back into Spain. For three centuries the Moors flourished, 
except in extreme Northern Spain, the Guadalquivir River, however, 
marking the center of their greatest glory ; but the rival Mohammedan 
factions in Morocco continually carried their wars into Spain, and by the 
early part of the eleventh century they broke the caliphate of Cordova 
into pieces, the fragments reappearing as small kingdoms. Although 
driven north the Christian princes were left to fight among themselves, 
the Moslems giving their strength to the country of the Franks and the 
islands of the Mediterranean to the east of Spain ; it was, without doubt, 
the dream of the Mohammedans of the West to join hands with the 
Mohammedans of the East and establish a mighty kingdom around the 
shores of the Mediterranean. But while the Mohammedans of Spain 
were a prey to internal dissensions the Gothic-Roman princes of the 
North buried their differences under the cover of a common cause. In the 
latter half of the eleventh century the King of Castile (now known as 
Old Castile) recovered Toledo, making it his residence and naming his 
territory New Castile. The capital of New Castile then became the 
base of operations for the Christian princes of the North against the 
Mohammedan states of the South, and afterward was the capital of 
Spain. 

TOLEDO. 

Between high and rocky banks the Tagus rushes around the rugged 
hills upon which the city stands, leaving only one approach by land. 
When Alfonso took the city he found this closed by a sturdy wall 
repaired four centuries before his time by the Gothic King, Wamba, the 
original structure being Roman. Beyond this he placed another wall, 
both of which stand with the ruined fortress of Alcazar — haunted by 
the ghosts of Roman, Moorish and Spanish architects — to tell of the 
rise and fall, the retreat and advance, of the races of men. From the 
center of the silent, gloomy city, rises the massive cathedral, surrounded 
by churches and convents, nearly all of which occupy the sites of old 
Mosques or Jewish synagogues. Many historians, in short, claim that 
Toledo was founded by Jewish colonists six centuries B. C, and at the 
time of the invasion of Spain by the Moslems, it is said that in the 
neighborhood of the city an Arab general found the original table of 
shewbread, adorned with hyacinths and em^eralds, made by Solomon and 
secreted by the Jews when the treasures of the temple were carried by 
Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. The oldest of the synagogues now stand- 
ing, was built in the ninth century under the tolerant rule of the Moors; 



GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA. 



749 







other synagogues have been transformed into churches, but this one, 
whose ceihno- is beHeved to have been constructed of the cedars of 
Lebanon, was used as a cavalry stable during the French occupancy and 
is now quite deserted. 

Two miles from the city walls, with their remarkable towers and 
gates, stands a great building, the royal sword manufactory, a remem- 
brance only of the days when the Toledo blades were so famous as to be 
thought worthy of the pen of Livy. 

About a century after Toledo became the capital of Castile, another 
Alfonso, joined by the Kings of Aragon, Navarre, Leon and Portugal, 
marched southward across La Mancha, which Cervantes was to make 
famous, and met on the plains of Tolosa, in the Sierra Morena, one of 
the greatest armies which the Mos- 
lems had ever sent against the 
Christians. The Mohammedan dy- 
nasty which had built its power 
upon the dismembered caliphate of 
Cordova was crushed, and from its 
death sprung into life the last of the 
noted Moorish kingdoms — that of 
Granada. 

GRANADA AND THE 
ALHAMBRA. 

The succeeding history, before 
the country was united, consists of 
a gradual absorption by Castile and 
Aragon of the Moorish and Christ- 
ian states, a healing of their jeal- 
ousies by the marriage of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella and the final 
conquest of Granada, which had sustained the assaults of Christian 
foes for two hundred years. The gateway into the fertile kingdom 
is from the west across the broad plain of Vega, bordered on. 
the south by the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas, which cool the hot 
breezes from the south into delightful freshness. One of the mountain 
spurs stretches out into the plain, at the foot of which, upon two hills, 
rests the last stronghold of the Moors, the center of that last grand 
civilization from which even the opulent cities of Italy drew much of 
their prosperity. Upon one of the hills which formed the city's site rose: 
the royal palace and fortress of the Alhambra, surrounded by gardens. 




GATE OF THE ALHAMBRA. 



750 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and containing everything which might enable the monarchs of Granada 
to enjoy themselves in fancied security. Although since the year's siege 
by the King and Queen of Spain, which resulted in the fall of Granada, 
the Alhambra has been disfigured and pillaged, remodelled, many of its 
ancient towers blown up, etc., etc., in ruins it has aroused the enthusiasm 
of the lovers of the beautiful from every land. Without, a city of towers 
and massive walls ; within, still a succession of marble, alabaster and 
cedar halls, ornamented with arabesques and stucco-work of mother-of- 
pearl, ivory and silver, beautiful fountains within playing musically to 
the soft breezes without — the Alhambra is all that the fair pens of a 
score of Washington Irvings could picture it. 

The Alhambra is divided by a narrow glen from the Generalife, 
another Moorish palace surrounded with gardens and fountains. Its 
towers are taller and lighter than those of the Alhambra and it stands 
upon a loftier height; for it was the summer palace of the Granada 
Kings. 

From the Alhambra and the Generalife the grand panorama of 
Granada is spread in all its variety ; the rich plain formerly teeming 
with the riches of the temperate zone and the tropics; the mountains 
with the ruins of fortified towns and solitary castles stretching toward the 
west ; the Xenil winding through orchard, garden and grove, and from 
the south bright streams coming down the Sierra Nevada. It is the 
Granada of old with the life of man grone out of it. 

SOUTHERN AND EASTERN COASTS. 

Skirting the coast of Spainfrom Cadiz, the first port of interest 
going east is Palos, a sleepy enough little town, but in 1491, when Colum- 
bus stopped at the convent of La Rabida, near that port, it boasted the 
most enterprising mariners in all Spain. The great discoverer had 
determined to start for Cordova, on his way to France, being weary of 
the delays with which he met in Spain, but stopping at the gate of the 
convent to ask for some bread and water for his boy, the prior became 
interested in him and his dazzling enterprise, obtained for him a personal 
interview with Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Spaniards, instead of the 
French, were enabled to claim the discovery of America as their honor. 
Columbus sailed from Palos. The dilapidated town is still there, and 
between it and the sea shore is the old convent whose prior played so 
important a part in the discovery of America. 

With its galleries tunneled through the rock on the north front, 
through which hundreds of huge guns frown at the bay and command the 



SOUTHERN AND EASTERN COASTS. 



751 



sandy isthmus which connects EngHsh with Spanish soil, looms the huge 
promontory of Gibraltar. Barracks, fortresses and batteries on the 
summit and west side, on which are the bay and town, the descent being 
precipitous on the remaining sides, is a matter-of-fact, dry description 
of a very matter-of-fact sort of an institution. It would be useless to 
describe more fully that great fortress Avhich stands as an index of the 
English character, and upon which thousands of English writers have 
cast their artillery of adjectives. 

During the prevalence of the southwest winds vessels compelled to 
leave Gibraltar often sail to the fine port of Malaga, a dazzling city of 

white houses, commanded by one 
of those massive Moorish castles 
which become tiresome in the 



mere telling but are ever fasci- 
nating in the seeing. Some say 
Malaga was founded by the Ibe- 
rians. Others suppose the name 
to be the Phoenician for salt fish, 
which was one of its most famous 
exports, Malaga is now best 
known as the city from which 
go out the muscatel raisins, as 
fine as any the world knows 
about. Olive oil and sugar are 
also largely exported. Malaga, 
in fact, despite her Moorish air 
and ancient castle, is in the active 
current of to-day. 

Coastinor alono- the shores of 
PEASANT OF EASTERN SPAIN. Granada,with the Sierra Nevadas 

in the distance, and passing numbers of villages which formerly saw the 
vessels of many nations bound for their prosperous capital, Cartagena is 
reached, and, if the traveler desires, on this former border land of Moorish 
territory he may take a trip inland by railway to Murcia, the capital of 
the province. " Lying out of the route of travelers it is almost unvisited, 
and having little commerce except with the peasantry of its fertile JiJierta, 
it retains its old costumes, manners and customs with even more than 
Spanish tenacity. The men wear a tartan plaid, like that of a Scotch 
shepherd, only more brilliant in color. The women greatly affect bright 
yellow and scarlet, and even the poorest contrive to interweave a few 
flowers into their hair. The costumes through the whole of the eastern 




752 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



O 
-i 

o 
> 

n 

> 

H 




THE CID. 753 

provinces are very strange and very Moorish. Hempen sandals take the 
place of shoes ; the legs are either bare or covered by a footless cotton 
stocking. In many districts the peasantry wear very wide calico drawers, 
reaching down to the knees and looking like a short petticoat, and a 
close-fitting jacket covered with spangles and embroidery. The plaid 
is commonly substituted along this coast for the mantle patronized by 
the Castilians." 

THE CID. 

Northward from Murcia to the river Ebro and clear across Spain to 
Portugal is the broad scene of action of Spain's greatest national hero, 
the CidCampeador,or Lord Champion. The " Cid" he obtained from the 
Moors and the " Campeador" from his own countrymen ; for in the 
course of his romantic life he fouoht with and arainst the Moorish kingrs. 
But with whomsoever he cast the weight of his mighty arms that mon- 
arch triumphed. At length, banished by a Christian king, he joined 
the Moorish kings of Saras^ossa, in whose service he fougrht as^ainst 
both Moslems and Christians. Though his fame spread over Europe 
and the brilliancy of his exploits was such that he became in imagina- 
tion a modern Hercules with an invincible sword, in order to maintain 
his family and his followers he was forced to turn against his former 
allies, and, after a stubbornly contested siege of ten months, he wrested 
Valencia, from the Moors. The Cid was promptly besieged, in turn, by 
a great army of Moors. As they lay encamped beneath the walls of 
Valencia, tradition represents him as coolly leading his terrified wife and 
daughters to one of the towers, where they could see the Moslem host 
below, and all around them a misfhtv o-rove or Qrarden of citrons, oranges, 
and palms. Assuring his family of victory he collected his handful of 
followers and giving battle to the Moorish army he defeated them and 
drove them from the city. The tower of Miguelete is pointed out as 
the point from which he looked over his fair and newly-acquired prov- 
ince, covered with grain and rice fields and thick with palm and mul- 
berry trees, and so confidently predicted his usual victory. 

The city is still the center of a fertile region, ingeniously watered 
by a system of pipes and rivulets, perfected by the Moors eight centuries 
ago. It is a pleasant walled city with macadamized streets, with old 
gloomy houses and new bright ones painted blue, rose and cream 
color, with picture galleries illustrative of the famous Valencian school, 
and, all in all, one of the several Spanish cities which is wideawake. 
Both the Cid and his wife ruled over ancient Valencia, which was an old 

city before Pompey took and destroyed it and it was rebuilt by the 

48 



754 . PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Romans. Alicante, although an important and picturesque port of the 
province of Valencia, is not of interest, historically. 

For some distance above Valencia, along the coast, Roman settle- 
ments are constantly obtruding themselves. A short ride from the city 
is a modest enough looking town, standing upon a hill near the mouth of 
a small river. Its site was the ancient, opulent Saguntum, whose heroic 
citizens, having beaten off, for many long months, Hannibal's great army 
of 150,000 men, at length in despair placed the women and children 
around a vast heap of valuables. When, from their elevated post the 
wives, sisters and daughters saw their famished protectors being cut to 
pieces by the fierce, well-fed Carthaginians they set fire to the pile, and, 
with their children, cast themselves into the welcome embrace of the 
flames. The siege and destruction of Saguntum brought upon the 
Carthaginians the Second Punic war. Few traces of its former great- 
ness remain, the Temple of Diana (relic of its Grecian founders) and the 
Roman amphitheatre having been used for fortifications during the 
Peninsula war. 

BARCELONA. 

All along to Barcelona are scattered fragments of Roman works, 
indicating where were once imperial cities, overrun by Vandals, Goths 
and Moors, and used by Spaniards for the building material of modern 
towns and farm houses. Next to Cadiz, Barcelona is the most import- 
ant sea port in Spain, and during the middle ages, except by Genoa, it 
stood unrivaled on the Mediterranean. Barcelona has also been called 
the " Athens of the Troubadours," as an evidence that it was a favorite 
resort of the courtly poets and scholars of the middle ages, as well as 
the princely mercantile classes. It was a favorite resort of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, and here they received Columbus after his discovery of 
America. The most im.portant manufacturing city in Spain, Barcelona 
is also a beautiful place, the old and nev/ districts being separated by 
the Rambla, a dry river bed, which has been planted with flowering 
shrubs and made into an attractive promenade, 

THE ROMANS AND THE CELTS. 

From Barcelona west, through Northern Spain, is traversed the 
stronghold of the old Gothic power, which, at last, became the basis of 
the Spanish state. We are now within sight of the Pyrenees, spurs 
from the main body running down into the provinces of Catalonia and 
Aragon to form green, pleasant valleys. In the western part of Cata- 
lonia is a military stronghold, Lerida, which guards the approach from 



THE ROMANS AND THE CELTS. 755 

the north to the districts of Eastern Spain, and from the south to some 
of the most convenient passes into France. It is a gloomy-looking 
town, with the usual accompaniments of a fortified place, but even 
before the time that Scipio Africanus defeated Caesar in the neighboring 
plain, it was considered by the Romans an important strategic point in 
the possession of their Spanish conquests. Before the Romans came 
the Celtiberians had discovered the advantages of the position, and it 
was undoubtedly the site of one of their primitive towns. 

Lerida is on a branch of the Ebro, and further west, in the center 
of old Aragon, and upon the muddy river itself, is Saragossa, the Celti- 
berian Salduba and the Roman Caesarea Augusta. The Moors took it 
from the Goths, and although they held it for three centuries they re- 
tained it during a continuous siege of five more years, during which 
famine nearly depopulated the city. Seven centuries afterwards Sara- 
gossa, defended by the heroic Duke Palafox, sustained for eight months 
one of the most bravely and brilliantly contested sieges of modern times, 
the French being the investing parties. It has been a city of sieges, and 
seems to have exhausted its strength in sustaining them so stubbornly. 
Its palaces are ever crumbling away, having been partially destroyed or 
weakened by the heavy ordnance of modern guns, and those which show 
evidences that they are substantial have been deserted by the nobility. 
" These buildings, rich in finely carved decorations and magnificent cor- 
nices, are now mostly inhabited by agriculturists of a rude class, their 
spacious courts converted into farm yards and filled with manure." 
Massive and elegant churches and convents are yet standing, however, 
to give the city an imposing appearance from the distance, which impres- 
sion is not borne out by a nearer inspection. 

One of its cathedrals — the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar — 
commemorates the pretended miracle by which the Virgin Mary was 
brought from Heaven upon a pillar of jasper that she might encourage 
St. James, whom she had sent to Spain to preach the Gospel. The pillar 
and her heavenly image are still shown to the crowds of pilgrims who 
press from all parts of Spain toward the jeweled church and the sacred 
relics which it incloses. 

When we cross the bounds of Aragon into Old Castile we enter a 
district made memorable by the stubborn stand which the Celtiberians 
made against the armies of Rome sent to subdue the troublesome 
aborigines. Near the site of the present town of Soria the Roman 
leo-ions under Scipio assaulted and besieged their chief town. This was 
but the last scene in a series of bloody conflicts which its citizens had 
sustained for twenty years. For fifteen months 60,000 disciplined 



756 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

soldiers stormed, besieged and starv^ed these ancient heroes, who from 
8,000 slowly melted into a pitiful band, before the town was taken, and 
destroyed. 

The traveler has also set foot upon the native land of the Cid and 
begins to enter the territory wherein, after Napoleon's disastrous 
campaign in Russia, were enacted the closing scenes of the Peninsula 
War between his lieutenants and the Duke of Wellington. The birth- 
place of the Spanish hero was Burgos, the capital of Old Castile, where 
his remains, with those of his heroic wife, are laid. Their sculptured 
figures lie together upon a square sarcophagus at San Pedro de Cardena, 
while, for a small fee a wooden box and a bottle will be exhibited at Burgos, 
in which are kept the bones of the Cid and the ashes of his wife. This 
city, which was so long the center of the shifting league against the Moors, 
which, with the Cantabrians to the north, held Northwestern Spain 
against their Moslem foes, is now a dull and gloomy city, with a noble 
Gothic cathedral, picturesque and stately beggars, and various chapels 
rich in fine sculpture and tombs. 

Across Old Castile and Galicia to the northwest of Spain is a long 
run, and only to reach a bustling, fortified seaport on the Atlantic coast ; 
but it has a monument to Sir John Moore, who fell while fighting the 
French on the heights behind the town, being buried on the ramparts in 
his military cloak. First Philip sailed from Coruna, this seaport town, 
on his way to marry Mary of England, and over thirty years thereafter 
he embarked with the great Armada to conquer the country which he 
could not obtain by marriage. 

THE MECCA OF SPAIN. 

A short distance from Corunna was a cathedral which was, for cent- 
uries, an even greater shrine than the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar 
at Saragossa. It is declared that after St. James was beheaded he set sail 
from Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem, either in a boat or his stone coffin, 
and landing on this coast his body was mysteriously deposited in a cave, 
where, after remaining for half a dozen centuries or more, it was drawn 
to the city of Santiago, where the cathedral was built and pilgrimages 
were instituted. He therefore often came to the assistance of the 
Spaniards in their wars against the infidels, and to the battle-cry of St. 
James w^as added " Santiago." The archbishop's palace, cloister and 
cathedral form the most imposing of Santiago's structures. They cover 
nearly four acres of ground, and into the foundations of the cathedral are 
believed to be built the bones of St. James. Besides those occupied the 
town contains numbers of convents and nunneries in ruins. 



VALLADOLID. 



757 



VALLADOLID. 

Had it not been for this side trip to the Mecca of Spain, after leav. 
ing Corunna our way would have laid toward Valladolid, Philip's birth- 
place, and, strangely enough, the scene of the first auto da fe, which the 
cruel monarch witnessed from a balcony overlooking the Plaza de Campo. 
This famous square was devoted to tournaments, bull fights and such 
other exhibitions as the Inquisition brought forth. Here also Napo- 
leon reviewed his 35,000 troops who had succeeded in seriously dam- 
aorino- the interior of the Convent San Pablo and the Colegrio de San 
Uregorio, which stood near the royal palace, and whose ruins are among 
the grandest of Gothic ecclesiastical edifices in the world. But greater 
than her ruins, her galleries of 
statues and pictures, her deserted 



palaces of royalty and the In- 
quisition, and even her extensive > 
university, are the houses of Co- 
1 u m b u s and Cervantes — the 
scenes of death and of the final 
revision of " Don Quixote." The 
house where Columbus died was, 
at last accounts, a small shop for 
the sale of woolen oroods. 

SALAMANCA. 

Salamanca is the next famous 
town as we near Madrid, as beino- 
for so many centuries the univer- 
sity center of the Catholic faith, 
having from an early period con- 
tained a college for the special 
education of Irish students. It 
is still in existence. It is said that 




SCENE IN SALAMANCA. 

" one of the most highly-prized works in Roman Catholic divinity is the 
great collection of controversia and moral theology by the members of 
the college of Carmelite friars." The Plaza Mayor is the largest 
square in Spain, and will, upon occasion, accommodate the 16,000 
or 20,000 who pour toward it from a radius of a score of miles 
when a great bull fight is announced; for such are the contrasts of 
Spanish life! Salamanca was almost destro)ed by the French in 
181 2, and most of its splendid ancient edifices are in ruins or worked 



758 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

into the fortifications which the invaders, when they possessed the city, 
threw up against the British. Twenty colleges and as many convents 
thus fell victims to the stern necessities of war. 

Avila, another step nearer Madrid, is a small town about fifty miles 
northwest of the capital, and although one of the many places which the 
wonder-loving Spaniards ascribe to Hercules, it is now chiefly noted as 
being the birthplace of the country's lady patroness, " Our Seraphic 
Mother, the Holy Theresa, Spouse of Jesus," born March 28, 15 15. It 
was at one time one of the richest cities of Spain. 

About the same distance from Madrid is Segovia, frequently the 
residence of the kings of Castile and Leon, where they laid their 
schemes to lower the pride of the Moorish monarchs. It is perched 
upon a rocky knoll, high above the sea level, surrounded by picturesque 
walls and round towers. Segovia's importance as a Roman city is indi- 
cated by the most stupendous Roman structure left standing in Spain — 
an aqueduct half a mile long and one hundred and two feet high. Under 
the Moors it was the seat of immense cloth manufactures, and the modern 
town reflects its old prosperity in the shape of a few small establishments 
which scour wool and manufacture woolen cloths. On a rocky promon- 
tory is one of those fortress palaces — the Alcazar — ^ which the Moors 
seem to have planted upon every bold height of the districts in which 
they lived. The Alcazar of Segovia, long after the Moslems were driven 
out of Castile, was used by the kings of Spain as a prison, both for state 
offenders and the pirates of the Barbary states, who retained few of those 
qualities of intelligent industry which made the Moorish dominion in 
Spain one which was not devoid of great blessings. 

THE ESCURIAL. 

Looking toward Madrid from the barren and elevated sand plateau 
which surrounds it, it is seen that the capital lies in a basin, encircled by 
plantations, gardens and boulevards. Within this band of green, almost 
startling from its contrast with the arid plains of Castile, rises the city of 
palaces, spires and domes. If you come up from the south, this pict- 
ure, set in a frame-work of green, has a background of snow-capped 
mountains ; if you come down from the north by way of Segovia, you 
can not miss that gigantic gridiron, the Escurial, which lays with upturned 
feet upon the southeastern slope of the Sierra Guadarama. St. Law- 
rence was broiled on a gridiron, and in accordance with a vow that he 
would build a monastery to his memory if he gained the battle of St. 
Quentin, Philip built the Escurial in its present form. Many ranges of 
buildings represent its body, crossing each other at right angles, form- 




A SPANISH COBBLER'S SHOP. 



MADRID. 759 

ing numerous courts with a tower 200 feet in height at each corner of the 
immense parallelogram. The towers are the upturned feet, and the handle 
is a wing nearly 500 feet long, containing the royal apartments, picture 
galleries and a library. The mausoleum of the kings of Spain fronts 
one side of a court, in the form of a massive church built like St. 
Peter's, its grand dome rising above the mighty altar over 300 feet. 
Under the altar is the tomb of the kings of Spain, built of jasper and 
black marble, in which their precious remains are packed away like so 
much treasure. Two score marble chapels, marble and porphyry pillars 
on all sides — red, green, white and black — the walls incrusted with 
marble, the floors paved with it, give a rich and solemn effect to the 
interior ; while without are the massive dome and towers, the six granite 
and marble statues, called the kings of Judea, sitting in royal state upon 
the broad staircase, and the sculptured portal through which the bodies 
of the kings of Spain are borne for baptism, and never again except as 
corpses. 

MADRID. 

There is nothing now to prevent our passing through the triumphal 
gate of the Puerta de Alcala, seventy-two feet in height, into the city 
of which the Spaniard says " See Madrid and live," but whose three 
months of winter and nine months of blasting heat have prompted for- 
eigners to hold out no inducement but speedy death to a resident. 
Four streets traverse Madrid from northeast to southwest, and one of 
them, Alcala, is pronounced the handsomest in Spain and one of the 
widest and finest in the world. The principal commercial thoroughfares 
radiate from one street, and they are more European than Spanish. But 
in the southwest district, particularly in the streets south of the Plaza 
Mayor, the wide and regular thoroughfares of modern Madrid give place 
to the crooked, dirty lanes of the ancient city. Open shops or bazaars, 
like those of Morocco, Egypt, or Turkey, line them and they are crowded 
with beggars, smugglers and gypsies. Within the square were many 
fine buildings which were repeatedly destroyed by the flames of the 
autos da fe, although the victims were led to the stake outside the gate. 
But the danger in which the surroundino- buildinors stood could not have 
been small, for the water supply of the city was formerly almost confined 
to drinking purposes, and the portentous flames were continually as- 
cending to heaven. In opening new streets from the Plaza Mayor, es- 
pecially one in 1869, terrible evidences of the magnitude of these human 
bonfires were discovered. A number of strata of charcoal and cinders 
were upturned, mingled with bones and entire portions of the human 



76o 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



body, and, for a time, while the excitement of the large foreign element 
of Madrid ran high over the disclosure, the beggars and gypsies and 
street arabs of the district south of the square reaped a welcome harvest 
of small coins by delving in the refuse and selling the relics of martyr- 
dom to curiosity seekers. There are other smaller squares in which crimi- 
nals and heretics were executed and in the center of one of the most dimin- 
utive is a cross which marks the spot where the last heretic was burned 
in Madrid. 

The center of the modern capital is the Puerta del Sol, as we have 
intimated. Not only do the principal business streets run from this 




SPANISH WATER CARRIER. 

square, but magnificent hotels and cafes, cosy club and reading rooms, 
are centered around it, so that it is the natural point toward which re- 
sort the French, English and German business men and the Spanish 
pleasure seekers. Newsboys, water-carriers, honey-sellers, musicians 
with their bagpipes and guitars, and at night the private watchmen who 
lustily cry out the time and the state of the weather, make this vicinity 
a second Naples for din and good-natured bustle. Of the great palaces 
of Madrid the residence of the royal family is the most imposing. It. is 
470 feet square, 100 feet high, built of granite and white marble, incloses 



MADRID. 761 

a great square, is between beautiful gardens and a magnificent plaza 
decorated with statues of kings and queens, and contains extensive 
libraries, and a royal armory wherein are the armors of Cortes, Colum- 
bus and Don John of Austria, with the crowns of Gothic kings brought 
from Toledo. 

The whole of this magnificent pile was occupied during the reign of 
the Bourbons. Queen Isabella, the mother of the reigning king, lived 
there in especial state. She flaunted rich robes of state on which were 
the arms of Castile, her jewels were royal and her entertainments. The 
princess had palatial apartments and her husband and sister's family also 
quartered themselves in this splendid home. Their retinues, receptions 
and all, despite the family jars, were on a par with the munificence of 
the ancient sovereigns. Her successor, King Amadeus, and his modest 
wife, followed after Carlist insurrections and scandalous events. He 
seemed worthy of the position. The palatial pile was almost deserted. 
The royal pair lived in three rooms, Avith their children, like a sensible, 
simple couple — Queen Isabella had occupied those very apartments 
alone. The king went out like a private gentlemen, sometimes accom- 
panied by his wife or a servant. Having dined with his wife, smoked a 
cigar and tended to his affairs of state, he went into the Alcala to see 
the siohts and talk to the children. "The ministers cried out aoainst it ; 
the Bourbon party who were accustomed to the imposing cortege of 
Isabella said that he dragged the majesty of the throne of San Fernando 
through the streets." At the court dinner on Sunday, to which govern- 
ment officials and scientists were invited, the queen appeared with the 
king, simply dressed, having spent much of the week at hospitals and at 
such institutions as the" one she established where children were sent for 
safe-keeping whose mothers were out at work. She spoke Spanish well, 
although it was not her native tongue. She was a kind-hearted, sensible 
woman, and her husband was like his father, Victor Emanuel. But 
though as approachable as the most democratic might desire, they were 
not Spanish, and so they gave place to Isabella's son, the mother having 
fled in disgrace, and the young prince of Asturias, Alfonso, is now the 
master of the royal palace. He seems to pursue a middle course 
between his mother's habits and those of his predecessor, evidently 
intending, if possible, to please both conservatives and republicans. 

South from the magnificent Alcala is the first of Madrid's numerous 
promenades, the Prado. For several miles it stretches along, between 
stately houses from whose balconies, protected by screens or curtains, the 
famous Spanish beauties smile upon the gay throng of carriages, horse- 
men and pedestrians. Here are seen the graceful Spanish cloak and the 



762 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

national veil and mantilla, although French styles are getting to be prev- 
alent among the higher classes. The northern limits of the Prado 
proper are fixed by the fountain of Cybele, the proud mother of the gods 
being seated in a triumphal car drawn by two great marble lions. In 
the center of the boulevard is another beautiful fountain dedicated to 
Apollo, and Neptune is honored in the south. Minor fountains, gardens 
and pieces of statuary are scattered along the way, and the beauties of 
this enticing drive and walk are prolonged, both north and south, into 
the charming suburbs of the city. 

It is in the way of this constant stream of beauty, fashion and cult- 
ure that the royal museum lays, in which is treasured, according to 
artistic authorities, a collection of paintings " not only the greatest in the 
world, but the greatest that can ever be made until this is broken up." 
The gallery comprises works of Murillo, Velasquez, Raphael, Rubens, 
Teniers and Titian. Murillo's " Martyrdom of St. Andrew," the instru- 
ment of whose death shaped the great Escurial, is here, and the most 
wonderful works of Velasquez enable the artist to study the master 
here as nowhere else. Madrid was the scene of his greatest triumphs. 
Here the king himself so appreciated his genius as to become his inti- 
mate and to confer upon him the Cross of Santiago, an honor never 
before accorded to any but the highest of the nobilitv. 

AMUSEMENTS OF THE NATIVE. 

Just outside the Alcala is the bull ring, built upon the site of an 
ancient one. No great Spanish town would be complete without it. 
The bull ring is a great open amphitheatre, which was inherited from the 
Romans. The huge animals which furnish the blood and the sport of 
the occasion, mostly come from the Sierra Morena mounuains of Anda- 
lusia ; the very name, " Andalusian bull," sounds like a great body pro- 
pelling itself forward with mighty force. The participants in the fight 
at first are usually unmounted, and show proverbial agility in avoiding 
the rushes of the infuriated monster. But this sport is merely to whet 
the appetite of the gay crowd for the more exciting contest, in which 
the mounted picadors also participate. Having partially exhausted his 
strength in vain charges at his glittering, nimble foes, the bull is now 
confronted with mounted spearmen as well. As his strength fails, more 
and more, if he has not yet maimed a man or disemboweled a horse, it 
is needful to import a new company of tormenters to thrust him with 
darts. When the beast refuses the contest the matador gives him the 
death-blow with his short sword. Trumpets sound, flowers are showered 



AMUSEMENTS OF THE NATIVE. 



76: 



into the arena by excited ladies, and the matter-of-fact, unromantic 
mules are driven in to drag away the dead bodies of bull and horses. 

The king has his private box, as of old. Even Amadeus, his prede- 
cessor, of the simple, homely manners, patronized the exhibition, although 
his tender-hearted queen, not hardened yet to the sights, stayed away. If 
the " torero" is fortunate enough to have given the bull his death wound 
in a skillful manner, the thousands of spectators, as he makes the round 
of the arena, almost bury him beneath piles of cigars, purses, hats, canes 
— anything which comes to hand — while the ladies shower him with 
praises, not to say loving words. The king himself rewards the bloody 
hero with a purse of money, and the same performance is repeated as 
long as the festival of the bull fights lasts. 

Cock-fights are less popular, because fewer grades of society patron- 




BULL FIGHTERS. 



ize them ; but there are regular theatres where the cruel sport may be 
witnessed, and the excitement there evinced, if not so grand in its quality 
and quantity as shown at the bull amphitheatre, is fully as intense. The 
conflict of the birds usually takes place in the daytime, so that among the 
various spectators the principal actors in the bull arena often appear 
dressed in their red sashes and gaudy clothes. The theatre itself is 
bright with color — the circular tiers of chairs are often red and flowers are 
painted on the walls. The pit is a circular box in the centre of the hall, 
surrounded by a high wire screen. But why describe a cock-fight ! It is 
more brutal, if anything, though not so destructive of life as the other 



■764 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

sport; for a true Spanish fight must end in the death of one or the 
other of tlie combatants, and if the birds are game the conclusion of 
the conflict sees one or both of them simply bunches of feathers, blood 
and bones, with the flesh stripped from the skeleton and the e^'es out. 
Ladies and the higher classes, who would eagerly grace a bull fight, do 
not attend such small exhibitions of bloodshed. It is only where horses, 
bulls and men shed their blood that they care to go. 

Madrid contains nearly a hundred public squares, large and small, 
and a vast number of churches, but having no cathedral, strictly speak- 
ing, it ranks in Spain merely as a town within the bishopric of Toledo. 
Under the Moors it was a mere fortified outpost of Toledo, and the 
Royal Palace stands upon the site of the ancient Alcazar, or fortress. 
When it was stormed and captured by Alfonso of Castile, the castle and 
town were called Majerit. As we have stated he made Toledo his capital 
and Madrid did not come into real prominence until Philip II. declared 
it to be " the only court," the royal residence having been shifting 
around from place to place ever since Ferdinand's time. So that the 
foundinof of Madrid dates from about the middle of the sixteenth centurv. 
It has been a city of memorable treaties and insurrections, the most seri- 
ous uprising being that against Murat and the French in 1808. An 
imposing group of edifices now occupies the site of an old church, which 
stood east of the great square of Puerta del Sol, the scene of the blood- 
iest conflict between the French and the citizens, while in a park of the 
Prado called "the field of loyalty" is a memorial shaft, surrounded 
by mourning cypresses. 

COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 

Spain still retains the Cuba that Columbus discovered, and it Is the 
most Important of her colonial possessions. The population which the 
Spaniards found has disappeared, with the exception of a few families 
around Santiago, and the people are now a conglomeration of blacks, 
Creoles and "peninsulares," or natives of Spain, Most of the latter class, 
or Cuban Spaniards, originally came from Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, 
Castile and other districts of Northern and Northeastern Spain, being 
traders and mechanics, and so sturdy and energetic that they not only 
obtained control of the wealth, but the government of the island. 
" For a time after the conquest in 151 1 none but Castillans were allowed 
to settle in Cuba ; but after the prohibition was removed, colonists from 
all the provinces, and even from the Canary Islands, came thither. The 
Biscayans hire out as mechanics ; the Catalans, who are numerous. 



THE PORTUGUESE. 765, 

devote themselves to hard labor ; the Asturians, Castilians and Anda- 
lusians occupy clerkships and the learned professions." 

Between the Creoles and the peninsulares there is the greatest 
bitterness. The western portions of the island, in which are the 
immense sugar and tobacco plantations and factories, are the most pop- 
ulous and fertile districts. The metropolitan center of Cuba's best life 
is Havana, through which flows so large a revenue to needy Spain. 
The city is almost as well known as New York, having about half the 
population of Madrid, and presenting, besides its immense commercial 
activity, one of the finest opera houses in existence. Porto Rico is 
Spanish in the same way as Cuba, presenting no distinct type of national 
life, and therefore is not exhibited as a proper picture of our Panorama. 
In the Philippine Islands of the East India group, we have caught and 
given glimpses of Spanish rule, but the main object was to present the 
native and not the emierant. The aborio-ines of the West Indies have 
disappeared or been driven along the pathway of the Antilles to South 
America. 

THE PORTUGUESE. 

The basis of the Portuguese is the Lusitani, an ancient tribe of 
Celtiberlans, whose country Emperor Augustus erected into one of the 
three provinces of the peninsula. It did not include the northern 
provinces of the present countr\-, but extended east into the modern 
territory of Spain. The chief city of the tribe was Olisipo, the present 
Lisbon. The Goths from the north and the Moors from the south over- 
whelmed this Roman province as they did the other two, but the most 
important battle-grounds after the coming of the Saracens were located 
beyond the country of the Lusitani. The Portuguese, as a race, rest 
more upon their language than their personal appearance. In the south 
they are dark, tall and lithe, almost Arabs in their general features, 
while in the north they greatly resemble the natives of extreme North- 
western Spain, who have a greater proportion of primitive blood than 
those of the south. The Portusfuese tonoue, on the other hand, has 
found eulogists amiong all nationalities, having been variously described 
as a language of flowers, the eldest daughter of the Latin, and the 
soft and voluptuous dialect. What few harsh and gutteral sounds 
are heard, it inherits from the Arabic which, while the Moors were 
in power, was spoken throughout the county The Portuguese language 
Is a most admirable aid to the courteous and insinuative manners of the 
higher classes of the country. These, in fact, are more pleasing In their 
address than those in the same plane of Spanish society, while the lower- 



766 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

classes are more ignorant and degraded. But whatever else may be 
said of him, the Portuguese is brave, patriotic, hospitable and cheerful, 
and hates the Spaniard, and especially the Castilian, for his attempt to 
subjugate him completely ; and yet, speaking in general terms, the 
Portuguese is but a Spaniard with a softer tongue and a harder body. 

The Portugese, either as an agricultural or a commercial race, show 
little of that spirit of revival from their present lethargy which is seen in 
so many parts of Spain. Since the French threatened to swallow them 
during the Peninsular War they have transferred their energies to Brazil, 
and if they ever again achieve the greatness which culminated with the 
passage round the cape, it will be with that great kingdom as a center. 

Portugal has retained an unstable grasp upon a few of her ancient 
insular and colonial possessions in Africa and Asia, as we have noticed 
in gliding along the coasts of the Dark Continent and among the islands 
of the Indian Archipelago. 





THE FRENCH 



la 5yiig^^i5^aj 




ITHIN the veins of the French run streams of blood from 
Gallic (or Celtic), Prankish (Teutonic) and Roman sources. 
The aboriginal inhabitants were the Gauls who were conquered 
by the Romans, and the Gallo-Romans were, in turn, subdued 
by the Franks, a confederation of the German tribes whose 
country was in the vicinity of the Lower Rhine. It was not 
until the eighth century that the Frankish monarchs were able 
to bring beneath their sceptre the Britons, the Burgundians and 
the Visigoths of Spain, and thus united all of modern France 
in one empire. Their rule was afterwards extended so as to 
include not only France, but Northeast Spain, a large part of Italy, and 
Germany to the Elbe. In fact, as is well known, the ambition of Char- 
lemagne was to re-establish the Roman Empire, with France instead of 
Italy as the center of power. His successors were unable, however, to 
keep the empire intact, and from it were formed France, Germany and 
Italy. Thus the Germans and the Italians retained their national char- 
acteristics, and a new people and a new language were permanently 
formed, a union of Gallic, Teutonic and Italian elements. 

FRENCH MARRIAGES. 



It matters not in France if a man is old enough to be a grandfather, 
should he desire to marry he must either obtain parental consent, prove 
the opposition is irrational or that he is an orphan. The object of this 
outside supervision is to prevent hasty marriages ; to put a balance- 
wheel upon love's reeling brain. These marital regulations are really based 
upon the laws of the nation, and the process by which couples Avho 
think they are old enough and of sound enough judgment to know their 
own minds, call upon parents or guardians to show cause why the mar- 
riage should not proceed is legally known as "a respectful summons to 
consent." With all these legal and private precautions in the matter of 
marriages, the matrimonial alliances of the French are not productive of 

greater happiness or worldly comfort than those of other countries, where 

767 



768 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



more is left to the heart and the instincts of men and women than to 
personal worth. And it is undoubtedly the many formalities required in 
the various stages of introduction, acquaintanceship, courtship and be- 
trothal which has so decreased the number of marriages of late years. 
The birth-rate of France is also not only the lowest in Europe but in 
the world. 

THE BRETONS OF FRANCE. 

The extreme northwestern departments of France form a bold pen- 
insula, which extends Into the Atlantic Ocean. A foggy, windy country, 

covered with stretches of 
moorland, cut up by well- 
watered and fertile valleys, 
with masses of granite ris- 
ing from the northern and 
southern districts and 
stretching into the sea — 
this, in brief, is Brittany. 
Peasants and fishermen, 
dressinpf and living as did 
their forefathers three cen- 
turies ago, many of the peo- 
ple still speaking the 
ancient Cimbric, or Welch^ 
language, as they did when 
their brethren left them, in 
pre-historic times, and emi- 
grated across the English 
channel — these are the Bre- 
tons of Brittany. So slow 
are they to change that 
some of them even hold to 
the superstitions of the 
Druids, those savage and 
mysterious priests who, 
when the Romans landed 
upon the coasts of Great 
Britain, had obtained so tyrannical a sway over the Bretons and the 
Welch, and who were offering up human sacrifices in their sacred and 
gloomy groves. Remains of the Druidical monuments, altars, and sepul- 
chres, are still found in Brittany, which was once subject to the same 




A FARMER OF BRITTANY. 



OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD 



769 



dominion. They are chiefly located in Soutnern Brittany, and are inter- 
mixed with Roman antiquities, mementoes of Caesar's conquest prepar- 
atory to his invasion of Great Brittany, or Britain, 

The most remarkable of these remains is at Carnac, near Vannes, 
and consists of three groups of upward blocks, each separated from 
the next by the distance of about half a mile, yet with isolated blocks 
between showing that the series was once continuous. " In fact, the 
destructiveness that has for centuries been at work on these monuments 
makes it difficult to reconstruct the series, even in imagination. The 
inhabitants of the district have regarded them as a standing quarry of 
building materials, available without the trouble of excavation, and vil- 
lages, churches, farmhouses, all around, are massively constructed of the 
Celtic spoils. At length, however, the spoli- 
ation has ceased, the remains are classed 
among 'historical monuments' and are 
henceforth comparatively safe. What they 
meant, what they were, no man can tell. 
The tradition is hardly surprising that repre- 
sents them as an army of heathen warriors, 
stiffened into stone at the adjuration of the 
patron saint of the sea. Some have seen in 
them the long drawn aisles of Druidical wor- 
ship ; but most modern investigators think 
that they were ranges of sepulchral monu- 
ments ; and the disinterred relics from be- 
neath seem to confirm the supposition," In 
this same department of Morbihan may be 
seen remains of Roman villas and bath, 
houses, great broken pillars, and in an 
island near the coast, is a wonderful cave containing a stone gal- 
lery of fifty feet in length, whose roof and sides are covered with engrav- 
ings and inscriptions which antiquarians have, so far, been unable to 
decipher. Cromlechs and avenues of upright stones, likewise mysteri- 
ously sculptured and attributed to Phcenicians, Egyptians, Carthaginians 
and Celts are found on ".ne sea coast; and at Vannes, the principal town 
of the department, is a museum of antiquities which, although of great 
variety, throw no light upon the mysteries. 




A BEGGAR OF BRITTANY. 



OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD. - 

Brittany seems to be the hermitage of ■ France. Except that past 

ages are there petrified it furnishes few connecting strands with the 

49 



770 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

present. It has little historic ground. The land generally is so destitute 
of everything but rugged strength — which does not invite invasion, 
generally — that it has not been stained with any great battles, and the 
conflicts upon its soil are almost confined to those with Norman dukes, 
who had been given Brittany by the kings of France, and took a pride 
in actually possessing it. But down the coast to Nantes and La Rochelle, 
and along the banks of the stately Loire we commence to glide into 
territory fertilized with the blood of Catholics and Huguenots. The 
home of the Edict which so raised the hopes of the Protestants and the 
center of that disastrous emigration of skilled labor from France after 
its revocation, is an elegant city beautifully situated on the Loire, some 
of its modern districts being Parisian in their finish and brilliancy. For 
nearly a century the royal assurance that Protestants might worship and 
spread their faith, except in Paris, was a shining light to their souls ; 
although they could not print religious books In cities where their tenets 
were not held and were obliged to observe the festivals of the state 
religion and furnish their share toward its support. Nantes was the 
Vatican of their faith, but La Rochelle was its Castle of San Angelo. 

Rochelle was truly the Little Rock of the Protestant cause, but 
under the blows of Richelieu's genius and the royal troops It was split 
in twain, and the French Reformation was temporarily crushed. Its 
old fortifications were destroyed and the present ones subsequently 
erected. The principal streets and squares of Rochelle are adjacent to 
its great harbor. Of the scores of boats which are annually launched 
from its ship yards the majority of them are built for the Newfound- 
land fishing trade. 

Continuing the route by the Loire, one finds on either hand restful 
hills of verdure, ruined castles, vineyards and villages. This is the 
route by rail to Tours, near which Asiatic civilization was effectually 
expelled from Western Europe. Tours happens also to be on the 
direct southern route from Paris toward Bordeaux and Spain, so that 
when the Saracens were defeated the capital escaped an invasion of the 
warlike Mohammedans. Upon the plain of Tours is said to have fought 
the soul of brave St. Martin, within the texture of his holy cape, which, 
in its shrine, was borne to the battle-field. Four centuries previous, 
having converted the idolaters of Gaul, he now drove back the hosts of 
southern infidels from the soil of France. At Tours the warrior bishop 
had founded a Christian cathedral, which the Saracens left to be pil- 
laged by the Huguenots and to be totally destroyed, with the exception 
of two towers which now stand — the towers of St. Martin and of Charle- 
magne. "The former of these stood at the western entrance of the 



OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD. 771 

church, the latter at the end of the northern transept ; and their dis- 
tance apart shows what must have been the size of that building to 
which, for centuries, the people of France resorted as to a Delphic shrine." 

Other triumphs than those recorded on the field of battle are found 
in a small square village, of small square houses, surrounding a small 
square or park which Is fronted by a small, neat church, and all hemmed 
about by shade and fruit trees and cultivated land. This is the colony, 
or reformatory of Mettray, about five miles from Tours on the opposite 
bank of the Loire, and founded by a Parisian lawyer and a viscount, for 
the purpose of training, educating, reforming and "keeping reformed" 
indigents and delinquents of Irresponsible age, who were formerly com- 
mitted by the courts to the prisons of the state. Sevenpence a day is 
paid by the government for the support of the children whom It sen- 
tences to the strict but fatherly care of these philanthropists, the additional 
expenditures found necessary being met by the members of the " Pater- 
nal Society of Mettray." We do not mention the names of these faith- 
ful friends to each other and to the youth of the world ; for If one has 
not heard of Mettray and Its founders he will assuredly become familiar 
with them when told that this movement is " the true joarent of all 
institutions Intended to reform and restore to society, and not merely to 
punish, juvenile delinquents." 

Between Tours and Orleans Is the town of Blois, whose streets are 
flushed with water from public fountains which are supplied by a splen- 
did Roman aqueduct. But that is not enough to waste words upon, In 
this land of Roman aqueducts. There is a palatial castle, however, 
standing upon a hill and looking down In royal magnificence upon the 
little houses and crooked streets of the town. Within its walls was born 
Louis XII., and here Henry of Navarre was married. Four kings held 
their courts at the Castle of Blois, which witnessed, also, the murder of 
the duke of Guise, who held the reins of government Avith Catherine de 
Medici, mother of the young Charles. It was the scene of that same 
Catherine's death. 

As the dense and mighty oak forest of Orleans comes Into view 
and the magnificent plain sloping toward the Loire, upon whose verge 
it stands, and then Its walls and dry ditches, now softened by pleasant, 
shaded boulevards, the Maid appears In imagination, her slight form clad 
In armor leading the royal troops on to victory.. Inspired as they were by 
some mysterious electric current which went out from her young soul. 
Orleans has its commercial advantages and fine Gothic churches, but to 
the world Joan of Arc is all there is of It, The town contains three 
statues erected to her memory, one of them being of the equestrian order. 



J']! PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE PEOPLE OF THE PYRENEES. 

Having thus taken a quick journey through the western districts of 
France we have a Httle to say about the people of the Pyrenees, the 
shepherds and mountaineers and those residing in some of the neigh- 
boring villages. More particularly those aborigines, the Basques, merit 
attention. The general gate to the Pyrenees district, especially to the 
Basque country of both France and Spain, is the city of Bayonne, in the 
extreme southwest of the former country. 

In Bayonne French, Spanish and Basque mingle their distinctive 
tongues — the latter being as much distinguished by his harsh accents as 
by his national costume, his colored sash and his drooping cap. The 
city has, furthermore, a Jews' quarter (Saint Esprit) whose first citizens 
were the exiles from Spain, sent away by Ferdinand and Isabella, soon 
after the discovery of America. In the year of American independence 
they became citizens of France. 

Bayonne is strongly fortified, and, though besieged many times, it 
has never been captured ; hence its people fondly speak of it as the "vir- 
gin city." It was here, eighteen miles from the Spanish border, that 
Napoleon made the arrangement with Ferdinand VII. by which the 
crown of Spain was placed upon the head of his brother Joseph. And 
at the corner of the city wall stands a little stone structure, surmounted 
with a cupola, under which plays the fountain of St. Leon. The water 
first sprang from the ground under the stimulus of the precious drops of 
blood which fell upon it from the head of the decapitated saint, which he 
bore in his own hands to that spot. Bayonne has now one of the finest 
arsenals in France ; as is fitting, some may say, for the city which gave 
the name to the bayonet. But like many popular tales this one has 
wagged for long years, only to be at last arrested if not stayed com- 
pletely. " The French cross-bowmen were anciently called boionniers 
and bayna is Spanish for the sheath of a small sword. The sheath may 
have given name to its contents ; a supposition which seems to be con- 
firmed by several facts. The earliest bayonet sheaths were very elabo- 
rately ornamented, and the rules relating to military costume have a 
great deal to say about the position of the sheath." 

A short ride by rail from Bayonne is Biarritz, on the shores of the 
Bay of Biscay. In the month of August, before most of the tourists 
have arrived, the Basques of Basse Pyrenees assemble in its streets, 
crowned with flowers and ribbons, bearing with them the violin, tam- 
bourine, flageolet and drum, and busily preparing to perform their 
national dance, the " mouchico." This ended, they march to the shore of 



THE PEOPLE OF THE PYRENEES. 773 

the bay, and men and women, joining hands, rush out to meet the 
mighty surf, with songs and wild native cries. 

From Biarritz a few miles is a little village which is near the bound- 
ary of the two countries and at the angle of the eastern point of the 
bay. It was once quite a commercial port, but the waves of the Atlan- 
tic raged across Biscay for a week and destroyed its harbor and its pros- 
pects. Within sight are wooded and vine-clad slopes, the advance 
guards of the dignified Pyrenees. The red and white houses of the 
Basque peasants dash the quiet color here and there with cheerful con- 
trasts, and from hill and valley they swarm to the small Catholic church 
in the little village. The church is devoid of ornament, but once 
within, the worshipers arrange themselves in so quaint, not to say prim- 
itive, a fashion that no decorations are required by which to rivet the 
stranger's attention. The two ranges of galleries which run around 
three sides of the room are furnished with comfortable seats, all occu- 
pied by men. The women sit upon the floor of the nave, being accom- 
modated with simple cushions of black cloth embroidered with crosses. 

In a way, this church is historical, for in it occurred the marriage of 
Louis XIV. and the Infanta, Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of 
Spain. The door by which the royal couple entered is now walled up. 
This marriage was in fulfillment of treaty between the two monarchs, 
concluded the previous year, the conference taking place on a little island 
in Bidassoa river, which marks the boundary line between France and 
Spain. This bank of mud has been the scene of several royal confer- 
ences and treaties. 

A panoramic view of the French and the Spanish sides of the 
Pyrenees would make one imagine that the scenes were laid in lands 
which were thousands of miles apart. The northern slopes of the moun- 
tains are divided into charming valleys. Beautiful lakes and fine pasture 
lands lie below, while orchards and forests stretch far up the slopes. 
The Spanish side presents a series of abrupt, rugged terraces with scanty 
vegetation. 

The valleys of the Pyrenees cross them almost invariably, forming 
numerous passes, which are historically famous and from whose great 
heights the remarkable contrast which has been noticed above can be 
enjoyed in reality. The inhabitants of the mountains are, as might be 
expected, rugged, cheerful and independent. In many pleasant vales 
nestle pretty villages. The only disagreeable feature of the whole land- 
scape, in fact, are the large and fierce shepherd dogs, who consider every 
object not entirely familiar a deadly enemy to their herds and flocks. 
The cattle and sheep often have no other guardians than these faithful 



774 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

brutes except children, who will often be met far from any habitation, 
knitting contentedly, or engaged on some lace work. Near the summits 
of these lofty passes, sometimes all but buried in the shade of the upper 
valleys, are famous mineral springs to which the fair-faced ladies of 
France and gouty noblemen resort by the hundreds. The traveler thus 
meets modern styles as an offset to the brightly-clad peasants, the rough 
goat-herds and the Spanish muleteers. 

ROYALTY AND RELIGION. 

There are many interesting and picturesque little villages scattered 
along the line of the Pyrenees, but the beauties of the mountains com- 
pletely absorb them until one commences to investigate their historical 
attractions. Pau, for instance, in the Basque province of Basses 
Pyrenees is pretty enough, but the eyes are drawn from it to the soft dis- 
tant mountains and a sharp blue cone which pierces the sky, called the 
Pic du Midi d' Ossau, or the Bear; but the village contains the chateau 
of Henry of Navarre, and the chateau the chamber where Henry IV. was 
born "and where hangs the royal cradle under a canopy — a single tor- 
toise shell suspended from a tripod." 

Within sight of the peak is Lourdes, a shabby town among the 
mountains. Overhanging it is a great rock upon which stands a 
ruined castle said to have been built by Julius Caesar. But that never 
could have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to it. The town 
Is built upon a plateau and contains convents and churches. Near the 
center of the plain is a great statue, representing a white-robed girl, 
standing in an attitude of religious ecstasy, her feet resting upon a rock 
wreathed with vines. Extending along the bank of the river Gave, and 
at the foot of the plateau upon which Pau is built, is a park, and within 
this, near the river, is a mass of rock containing a grotto crowned with 
a beautiful church. Above the rocky mound and the church is a higher 
ridge bearing a great crucifix upon its crest. The statue in the plain is 
that of " Our Lady of Lourdes," and the grotto is where the sickly child 
of the poor peasant, according to her declaration, repeatedly was visited 
by the Holy Virgin, who caused a stream to gush forth from the cave. 
The bishop declared the miracle authentic, and hundreds of thousands of 
pilgrims have since repaired to the shrine, to have their bodies healed 
and their souls cleansed. The sacred spring is covered with a wire netting. 
In front of the grotto is a paved court extending toward the river which is 
covered with pilgrims seated upon wooden benches, standing or kneeling 
upon the stones. Near by is a stone tank, from which a priest draws 
the healing waters, which are brought from the grotto in pipes, and 



A WONDERFUL FORTIFIED CITY. 775 

close to the cave is a ragged niche filled with crutches, canes and other 
proofs of its miraculous powers. The town has the appearance of a com- 
mercial mart, for no one of the thousands of devotees who journey to 
Lourdes neglects to carry away with him a photograph or image of the 
Lady, a water can, cross or rosary, and the winding street is filled with 
shops piled to the roof with these souvenirs. 

A WONDERFUL FORTIFIED CITY. 

In direct contrast to the attractions of Lourdes are those of Carcas- 
sonne, an important manufacturing and commercial center of Southeast- 
ern France. The river Aude divides the place into the new city and 
the old, and although ,the brilliant cloths of Carcassonne go even to 
Africa and South America, it is to the mass of fortifications in the 
ancient section that most steps are directed. Briefly stated it occupies 
the site of an ancient city of Gaul belonging to a Celtic tribe of Asia 
Minor, and in the fifth century a. d., the Visigoths took it from the 
Romans and held it. It commanded the most convenient routes into 
Spain over the Eastern Pyrenees and the fortifying of Carcassonne really 
commences from this period. During the thirteenth century the French 
kings added the style of fortifications prevalent in the middle ages to 
the rugged defences which the Visigoths had erected during their three 
centuries of occupancy. So that by the towers, portcullis, ditches, loop- 
holes, openings in the walls through which stone and hot oil were poured 
upon besiegers, battlements etc., one is able to trace the style and devel- 
opment of the science of fortification for many centuries. The walls of 
the Visigoth, the Moorish and the French periods show the effects of 
mighty sieges, their huge foundations being in places battered as if by 
the shells of modern mortars. Above the principal gate of the fortress 
in a niche is the "defaced figure of Carcas, a Saracen woman who, 
according to the legend, alone remained in the city after a siege of five 
years by Charlemagne. The versions of the legend differ. One is to 
the effect that she capitulated and presented the keys of the city to 
Charlemagne ; another that Charlemagne was about to raise the siege 
in despair, when a tower gave way and opened a breach for his troops." 

No rthwestof Carcassonne, fifty miles, is Toulouse, in reaching which 
one at length departs from the wedge-shaped district whose base is the 
Pyrenees and Spain. By the careless brushing up of his history any 
one will remember the massacres and persecutions which its citizens 
have suffered, and how, long ages previous to that, it was the capital of 
the Visigoths. Its principal church is said to contain the skulls of 



']'](i PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Thomas Aquinas and St. Barnabas, and relics of St. Bartholomew, the 
two Jameses and Philip of Spain, a thorn from the sacred crown, pieces 
of the true cross, the robe of the Virgin and a stone on which she laid 
the infant when he was born. The first bishop of Toulouse is, further- 
more, reported to have been born in Greece, to have journeyed to Pal- 
estine, to have sat at the feet of John the Baptist and of Jesus, to have 
followed Peter to Rome and to have been dispatched by him to his charge. 

THE VINEYARD OF THE EARTH. 

Leaving behind us the country of the Basques, descendants of the 
most ancient race of France, we strike across country from Toulouse, 
and traversing a dreary waste of sand, fir trees and thistles, we suddenly 
approach one of the most prolific vine-bearing districts of the world. 
Its border lies upon the western banks of the river Gironde, and in 
naming Bordeaux as its center the story is partly told. From near the 
city to the sea stretches a long, narrow plain, thickly covered with vine- 
yards. This strip, which is as famous as any in " the Vineyard of the 
Earth," supplies a strong, red wine which is the favorite article for 
export, sea voyages even seeming to improve its flavor. Many people 
imagine that when they drink " claret" it comes direct from this strip 
of country known as Medoc, but the truth is that the French do not 
recognize any such variety, and the claret, or clarified wine, is a mixture 
of several kinds " the strong-bodied varieties of Spain and Southern 
and Southeastern France being mingled (at Bordeaux) with the ordinary 
growths of Gironde to suit the English and American palate." Many 
of the wines receive their names both from the commune in which they 
are produced and the particular estate from whose great vineyards they 
come. 

The warm slopes of the Pyrenees, in the extreme southern part of 
France are covered with vineyards from which are obtained such famous 
wines as the Muscat. North of this section is the historic region from 
which we have lately traveled, forming a portion of an ancient province 
with Toulouse as its capital. The wines drained from the luscious 
grapes which grow from the 650,000 acres of vineyards are rich, but not 
as delicate as those of the Gironde. One single department of this 
section is said to yield more wine than the entire kingdom of Portugal. 

The Valley of the Rhone also appears as a rich section of the earth's 
vineyard. In the old province of Dauphiny, now Drome, is a lofty hill 
which rises from the river's edge like a great dome. Bacchus, could he 
have viewed its terraced sides, upon which the bright, warm sun is ever 



FROM NICE TO CALAIS. "J"]"] 

playing, would never have left its great vineyards, which seem to lie over it 
in a lazy, not to say mellow attitude of enjoyment. The wines are called 
the Hermitage, from the fact that the richly-laden hill was formerly sur 
mounted by a structure which served as the retreat of a Castilian courtier 

Throughout the length of the sunny valleys of the Rhone and 
Saone, clear into the districts of old Burgundy, the hillsides are simply 
matted with vineyards. The true Burgundy wines are raised in the 
department of Cote d' Or, which is situated in the upper valley of the 
Saone, where it turns toward the German boundary. Through this 
department runs a range of hills, on whose southeastern slopes and 
spreading far over the plain below are the vineyards and rich estates 
which produce the wines of Burgundy. There are few more cheerful 
sights in the world than these hills of sunny France when their thous- 
ands of tons of grapes are ripe for the harvest. The sun floods them 
with so golden a light that the department itself has perpetuated the 
glorious sight in its very name — the "golden side." The methods of 
the manufacture of Burgundy wines are, however, rude and often filthy, 
and it is rightly said that the " golden side " produces some of the best 
as well as some of the worst varieties in the world. 

One department intervenes between the Burgundy and the Cham- 
pagne district, which lies among the, headwaters of the river Seine, in 
Northeastern France. The ancient province of Champagne adjoined 
Burgundy on the north. Of the modern department, which is the par- 
ticular center of champagne manufacturing, the arrondissements of 
Rheims and Epernay produce the best article. Upon the slopes of a 
wooded mountain in Rheims and over an undulating plain on the Marne 
river, in Epernay, the champagne vineyards sun themselves. In Septem- 
ber and October the grapes are collected and selected. The first three 
pressings are placed in vats, and after the froth and fine, pulpy matter 
have separated, the juice is run into barrels and left to ferment. Within 
two months the clear wine is drawn from the dregs, and being skillfully 
mixed with the vintages of previous years, is allowed to rest until spring. 
The " sparkle " comes from a second fermentation, which occurs after 
the liquor has been bottled, and to obtain which it is sometimes found 
necessary to add sugar or brandy. Champagne is rarely exported until 
it is two years old, having to undergo other minor processes. 

FROM NICE TO CALAIS. 

We have a plan now to retrace our steps southward, down the val- 
leys of the Saone and Rhone to the sea and then journey north from 
Nice to Calais, taking a wide sweep of country as we go. 



778 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The first point on the Mediterranean coast going west towards 
Marseilles, which receives the attention of travelers (and it is often the 
last) is a dense group of buildings upon a bold promontory which extends 
defiantly out into the sea. It is the town of Monaco, a portion really of 
a small Italian principality governed by a prince who established an 
abbey in his province, abolished all taxes, and, as an offset to this gener- 
osity extended the operations of his gambling establishments from which 
he derived a truly princely revenue. As a watering place Monaco is 
almost a rival to Nice. Nice lies upon the shores of the Mediterranean, 
quietly sunning herself, her ladylike moods being thoroughly enjoyed by 
the invalids who resort to her for consolation and strength. Her sur- 
roundings are as pretty as herself. She is the petted French child of 
England. 

A sister to Nice is Cannes, a little to the west. Lord Brougham made 
it fashionable to Englishmen by living there and dying there. The grave 
is in the town's cemetery, marked by a large granite cross. The citadel 
of the " man in the iron mask" stands upon the Island of Ste. Marguerite, 
opposite Cannes. 

And Toulon, still west, is the great military stronghold of the repub- 
lic, with vast floating docks and arsenals. The fortifications were 
originally constructed for the benefit of the pirates of the Mediterranean. 
The English forces once held Toulon, but were driven out by Napoleon. 

MARSEILLES. 

As the tourist will have guessed, we touch at these minor ports 
merely to prepare him for Marseilles, the ancient Massilia founded by 
Ionian colonists from Asia Minor, 600 b. c. Whenever history has 
recorded her acts they have been opposed to despotism. She declared 
for Pompey against Caesar, and when annexed to the Roman republic 
became noteworthy as a champion of popular rights, as she had 
become famous as a commercial and colonizing city and a seat of learn- 
ing. The old motto of the city was " Liberty under any government." 
This was engraved in golden letters over her city gate. Louis XIV. 
had it removed. " Under previous kings that may have been possible, 
but not under me," he said ; and the motto was removed from the gate, 
but not from the popular heart. Marseilles, of all the cities in France, 
seemed authorized to baptize her grand national hymn, which has 
worked so much good and so much ill. It was born in the brain of a 
young officer of Strasburg, it was sung by the author to the mayor's 
family, it flew from town to town without a name, it entered Marseilles, 



DESERTS AND RUINS. 779 

whose Girondists seized upon it and bore it with them to Paris, scatter- 
ing its trumpet-Hke notes throughout France. Thus it was named after 
the natives of the repubHcan city, "The Marseillaise." Even the Ter- 
rorists, who guillotined the Girondists, shouted it as their bloody cry. 

To the north of the modern city lies ancient Marseilles, with 
crooked and dirty streets and lanes, several squares, a singular public 
hall and the ruins of Roman ramparts. It is separated from the great 
commercial port by a broad avenue which bounds the city on that side 
and leads to a delightful promenade on the sea shore. 

DESERTS AND RUINS. 

Above Marseilles to the Rhone is a desert of small stones, and be- 
yond the river for some distance west is a plain of salt. This strange 
tract of Southern France, extending nearly to the Cevennes mountains, 
has been pithily called " Africa in Europe," and it lacks neither the mi- 
rage nor the fowl of lower Egypt to carry out the delusion. Aries, once 
a Roman city of importance, may stand as a Cairo in ruins, being at the 
apex of the Rhone delta and containing an obelisk of gray granite fifty 
feet in height, which was taken from the bed of the river in the seven- 
teenth century. Aries boasted one of those immense amphitheatres 
whose ruins are scattered so thickly over the Roman dominions. Re- 
mains of temples, a triumphal arch and an aqueduct, the Byzantine cathe- 
dral dedicated to Paul's companion, St. Trophinus, the town hall de- 
signed by Mansard and the great pagan burying ground (the ''Elysian 
Fields") make it worth one's time to loiter at Aries. When these at- 
tractions, and others, are exhausted it may be noted that its sausage fac- 
tories are famous throughout France for the excellence of their products. 

A few miles inland from the left bank of the river, on the borders of 
that salt plain to which reference has been made, is the city of Nimes. 
The city is unattractive except for its Roman ruins, which surpass in 
grandeur and preservation those of any other locality outside of Italy. 
Its stupendous amphitheatre in which 2,000 people were living previous 
to its restoration, and which has been used as a fortress by Visigoths, 
Saracens and Franks ; the museum of paintings and antiquities occupy- 
ing a beautiful and ancient Corinthian temple ; the remnants of Roman 
towers, gates and baths, not to mention the graceful three-storied aque- 
duct near the city, the fountain within the public garden which supplied 
the baths with water, and modern cathedrals and edifices — these studies 
in ancient and modern architecture make Nimes one of the most attrac- 
tive places in Southern France. 

Returning to the river, the walled city of Avignon, over which looms 



780 I'ANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the vast palace of the popes is seen ; the scene of twenty-one great coun- 
cils of the church, the undisputed papal residence for seventy years and 
the home of the rival popes of Rome for fifty more. This sombre 
Gothic structure is no longer sacred to ecclesiastical purposes, it being 
devoted to the uses of a prison and barracks ; a sequence to the con- 
finement therein of the ambitious and unfortunate Rienzi, the last of the 
Roman tribunes, who had laid the astounding scheme before the King 
of Spain for the conquest of Italy. It was at the Church of Ste. Clara 
that Petrarch met his Laura. 

On the way from Avignon to Lyons, which lies through the 
^' Hermitage " wine district, are Orange and Vienna. The former exhibits 
an out-of-doors Roman theatre, a hill-side cut into many tiers of seats, 
and opposite a lofty wall which served as the background for the stage 
scenery. The bright little town has also the remains of a triumphal 
arch to show, and is celebrated in history as the center of the principality 
of Orange, founded by Charlemagne and passing into the hands of 
noble houses, the last one being that which became extinct with William 
III. Frederick I. of Prussia and a prince of Holland laid claim to the 
principality, but by treaty it was ceded to France although the princes 
of Nassau-Dietz are allowed to assume the title of "Princes of Orange." 

The approach to Lyons is through Vienne, the country from Orange 
being a succession of rugged landscapes in the valley of the Rhone, 
"bordered by mountains and limestone cliffs in the distance. Vienne was 
the capital of Burgundy, and has the inevitable amphitheatre and aque^ 
duct which accompany all ancient cities of importance. But when 
Pontius Pilate was exiled to this city from Rome, whither he had been 
sent in disgrace because he had ordered an unjust massacre of the 
Samaritans, Vienne was an obscure town of Gaul ; here he committed 
suicide, six or seven years after the crucifixion of Jesus ; and a century 
after Pilate's death the Christian churches of Vienne suffered the most 
shocking persecutions. 

LYONS AND HER WEAVERS. 

As the Gulf of Lyons is said to have been so named from the fury 
of its gales, which frequently rage and roar across it like wild beasts, so 
the city of Lyons might justly have been christened with reference to 
the turbulent character of its people. Notwithstanding the blood and 
floods of water which have flowed through its streets, the serene Virgin, 
from the lofty dome of Notre Dame, which crowns the hill upon which 
the ancient city stood, appears to be dispensing her blessings over the 
great city stretching from the opposite river bank over an undulating 



LYONS AND HER WEAVERS. 78 1 

peninsula, its outlying suburbs and villas being lost in the foot-hills of 
the Cevennes Mountains, while far to the east are seen the outlines of 
the mighty Alps. When the air is clearest Mount Blanc even rises in a 
mightier serenity and spirit of benediction. 

The city which stood upon this hill dates from before Christ's time,. 
and became the center of the four great Roman roads which traversed 
Gaul. It was pampered by the emperors, destroyed by fire and by one 
of the Roman monarchs because it declared for his rival, was the scene 
of Christian persecutions and the martyrdom of St. Irenseus, and was 
razed by Attila and most of its Roman monuments destroyed. But 
from the time the four Roman roads were made to center at Luedunum 
the locality was marked by nature as the center of a Avorld-famed trade 
and commerce ; and its modern sieges and insurrections have resulted 
from the radical character of its manufacturingr laborers. 

A line of fortifications and forts is drawn around the city and car- 
ried over the hills which command its suburbs. To the north of the 
fortifications are two villages in the commune of La Croix Rousse, which 
were the centers of the labor uprisings of the past fifty years and which 
caused the authorities to protect the city with strong walls and cannon. 
They are principally inhabited by silk weavers, who also are scattered 
in other suburbs and throughout the city. This class of the population 
would probably number 150,000 hands, but they are not crowded into 
smoky, greasy factories whose tall chimneys disfigure the city. The 
dwelling of the master weaver is his factory, and here, with a few looms, 
himself, family and such hired operatives as he needs conduct the busi- 
ness. Raw silk and patterns are supplied him by the silk merchant, Avho 
really rents the looms and pays the wages of the hands. The Palais des 
Beaux Arts, formerly an ancient convent, is devoted to museums of art 
and science, chambers of commerce, schools of agriculture and pattern 
designing for silks. It also contains an establishment where the un- 
wrought silk from thousands of looms is brought to be reduced, by heat, 
to an equable weight and dryness. This system of silk manufacturing 
is cumbersome in the extreme, although the beauty and cleanliness of 
the city are enhanced, but it is forced upon the merchants of Lyons by 
scarcity of coal. 

The beauties of this principal manufacturing city of France, with 
her stupendous quays, her great bridges, churches, commercial societies 
and labor tribunals, her squares which witnessed the dark shadows of 
the guillotine, her gardens, villas, majestic river and distant wonders of 
sky and mountain- — -upon these we need not dwell ; for our interest in 
Lyons is founded upon her silk, her silk weavers and the gigantic efforts 



782 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

which are being made by arbitration, under the shadows of great 
ramparts and a score of substantial forts, to quiet the waves of discon- 
tent which are continually arising from the confined and generally 
deformed body of the people. 

GLEAMS FROM EASTERN FRANCE. 

The distant view of the Alps obtained from the Church of Notre 
Dame, at Lyons, reminds one that from that commercial center went forth 
an influence which pervaded its valleys and was felt all along the banks 
of the river which spring from its heights and flow toward the Rhone. 
Peter Waldo, one of Lyons most wealthy citizens, sold all his goods 
and gave them to the poor. To the poverty-stricken of the city he then 
commenced to preach, for which he and his followers were excommuni- 
cated by the Pope. France, Italy and Bohemia took up his cause, and 
the sufferings of the Waldenses or Vaudois, in the valleys and mountains 
of Southeastern France, were but just begun when they were slaughtered 
by combined French and Italian armies and their children distributed in 
the villages of their foes. During the first portion of the present cen- 
tury Turin, and later Florence, became the center of their religious 
activities, which are now unshackled. 

The river Isere and the equally furious Durance river cut through 
the land of this hunted people, who, in France were driven to take ref- 
uge among the rocks and caves of half a dozen valleys. Even there 
they had no time to build fortresses, like that of Briancon which sur- 
rounds the village. The town itself stands on a rock which descends 
abruptly, on one side, to the river below, and is protected by a mountain 
from enemies in the rear. A sight of this rugged little town, with its 
rugged surroundings, is sufficient evidence of the truth of the statement 
that the stronghold has been besieged but never capitulated. West of 
Briancon is a grand mountain whose peaks and glaciers have witnessed 
amid their glooms, and glistenings thousands of refugees for conscience' 
sake. Briancon is the principal arsenal of the French Alps, command- 
ing the route to Piedmont, but Mount Pelvoux, to which the hunted 
Vaudois fled is mightier than it. 

North of the Isere river, in almost a direct line across the province 
of Isere from Vienne, in a wild and romantic valley, surrounded by 
mountain forests and rocks is an ungainly collection of sharp-roofed 
buildings which compose the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse. 
This is the headquarters of the celebrated order of monks which has 
remained unmolested since the eleventh century, when it was founded 
by St. Juno, not the patron saint of Prussia, but another St. Juno, born. 



GLEAMS FROM EASTERN FRANCE. 783 

however, in Germany. Amid these solitudes the fathers and brothers 
labor, watch and pray, living a life of self-denial. Tea, coffee and meat 
are even excluded from the monastery. Opposite the monastery build- 
ing is a rude structure in charge of some sisters of charity, used as a 
house of entertainment for lady visitors. But, whether to the male or 
female sex, hospitality is not distributed gratis, regular charges being 
made for meals and lodging. The Grand Chartreuse is about thirteen 
miles northeast of Grenoble, a charming town smiling on the river 
banks at the glaciers in the distance, and hemmed in by natural and 
artificial fortresses. 

Every mile of country from Lyons to Calais, along the Jura Moun- 
tains, the tributaries of the Saone river and the Meuse, has some natural 
beauty or historic significance. The Moselle from Germany dips gently 
into French territory and Vassy, Chalons, Metz and Sedan tell of fierce 
fields of contention and disputed territory. Strasburg, on the Rhine, 
and the province of Vosges, a little to the west but a portion of France, 
teach the lesson that, though national boundaries may divide, the work 
of philanthropists is a common heritage. The labors of John Oberlin 
among the peasants and mountaineers of Alsace, by which he not only 
touched their consciences but taught them how to plow, plant and reap, 
have not only made whole communities and villages prosperous, but 
spread his name over Europe and America. In this region of war and 
philanthropy, where the Meuse has become almost a rivulet, is a little 
village in which stands a rude stone cottage which is treasured by France, 
for it was the birthplace and home of Joan of Arc, religious enthusiast 
and inspired warrior. " With touching characteristic sentiment she had 
asked as her only reward that her native village should be released from 
taxation, and the boon was freely accorded for many generations, the 
entry in the tax-register opposite Domremy being, ' cancelled on account 
of La Pucelle.' " 

An excursion through the picturesque country of the Meuse, with a 
divergence to the west, will bring one to Rheims, where the modest 
Maid saw Charles the Victorious receive the holy unction from the sa- 
cred " ampulla," or flask. It is said to have been brought down from 
heaven by a dove, that Clovis might be anointed, in the fifth century. 
For many centuries the kings of France were thus honored by the arch- 
bishop of Rheims. The beautiful Gothic edifice and famous cathedral 
of Notre Dame was built during the early part of the thirteenth century; 
in it the kings of France were crowned for nearly six centuries. Charles, 
the last of the Bourbons, was anointed, and the oil then failed ; although 
there is some doubt as to the genuineness of the article since the revo- 



784 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



lution, when the ampulla was broken and thrown away. A pious indi- 
vidual, however, is reported to have recovered a fragment, with a small 
quantity of the Clovis oil, which he presented to the archbishop. 

Amiens, in the department of Somme, is on the borders of old 
Normandy. It is an ancient Roman city, containing the ruins of a for- 
mer citadel, but it is chiefly noted for its gorgeous cathedral and as 
being the birthplace of Peter the Hermit, who led so many knights of 
Normandy on disastrous crusades. 

CHEERY NORMANDY. 

Perhaps the reader will already have penetrated our design, which 
has been to rapidly encompass France and approach its superb capital 
by way of Normandy, which embraced the Seine and held the key to 




RENAISSANCE WINDOW, ROUEN.. 

Paris. The Northmen, or Normans, during the ninth century, repeat- 
edly ascended the river with their great fleets to carry consternation to 
the city. One of their greatest chiefs finally married the king's daugh- 
ter, and received a tract of land north of the river to the sea, which 
was the foundation of Normandy. The chief Rollo became first duke 
of Normandy and the ancestor, six generations away, of William the 
Conqueror. Other accessions followed, until the dukedom included that 
part of Northwestern France embraced in the present departments of 
Seine-Inferieure, Eure, Calvados, Orne and Manche. Normandy was 
joined by Brittany on the southwest, and two more dissimilar districts 
or people seldom came together. 

Rouen and Caen were the chief cities of Normandy, the former 
being its capital; and the most satisfactory and cheery approach to Paris 
and to France is by way of the coast of Normandy, with its sunny 



THE conqueror's HOME. 785 

watering places and fresh, quaint looking people. . Rouen, even to its 
churches, is bright with sunshine and the cheerfulness of its citizens. 
There are no gloomy cathedrals in Rouen. Notre Dame, profusely 
ornamented and surmounted by a dome 470 feet high, still has its inte- 
rior flooded with sunlight from 1 30 windows. And yet it contains tombs, 
including that of Richard Coeur de Lion ; the dust into which the " iron 
heart" has mouldered is now in the Rouen museum. Near the cathe- 
dral is the Abbey Church of St. Ouen, its light, lofty tower terminating 
in a crown of fieurs de lis, and its bright aspect being charmingly softened 
and mellowed by its two great rose-windows. Public squares are not 
the boast of Rouen, but it contains one which attracts thousands of 
travelers. It is the scene of the burning of Joan of Arc, and where her 
body was given to the elements is a drinking fountain without water and 
an unworthy statue of La Pucelle. 

THE CONQUEROR'S HOME. 

Before finally starting Paris-ward it would be a sad neglect of duty 
not to take a run into the native land of William the Conqueror. Caen 
is ten miles from the English Channel and about twice as far west of the 
Seine's mouth. A quaint combination it is of modern life surrounded 
by an ancient atmosphere. It has fine promenades, broad streets, large, 
buildings and beautiful churches. At one extremity of the town is a 
massive, severe, but noble looking structure, the Church of St. Etienne,. 
built by William and in which he was buried. Saint Trinite, an elegant, 
light and restful church, stands at the other end of Caen. This was 
either founded by Queen Matilda, or erected for her, according to her 
plans, by William the Conqueror. What a gulf between the mighty 
William and Beau Brummel, the leader of the London fashions ! Yet, 
in death, they were joined at Caen, although separated by centuries of 
time. 

Twenty miles or more inland from Caen is a picturesque country of 
river and wooded cliffs. Built upon such cliffs is a quiet manufacturing 
village, over which, on a bold ascent, towers the old Norman castle of 
Falaise. From its tower a sweeping view of Normandy may be obtained, 
but no one mounts into the gloomy castle chambers for landscape see- 
ing — rather to view the room in which William the Conqueror is said to 
have been born. The castle consists of two portions, the large, square 
Norman keep, standing at the highest part of the rocky eminence, and 
a circular tower, of later construction, connected with the former by a 

passage. Around all is a line of fortifications following the irregular out- 

50 



786 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

lines of the hill. In the keep, so it is said, the Conqueror was born, and 
the guides pretend to show the very room where the event took place and 
the identical window from which his father, Duke Robert the Magnifi- 
cent, first saw Arlette, the daughter of the Falaise tanner. The older 
portions of the castle show marks of the sieges which it has withstood, a 
breach being still pointed out which was the result of seven days' can- 
nonade by Henry IV. 

Nearer the channel than Caen and west of it is the town of Bayeux, 
which has been made historically famous by the most elaborate and 
gigantic piece of needlework in the world. In a large room adjoining 
the public library, preserved under glass, is displayed " a piece of picto- 
rial needlework supposed to have been done by Queen Matilda and the 
ladies of her court, representing the events connected with the conquest 
of England. It is worked, like a sampler, in woolen thread of different 
colors, is 20 inches wide and 214 feet long and has 72 divisions, each 
with a Latin inscription designating its subject. It is of great historical 
value, since it not only exhibits with minuteness Norman customs and 
manners at the time of the Conquest, but pictures events of which no 
other record exists — among others the siege of Dinan and the war 
between the duke of Normandy and Conan, earl of Brittany." 

The remarkable thing about this remarkable piece of tapestry is its 
fresh, bright appearance, notwithstanding that it has been exhibited in 
Paris and nearly every town of France. The cathedral which it was 
originally intended to adorn has been leveled with the ground. Of the 
historical events which it portrays the most important is the invasion of 
England, by which it can be learned better, than from any description in 
words, how William's cavalry was transported and the very construction 
of the Norman weapons and their spades for use in earthworks and forti- 
fications. The horses are being swung out of the ships in cranes and 
pulleys, and the spades, on account of the scarcity of iron in those days, 
are only tipped with that metal. A great banquet precedes the battle 
of Hastings, which is depicted with spirit and vigor, considering that 
most of the figures are coarsely worked in green and yellow colors ; but 
the whole story is told — the great cavalry charge, the Conqueror in the 
lead, sitting like a rock on a gigantic black horse, the consternation of 
his followers at his reported death, the rout of the enemy and Harold's 
death and the stripping of the wounded after the fray. The figures in 
the tapestry often suggest an entire ignorance of anatomy, and the per- 
spective is Chinese in its character, but the attitudes and facial lines are 
frequently worthy of a Nast. As with everything of interest which 
originated long ago, doubt has been thrown upon the authenticity of the 



NORMAN GIRLS. 787 

tapestry , but whether Matilda and her ladies did work it or not is of 
secondary importance to the fact, which is firmly established, that it was 
made soon after the Conquest by somebody who was directed by an 
intimate, at least, of the royal couple, and the artist was a close observer, 
if not a genius. There is evidence that the date of its construction was 
near that of the Conquest, and also that Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the 
Conqueror's half-brother, ordered and arranged the work to the exact 
length of the walls of the church round which it was to have been placed. 
Still another delay is in order before starting toward Paris — caused 
by a desire to visit Mont St. Michael, which is a singular cone of granite 
rising from the English Channel at the angle where Brittany and Nor- 
mandy come together. The mount, which shoots from a level expanse 
•of shifting sands, is surmounted by a castle and a church ; and lower 
down clusters of houses hang to it, occupied by fishermen. The castle 
was a great Norman stronghold during the middle ages, and for three 
hundred years the magnificent spire of the church, surmounted by the 
image of St. Michael, the patron saint of the coast, has been a beacon 
to mariners approaching the shores of France. Monks and dukes have 
made their pilgrimages to this stronghold of arms and religion. It is 
from St. Michael that William the Conqueror and Harold marched on 
Dinan, the strongest fortified town of Brittany ; and the treacherous 
white sands around the mount which the warriors skirted on their way 
to Brittany are faithfully depicted in the Bayeux tapestry. Within the 
great castle is the spacious Gothic hall of the Knights of Mont St. 
Michael, "with its carved stone-work and lofty roof, supported by three 
rows of pillars, beautiful in proportion and grand in effect, although the 
Revolution, as usual, has left us little but the bare walls ; but as we look 
down upon it from a gallery it is easy to picture the splendor of a ban- 
quet of knights in the twelfth century, with the banners and insignia of 
chivalry ranged upon the walls." 

NORMAN GIRLS. 

Again, before returning to Rouen, the tourist must not fail to visit 
a few of the quaint Norman villages, with their tall, peaked-roofed 
houses and neat women, wearing their lace caps, chatting and eating in 
the market-place. The caps bloom, like flow^ers, into every conceivable 
form, from that of a helmet to that of a Turk's military cap, a starched 
funnel or a modern bonnet. Wanderinor from the market as^ain, we 
find " houses built out over rivers, looking like pieces of old furniture, 
ranged side by side, rich in color and wonderfully preserved, with their 



788 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

wooden gables, carved in oak of the fifteenth century, supported by 
massive timbers, sound and strong, of even older date ; many of these 
houses, with windows full of flowers, and creepers twining around the 
old eaves, and long drying poles stretched out horizontally, with gay- 
colored clothes upon them flapping in the wind — all contrasting curi- 
ously with the dark buildings." 

But the little villages, like the larger towns, are attractive as much 
for the many delicate threads which connect them with Paris and modern 
life as for the unaffected air of their people and their historical glamour. 
Nearly every house is a manufactory ; and though its inmates keep their 
hearts with the days of simple, merry Normandy, their eyes look toward 
modern Paris and their fingers clasp considerable of her money. From 
Cherbourg often wander wide-awake, finely-mustached, loosely-dressed 
French marines, who leave their gloomy iron clads at anchor in the great 
harbor to gossip with the pretty maidens of Normandy in the market 
places. The girls may have walked in from the country with their 
baskets of vegetables, or from the sea shore with their shining captives. 
Their eyes are brighter than their fish and their cheeks fresher than 
their vegetables, and yet they will tell you that though many of their 
products of sea and land reach Paris, they never have been there, but, 
some day, hope to reach the beautiful city; and their hope is not unreas- 
onable, as one will see by glancing at any good map of France, for no 
matter how small the town there is the railroad which runs to Paris. 

THE APPROACH TO PARIS. 

Having encompassed Paris we are now at liberty to approach it from 
any direction. If we come from the southeast we must stop at the town 
of Fontainebleau, with its royal pleasure palace and gardens embedded 
in its solid square miles of forest. The artificial and natural charms of 
this royal retreat date from the tenth century, when the chateau was 
founded. Two centuries later it was rebuilt, subsequently enlarged, 
fell into decay, repaired and embellished and from the sixteenth century 
all the monarchs of France added something to it. Historically it is fa- 
mous for scenes which are guide posts to the domestic happiness, the 
miseries, the supposed necessities of state in the life of Napoleon,and it 
was from Fontainebleau that he signed the act of abdication. Here also 
the emperor had detained Pope Pius as a prisoner for nearly two years. 
Treaties and important state transactions and magnificent fetes under 
the Louises and Napoleons have, after Versailles, made Fontainebleau 
the most fitting approach to that great city which so fascinatingly com- 
bines stupendous historical events with irrepressible gayety. 



A bird's-eye view. . 789 

"The gardens of Fontainebleau," it is pithily said, "will fascinate the 
lovers of elaborate arrangement and orderly primness, but are not other- 
wise remarkable except for their great fish ponds. On the whole, they 
scarcely repay a walk round, especially when outside them stretches the 
magnificent forest, with its heathery slopes, dark fir woods, vast expanses 
■of green sward, planted with beech and oak, and a surface broken into 
•wild picturesque gorges by the scars and rocky projections of the sand- 
stone." 

A score of miles nearer Paris, going in the same general direction, is 
Vincennes, a fortress where are trained the best marksmen of the French 
army, and which has likewise a chateau and park. The castle, a repre- 
sentative of the middle ages, is rectangular in shape, and was once sur- 
rounded by nine great towers. Only one now remains, 170 feet high, 
with walls seventeen feet thick. From the time of Phillippe de Valois 
until the days of Louis XV. the chateau was a royal residence. It then 
became a prison for such personages as Henry IV, the Prince of Conde, 
Cardinal de Retz, Mirabeau and the Due d' Enghien who was shot in 
the moat of the castle. 

We may still verge to the west and enter the city by the Orleans 
railway or still further west by way of Versailles. Without another 
delay, except to dwell for a moment upon the attractions of Versailles 
and its kingly palace, we shall approach the environs of Paris from the 
southwest. The road from the capital, ten miles distant, becomes an 
avenue in Versailles, dividing the miniature Paris into two parts. The 
palace, formerly priory and castle, under the princely treatment of three 
Louises reached its present state of magnificence and down to the time 
of the Revolution was one of the residences of the court. The Revolu- 
tion was born in the palace of Versailles by the meeting of the states — 
general therein. With the passing over of the blackest clouds of that 
storm the palace became a museum, filled with pictures of French heroes 
and monarchs and scenes in their careers. The gardens, terraces, aven- 
ues, squares and public fountains of Versailles are stately rather than 
picturesque. In Versailles King William was proclaimed Emperor of 
Germany and the capitulation of Paris signed ; to escape the fury of the 
revolutionists of the capital the sittings of the National Assembly were 
also transferred to Little Paris, 

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW\ 

It Is from the direction of Versailles that one obtains the best bird's- 
■eye view of Paris. The city lies in a hollow, encircled by two ranges of 
hills,, the inner ones being the lowest and occasionally falling within the 



790 " PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

municipal limits. The outlying heights are from two to four miles from 
the city walls and upon them are posted the forts, or their ruins, which 
command every approach to Paris. Mount Valerien to the west, over- 
looking one of the railroads to Versailles, is the highest point from which 
Paris may be viewed. The Seine is seen entering from the southeast, 
winding among its great buildings, boulevards and parks, and divid- 
ing its bewildering magnificence into two unequal parts, the northern 
being much larger, and then sweeping boldly, so as almost to wash the 
heights of St. Cloud, it flows northeast past scores of pretty suburbs and 
villages. Just as it seems destined to pursue an unvarying course 
toward Calais it bends like the neck of a stately swan toward the green 
fields and kind people of Normandy. 

OLD PARIS. 

In his Commentaries, Julius Caesar is the first historian to notice a 
collection of mud huts built mostly upon two islands in the river which 
we now call the Seine. This was the chief settlement of the Parisii, a 
Gallic tribe, which he conquered. Those islands are still where Caesar 
saw them, but their mud huts have given place to the Cathedral of Notre 
Dame, the Palais de Justice, a grand hotel and other beautiful religious, 
and secular edifices. An elegant bridge connects the two islands, from 
which may be seen that Notre Dame, the most impressive of Parisian 
churches, with its ancient rose-windows and massive towers. Near by 
rises the arrowy spire of Saint Chapelle, a blazing and glittering pile, 
built by St. Louis to contain the relics which he had brought from the 
Holy Land, but which was chiefly devoted to royal marriages, christen- 
ings and coronations. This church is within the precincts of the Palace of 
Justice, an immense structure containing various courts of law, and upon 
this ancient ground of mud huts, within hailing distance of the Palace, is 
the prison of the Conciergerie, scene of the sorrow and rage of Marie 
Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre, and of the heart-rending suspense 
which racked the bodies and souls of the prisoners during the Reign of 
Terror. Here prisoners are still confined, pending their trial, and La 
Force is yet the greatest of the prisons of Paris. 

NORTH OF THE SEINE. 

It is but a short walk from the nucleus of ancient Paris to the cen-^ 
ter of the modern city. On the opposite or northern bank of the river, 
where Caesar found scarcely a hut of mud, are the modern palaces of the 
Tuileries and the Louvre, in the famous gardens of the Tuileries, witk 



NORTH OF THE SEINE. 79 1 

the restored Hotel de Ville which is directly across from the upper end 
of the Island of La Cite. In the vicinity of the Tuileries is the Palais 
Royale, the extensive court which it surrounds having echoed to the 
trumpet tones of Desmoulins, who cast that vast wave of fury against 
the Bastile, whose former gloomy walls are now remembered by the 
handsome public square which is opposite the Place Royale. It is known 
as the Place de la Bastile, and is a short distance directly east of the Place 
de I'Hotel de Ville, for many ages the scene of public executions and 
the spot at which some of the bloodiest deeds of the Revolution were 
perpetrated. 

The Place de la Concorde connects the gardens of the Tuileries and 
the thousand feet of ruins composing the old palace with the Champs 
Elysees, that grand popular avenue, at the western extremity of which 
is Napoleon's Arch of Triumph, the largest and grandest of its kind in 
the world. It is also the boundary of the magnificent district of Paris 
in that direction. 

The Place de la Concorde is worthy of facing this arch of architect- 
ural triumph, but like all the other ambitious and successful works of 
beauty which grace the city, the Revolution has cast its shadow and dashed 
the blood of Paris over its marble monuments and into the waters of its 
fountains. In the center of the square is an obelisk covered with hiero- 
glyphics which stood, over thirty-three centuries ago, in front of a great 
temple of Thebes. It was placed there by Rameses II., one of those 
hoary monarchs whose greatness we only feel through all the mists of 
ages, and may have been brought almost face to face with the monument 
to Bonaparte's fame in order to teach the lesson of the weakness of human 
achievement. The shaft of the Egyptian king marks the site of the 
guillotine which cut short the lives of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, 
Philippe Egalite, Danton, Robespierre and a host of others. 

On the Champs Elysees, within sight of the Place de la Concorde is 
the Palace of Industry, or the Paris Exposition, constructed originally 
for the world's fair of 1855 ^^^ i^ow a permanent exhibition. The ex- 
position of 1867 was held on the Champ de Mars, the military parade 
ground on the opposite side of the river, just around a bend. 

The city residence of the President of the Republic, the Elysee 
Palace overlooks the avenue, while further away from the river than we 
have been, north of the Tuileries and Louvre, are the most convenient, 
tasteful and magnificent theatres of Europe, and just on the outskirts of 
this center of comedy and tragedy, tears and laughter, music, song and 
dance, is the center of no insignificent section of the financial activity of 
Europe, the Bourse and Tribunal of Commerce — a square, Roman-like 



792 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Structure, supported by a stately array of pillars and approached by a 
grand stairway. 

In the theatre district between the Palais Royale and the Grand 
Opera House is the Place Vendome, with a second column of Trajan 
in its center, commemorative, however, of Napoleon's campaign of 
1805 ; the before-mentioned place of amusement also fronts upon a 
square which would seem more magnificent, if admiration were not 
drawn from it to the structure which outshines it as the sun does the 
moon. 

Not far north of the Champs Elysees is an imposing structure 

raised upon an ponderous 
platform, surrounded by a 
colonnade of pillars,carved, 
frescoed and gilded. If it 
was not built by some of 
the old masters of Greece, 
it is a wonderful and mod- 
ern imitation of their best 
work. The Madeline is a 
Christianized Grecian tem- 
ple, one of the triumphs 
of modern architecture, 
although not original in its 
character. 



SOUTH OF THE 
^ SEINE. 

The district which lies 
on the southern bank of 
the Seine opposite the 
islands which were the nu- 
cleus of old Paris, and 
A MODERN FRENCH PAINTER. which corresponds to the 

modern city from the Place de la Bastille, or Ouartier St. Antoine, 
to the Arch of Triumph, is covered with gardens, military grounds, 
scientific institutions and churches. The immense wine market is near 
the river on the opposite shore from the arsenal. A short distance from 
the Seine but directly south of the great church of Notre Dame, on the 
Island of La Cite, is the College of France, one of whose objects is to 
apply science to industry, and for that purpose furnishes the public with 




ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 793 

gratuitous lectures. Another stratum is also reached by its free lectures 
in the departments of philosophy and letters. 

The Institute of France, across the river from the Tuileries, is the 
result of two centuries and a half of the country's best thought, being a 
combination of five academies, whose specialties are the maintenance of 
the native tongue in its purity ; the study of universal history and com- 
parative philology, of the sciences, of the arts and of moral philosophy 
and affairs of state. The parent of the Institute was the French Acad- 
emy founded by Richelieu. This, and the other academics Avhich were 
merged into the Institute, continued until abolished by the republican 
convention of 1793, but were consolidated under the different names, 
National, Imperial, and France, by the Directory, Napoleon and Louis 
XVIII. respectively. 

The Pantheon, or Church of Ste. Genevieve (Paris' patron saint) 
]ooms up from beyond the College de France and the other educational 
institutes and edifices in this vicinity. It is in the form of a mighty 
Greek cross, united under the dome which rises nearly 200 feet. The 
Pantheon was originally built as a monument to celebrated Frenchmen, 
and still contains the tombs of Rousseau, Lagrange, Lannes and Vol- 
taire, with many others. 

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 

Among the scores of other churches which it has been impossible to 
describe is that of St. Vincent de Paul. To worthily commemorate the 
grand character of Vincent de Paul it could not be too stately or too 
beautiful. Although patronized by cardinals and royal families, he chose 
to labor among peasants, convicts and beggars, endeavoring to relieve 
them bodily, mentally and spiritually. In this field, also, so disinterested, 
able and tender were all his ministrations that he received the assist- 
ance of counts and nobles in establishing missions among the poor and 
liospitals for the sick. In much of his ecclesiastical work he was 
the adviser of Cardinal Richelieu ; but the proximity of such a lumi- 
nary did not dim him. He continued to be the apostle of thieves 
and sinners. Wherever sin, famine and sufferingf were creating 
the greatest havoc, there was Vincent de Paul. The crowning 
"work of his life was the founding of the order of Sisters of Charity 
and a hospital for the poor of Paris. A royal edict obliged 
every beggar to enter this institution or to work for a living. 
This great and good man was canonized seventy years after his 
death- 



794 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 



VICTOR HUGO. 



VICTOR HUGO. 



795 



There was another mighty man of Paris and of France, whom the 
world claims as one of her geniuses, and who was as different from St. 
Vincent de Paul as the rushing whirlwind is from the broad, steady- 




BUST OF VICTOR HUGO. 



flowing river. Victor Hugo was precocious, and not the only exception 
to the saying (which no doubt issued from the jealous soul of some 
average, disappointed mortal) that he who is early ripe is early rotten. 
Before he was thirty years old he was famous, and continued to add to his 



79^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

:fame for over half a century. His mother was a native of La Vendee; 
his father was high in the good graces of Napoleon. He lived a por- 
tion of his time with his mother in Paris, the balance with his father in 
Italy and Spain, or followed his own inclinations ; that is, he was his 
own master until, as an outspoken member of the Assembly, he offended 
Napoleon and was banished from France for life. He took up his res- 
idence in the Isle of Jersey, and although he did not return to his native 
land for twenty years, he flooded Europe with political pamphlets, phil- 
osophical dissertations, poems, novels and dramas, which, in turn, 
enraged, bewildered and charmed the world. Whatever he did created 
-a sensation, and, genius though he was, he perhaps strove too often 
after the sensational at the expense of leaving a less enduring mark 
than if he had been less conscious of himself. As a lyric poet and a 
novelist, he has been crowned as king by the French people. His death, 
in May, 1885, extinguished a living light, both bright and warm, whose 
influence will be felt for generations to come. 

THE MILITARY QUARTER. 

The western portion of this district of churches and colleges (where 
also are the magnificent Luxembourg gardens and palace, with the 
Archiepiscopal palace) is the military quarter of Paris. Next to the 
Archiepiscopal palace near the Seine is the soldiers' asylum, with its 
spacious courts, the Hotel des Invalides. Within the limits of the 
Invalides is the great porphyry sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
standing directly under the masterly dome of the Church of St. Louis. 
To the south of the asylum is the military school, and adjoining its 
grounds and fronting on the river, is the famous Champ de Mars, scene 
of historical events and grand military reviews. For one week after 
July 7, 1790, an army of men and women was seen day and night, upon 
the grounds, working like maniacs in their eagerness to get all in readi- 
ness for the grand festival in honor of the king who was to bow to the 
constitution of the people. 

BOULEVARDS AND PARKS. 

The Paris Observatory is the rear guard of this vast district, which 
is a union of church, school and arms. With even this imperfect sketch 
of the wonders of Parisian glory in all the departments of modern civil- 
ization — not even mentioning her scores of great hospitals, hotels, 
manufactories, libraries and museums — we must say a word about her 
boulevards, parks and theatres. 



THEATRES AND DELICATE ECONOMY. 797" 

The most famous of the boulevards are within the hmits of the old 
city walls and cover the district already described from the Church of 
the Madeline to the Place de Bastile. Here are the most beautiful Par- 
isian stores, the banking houses, theatres, centres of gossip and of trade. 

We have already noticed the avenue of the Champs Elysees and 
the triumphal arch standing in it, or rather in the Place de I'Etoile, into 
which the stately thoroughfare expands. From this square radiate ten 
broad avenues, the most magnificent of which is the avenue Bois de 
Boulogne, divided into road ways, bridle paths, footwalks, bordered with 
bright and ingenious gardens and fringed with villas and private grounds. 
The avenue leads to a park of the same name, in which art and nature 
seem to strive for the prize of beauty and which is one of the most fav- 
orite resorts of all classes. It is outside of the fortifications. 

Other popular places of resort are the zoological gardens, near the 
wine market, with their wonderfully perfect menagerie, which are on the 
direct route from the Place de Bastile on the other side of the river, and 
the park of Vincennes, east of the city. This is in line with the greatest 
attractions of the city, and is not an ignoble conclusion of the pleasure 
seeking. Besides its historic and military attractions it contains a race 
course, a large artificial lake and numerous other means of recreation. 

For miles along the Seine on either side the quays are paved and 
beautified, and afford noble promenades. Even the sewers of Paris have 
within the last thirty years been transformed into things of wonder, not 
to say magnificence, as the mains generally follow the chief thoroughfares 
of the city and the connections correspond to the minor streets. 

THEATRES AND DELICATE ECONOMY. 

We already know where the theatres of Paris are., The Theatre 
Francaise leads all the rest, not only in the magnificence of its appoint- 
ments but the brilliancy of its companies. Moliere, or the company 
which he directed, founded it two centuries ago. The Opera House 
stands close behind it, the two being under the direct patronage of the 
government ; other places of amusement are also assisted from the 
national treasury, the government, on its part, levying a generous tax 
upon all the receipts for the benefit of the public charities. So that if 
Paris is gay and spends her millions in amusing herself, her gayety 
becomes a continual blessing to the poor, which can be said of few great 
cities. 

Another peculiarity has been noticed of the Parisian. Although 
he is fond of good clothes and dies upon " all work and no play," he has 



798 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Studied the science of economy in every phase. There is perhaps no 
one in the world who looks better and appears to live better on a smaller 
sum than the Parisian. Nothing goes to waste, and yet though he may 
have to count the cost of every cent there is little of that heart-rending 
"pinching " to be observed among the proud poor which is seen in other 
cities. Just so many vegetables served up in their dainty dishes, nicely 
seasoned and cooked, so much meat and so much wine. A great deal 
of chatting and laughter makes the meals go further and accomplishes 
more than if rushed down with the rapacity of the Englishman or the 
speed of the American, As proficients in the art of practicing a delicate 
economy the French, and the Parisian in particular, are unapproachable. 
The assertion has been made by some-^that the French are not hearty 
enough to fight the battle of civilization against Englishmen, Germans, 
Russians and Americans, but the monuments of greatness which they 
have reared in Paris alone would seem to indicate that so far they have 
possessed considerable stamina. 

It may be that their lightness of spirit and the peculiar faculty they 
have of making everything so appetizing, turn the smaller quantities of 
food which they consume into more than the average amount of blood 
and brain. The Parisian bread carrier is ofttimes enough to make one 
long for one of her tremendous loaves — not an uncouth, dirty man, 
with black hands, is the bread carrier, but a dainty girl in a frilled cap, a 
neat bodice and a pretty, clean apron, the latter being filled with the 
fresh loaves, which are also loaded into a basket strapped to her shoul- 
ders, like so many sticks of cordwood. 

Next in demand to the bread carriers are the wine merchants. 
They are of all grades, although since the Bastile is gone, St. Antoine 
is no more, and the other squalid and criminal quarters have been cut 
up into great streets and squares, and connected with aristocratic Paris, 
there are few Defarges such as Dickens described in his Tale of Two 
Cities. The trade is getting into more respectable hands ; the Defarges 
are growing less in number, while the mirrored restaurants and cafes on 
the streets off from the central boulevards of Paris, and frequented by 
the fashionables, artists, scientists, students and business men of the 
city, are becoming more and more the mainstays of the wine merchants. 
The great center of the wine trade is the market, which we have already 
noticed and in which 500,000 casks of wine can be stowed. It is one 
of the most bustling places in all this bustling city. 

Across the river, perhaps half a mile from it, forming a triangle with 
the Hotel de Ville and the Tuileries as the base, is the Central Market. 
It covers twenty acres of ground and consists of a dozen immense pavil- 



THEATRES AND DELICATE ECONOMY. 799 

ions, connected by covered streets. Underneath the pavihons are great 
tanks for Hve fish and cool vaults for the storage of vegetables and fruits. 
Underground railways connect them with railroad termini, so that the 
produce can be conveniently delivered and the garbage removed. 

The business man of Paris is usually circulating somewhere in the 
vicinity of the Bourse or the Bank of France. Here are found the other 
financial institutions and the railway offices of the great trunk lines; the 
headquarters of national financiers, the bondholders, the capitalists, the 
schemers, where such enterprises as the Suez and the Panama Canals are 
launched upon the money market of France and the world. The Bank 
of France has branches in all the departments of the republic and in 
Algiers, and from it issue all the government notes. 

The Bourse and Chamber or Tribunal of Commerce are also so 
closely connected with the government that they are considered national 
institutions. Members of the latter body are elected by the chief rrer- 
chants of the city or town who are named by the mayor or perfect. 
There is a chamber of commerce in every city and considerable town in 
France, which Is consulted by the government on all matters of public 
interest, such as taxation and the improvement of land and water ways. 
When not volunteered such advice can be demanded, so that a member 
of the Tribunal of Commerce becomes, in a certain sense, an integral part 
of the government, bound to further its aims toward public prosperity. 

SUPPLE AND MUSCULAR PEOPLE. 

The predominating trait of the French is suppleness — which never 
excludes strength. The Italian and Celtic elements predominate in their 
character, their language being the most important of the Romanic 
tongues. The Celtic elements were lost, however, in the flood of 
Prankish words which poured from the north and those of Latin origin 
which came from the south. It is the unison of the Teutonic muscul- 
arity with the Italian suppleness which has made French people and the 
French language what they are. The rise of the troubadours, who sung 
their songs of chivalry in the southern, or Provencal dialect, had much 
effect in molding the tongue into graceful lines. The crusades introduced 
some Arabic terms and when Frenchmen began to cultivate the natural 
sciences Greek and Latin terms crept in. But it was not until the mid- 
dle ages that the Franko-Romanic dialect of the north and the Provencal 
tongue were welded into one harmonious language, which has no super- 
ior as a medium for communicatinor the most diverse of ideas and cover- 
ing the greatest range of sentiment. In the province of light literature 



800 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

French writers are unrivalled ; and yet Calvin is not the only divine of 
France who has illustrated the weight of his native language as a judg- 
ment trumpet and inspirer of awe. Balzac and Descartes show the 
French as careful and profound philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau as 
versatile geniuses capable, with their supple language, of touching every 
phase of human life except that in which reverence is crowned as king. 
Montesquieu was broad, masculine and keen. After placing the Dumas, 
Hugos, Sues, Vernes, Corneilles, Racines and Molieres in a group, 
imagine opposite them Lamartine, Guizot, Thiers and Taine, as histor- 
ians, Comte, the Positive philosopher, Cuvier, Laplace, Lagrange, 
Bastiat, DeTocqueville and a host of others, eminent in scientific and. 
social questions ; and then answer the question whether the French are. 
not intellectually muscular as well as versatile. 

One of the most conclusive evidences of their healthfu] elasticity as. 
a nation is the wonderful vigor with which they rebounded from the 
crushing defeat of the Franco-Prussian war ; not only evincing nO' 
depression of spirits but, while repairing their losses at home, lifting a. 
great debt from their shoulders and continuing to increase in nationali 
wealth in a ratio which excited the admiration of the world.. 




THE GERMANS, 

HE origin of the name German is somewhat doubtful, althouo-h 
for several centuries about all that was known of the Teutonic 
tribes was that a warlike people lived beyond the Rhine who 
fought with spears, viz.: "ger" (spear) "mann" (man). Sub- 
sequently, when the Romans came to know more of them, it 
was learned that they were light-haired and powerfully built, 
blue-eyed, independent, tireless in war, industrious agricultur- 
ists, lovers of chastity and superstitious. They had bards and 
priests, sacred groves, and worshiped gods and giants. The 
God of War was their chief divinity. They elected their chiefs, 
who were often believed to be descended from Woden. The Franks, 
the Goths, the Vandals, the Teutons and the Burgundians were all Ger- 
man tribes which are intimately connected with the history of Germany, 
France and Rome. 

It is not our purpose to go into details regarding the mythical and 
ancient history of Germany, or to trace the gradual steps by which her 
small states were united into one empire. The Germans are not the 
result of a conglomeration of races but are a combination of kindred 
tribes, some of which have always given rulers to the country. When 
Charlemagne, the great Frank, ruled over them, their empire was con- 
solidated by the subjection of the Saxons, the last of the German tribes 
which refused to submit to him. He also compelled them to become 
Christians. But during the weaker reign of subsequent rulers the power 
of the king depended on the dukes who elected him, and their influence 
has ever since been great. To this must be added, during the last cent- 
ury, the gradual advance of the cause of popular government. Yet the 
strong traits of the German Empire and the German people are the 
same as when they were yet unwelded tribes ; a love of discipline and 
thoroughness, combined with a love of independence, and a genius for 
war were added to a stern family affection, 

8oi 51 



802 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ARMY. 

The Bund, or reunion of the German States, which was consoli- 
dated in 1 87 1 by the King of Prussia accepting the sovereignty of Ger- 
many, was formed for the protection of the territory of the Bund and 
for the care of the welfare of the German people. The Federal Coun- 
cil, or the Upper House of the empire (Bundesrath), is composed of 
members who are annually appointed by the governments of the various 
states. Unless the territory of the empire is attacked the Emperor is 
required to obtain the consent of the Bundesrath before he can declare 
war, make peace or enter into treaties with foreign countries. He is, 
however, the commander-in-chief of the army and navy and superintends 
the execution of the laws. The Emperor appoints the committees for 
the army and navy, except one who is appointed by Bavaria ; all the 
other committees are elected by the Federal Council. Each committee 
consists of representatives of at least four states of the Empire. 

The members of the Reichstag, or Lower House, are elected by 
the people for a term of three years, at the average rate of one deputy 
for every 100,000 inhabitants. All imperial laws must receive the sanc- 
tion of both of these bodies and the Chancellor of the empire. The 
Reichstag may be dissolved by the Federal Council with the consent of 
the Emperor, but not oftener than once during each session. A new 
election must take place within sixty days after such dissolution. 

The Imperial Chancellor is president ex officio of the Bundesrath, 
and he is also the disbursing officer of the imperial revenues. He is 
required to make an annual statement to both the Bundesrath and the 
Reichstag. — 

The military system of Germany is that which was in force in Prus- 
sia. Every German, capable of bearing arms, must serve in the stand- 
ing army from his twenty-first to his twenty-eighth year ; and for five 
years more he must be in the landwehr. In war, every soldier is 
bound to obey the Emperor, unconditionally. In times of peace the 
Bavarian troops have their own organization and are not subject to the 
Emperor's orders. The sovereigns of the other states select the lower 
grades of officers, while the higher ones are appointed by the Emperor, 

EDUCATIONAL DRILL. 

Army discipline is carried into the educational domain and for at 
least five years every German child is obliged to go through with a 
course of mental training which in many countries would be considered 
unbearable. The system of instruction is much the same as that of the 



EDUCATIONAL DRILL. 8o 



J 



United States, there being common elementary, schools, Latin schools, 
Real school sintended to educate those in the higher branches who can not 
take a university course, the gymnasiums covering the ground of our 
high schools and lower colleges, and the universities to which students 
graduate from the gymnasiums. The conflict in the system comes as to 
the precise relation of the Real schools to the gymnasiums and univer- 
sities ; the former are divided also into higher trade schools and higher 
common schools, the chief distinction between them and the gymnasiums 
being that more attention is given to the natural sciences and practical 
.arts than to classical training. The features most prominent in these 
departments of the German system are found in the scientific and classi- 
cal courses of our collesfes and universities. The order of advancement 
for the German who is designed for a university training is through the 
common school, Latin school and gymnasium. 

The foundation of the popular schools of Germany is always accorded 
to Charlemagne. This great King was a stern but a good father to all 
classes, and a monk who wrote in his time says that upon a certain occa- 
sion he visited one of the schools he had founded and saw that the 
sons of the nobles were far behind the children of poor parents in schol- 
arship. Dividing the poor children from the rich,' he first addressed the 
former, thanking them for having obeyed his commands and promising 
them bishoprics and abbeys if they continued in their industrious ways. 
To the already abashed scions of nobility he turned with an angry coun- 
tenance : " Ye high-born sons of my most illustrious nobles ! " he roared, 
" Ye asses and coxcombs ! In the pride of your birth and your posses- 
sions, you despise my commands, and give yourselves up to idleness, riot 
and disorder; but " — and here he raised his hand with a threatening 
gesture — " by the King of Heaven! if you do not straightway make 
up by diligence for your former neglect, you have little good to expect 
at the hands of Karl." 

The first German university was founded at Prague, within the 
present limits of Austria, in 1348. To the Hapsburgs isdue the univer- 
sity of Vienna and the Palatine Elector Rupert made Heidelberg 
possible. 

But Charlemagne made the system possible which, in its rounded 
proportions, came from the patient hands of Frederick William HI., 
King of Prussia. 

The gymnasium student commences to ape the manners of the 
university student, beginning to smoke and drink, and being unhappy 
unless he can be the member of some mysterious society. He is no 
longer subject to corporeal punishment and looks exultantly forward to 



804 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the time when it is something of an honor to brave not only the univer- 
sity laws but those of the state. 

The gymnasiast who aspires to be a typical German student* has 
already a score of songs at his tongue's end, as no university gathering 
is complete without them. Students' songs are students' songs the world 
over, but one rests upon safe ground when he asserts that in no country 
in the world is so large a proportion of them patriotic and fit to be 
sung in private parlors as those poured out by hearty German students 
over their wine and beer; and, though no defense is attempted of drink- 
ing customs, it should always be remembered that German wine is very 
gentle, and (as a student writes) "that their beer is far more mighty of 
the hop than of the malt." 

There are meetings within doors and meetings without, and special 
" Commers," which are celebrated by an excursion on rafts, or on horse- 
back and in carriages, to some neighboring town. The revelers are at- 
tired in their most fantastic colored costumes, with their naked swords 
in hand, and their long pipes in mouth, and as they approach their des- 
tination are usually welcomed by the discharge of artillery, for the vil- 
lagers are aware that as long as the students are in their midst fun and 
money will freely circulate. The usually sleepy waiters of the village 
inn are bustling to and fro, preparing viands, the cooks are ruthlessly 
slaughtering bird, beast and fish, every house filies a flag or is hung with 
a festoon, while the pretty girls show their beaming faces and their bright- 
est ribbons as the noisy cavalcade rushes past. For twenty-four hours 
the whole village is turned upside down and inside out ; not a drop of 
blood runs stagnant in man, woman or child. 

People who have a tendency to pick flaws in anything which has a 
reputation for comparative perfection often sneer at the liberty which is 
allowed the student of the university, making, among other hypercritical 
statements, the one that the higher educational institutes of Germany 
are merely mediums by which the professors advertise their learning ; in 
a word that the universities are more for the professors than the students. 
The preliminary drill is as strict as if the student were a soldier ; all at 
once his bonds are loosened, a feast is spread before him, made up chiefly 
of substantial, and he can eat or not, as he chooses. Philosophical, 
scientific and historical pabulum, taken from world-wide sources, is offered,, 
and the student may take it or go off and drink beer or fight a duel. 

It is true enough that the Germans have come to the conclusion 
that after one has arrived at man's estate he ought to know what he 
needs in the way of education, and if he does not choose to avail himself 
of the best privileges which the nation can offer, it Is quite certain that 



EDUCATIONAL DRILL. 805 

he has not the necessary enthusiasm and strength of will to be a credit 
to himself or the university. The average age of German university 
students is also greater than in most other countries, so that anything 
but freedom would be doubly ridiculous — freedom, within limits. 

Each university has its governing bodies, such as Select and Great 
Senates, with the rector at the head. There are regular professors and 
those who are privileged to lecture upon special topics ; from the latter 
body are often recruited most valuable members of the salaried faculty. 
The oldest professor of each faculty is the dean. Universities have 
not only their governing boards but their courts of justice, their magis- 
trates and beadles, all, however, conforming and in direct connection 
with the laws and officers of the empire. The chief beadle lives near 
the college, and the prison is in the upper part of his house. If neces- 
sary he can arrest without a warrant, but must report at once to the 
magistrate of the university. Various offenses against academical and 
state laws are punishable by reproof, fine, incarceration, and expulsion 
for from one year to five years, with a publication of the nature of the 
disgrace in every university of Germany. The university court of jus- 
tice may in its discretion also have the offender confined in an ordinary 
state prison. The student is given great latitude as to attending lectures, 
but he is made to feel that he is still amenable to a double set of laws ; 
and the penalties are especially severe if he joins a revolutionary union, 
which is not of great rarity. The secret university societies have made 
the government much trouble, but upon several occasions have united 
in one grand spirit of patriotic action, which has made it possible for the 
true German to forget a hundred rough pranks in the splendid vigor 
and heart of the student. 

In fact, the association of the university " burschenschafts " had no 
small part in giving direction to the movement of national independence 
which resulted in the freedom of Germany from Napoleonic dominion. 
It was during the few years preceding the great battle of Leipsic that 
German students betook themselves so feverishly to gymnastics and 
sword exercises. Each student, in becoming a member of the great 
Burschenschaft, bound himself to become a soldier, and at once went 
into training. A broad patriotism for the German Fatherland and the 
German speech rested upon faithfulness to the Prince. But revolu- 
tionary tendencies in the shape of such constitutional declarations as 
"the law of the people shall be the will of the Prince" soon gave birth 
to bolder utterances and even to bloody deeds. In 1819 a university 
student murdered the Russian Counsellor of State, persuaded that the 
deed was justified by patriotism ; unsuccessful attempts of a like nature 



8o6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

were made ; mistaken ideas of liberty beclouded the moral natures of 
thousands of German youth ; a republicanism such as even America 
might be proud of also walked forth from the university associations ; 
but even the average of the utterances of German students turned so 
far away from the conservatism upon which the country's institutions 
were founded that the governments of both Prussia and Germany 
destroyed the Burschenschaft, and thereafter exercised an untiring; 
censorship over the university societies. 

Yet, even in the matter of attending lectures the student is bound 
by certain general rules. It is optional with him what course he will at- 
tend, but he must give notice to the professor who has it in charge, when 
he has determined. In the German states the student mustattend a cer- 
tain number of lectures in order to be entitled to the state examination ; 
and his so-called departure certificate which accords him that privilege^ 
not only vouches for his scholarship, but has something to say of his 
moral conduct and as to whether he has ever participated in any unlaw- 
ful combination of a political nature. The professor is not only bound 
to the state to deliver a certain number of lectures per week, but it is his 
duty to deliver special lectures within his department, whenever a suf- 
ficient number of students assure him of an adequate remuneration for 
his trouble. 

STUDENTS' NICKNAMES. 

The German universities are as particular as the American colleges 
to make a freshman feel his inferiority. He is called a fox and is made 
to perform many little services for the " old moss heads," as they call them- 
selves. The seniors are also known as "old houses." It was formerly 
the custom of the seniors to require the foxes to black their boots and 
to write out their college notes. 

"The student receives different names according to the duration of 
his abode at college. While he yet vegetated in the gymnasium he was 
a Frosch — a frog. In the vacation which lay between the time of his 
quitting the gymnasium and entering the university he chrysalized him- 
self into a mule, and on entering the university he becomes a Kameel — 
a camel. This happy transition-state of a few weeks gone by, he comes 
forth finally, on entering a Chore — a fox, and runs joyfully into the new 
student life. During the first half-year he is a gold fox, which means 
that he has rich gold in plenty yet ; or he is a fat fox, meaning that he 
yet puffs himself up with gold. In the second half-year he becomes a 
Brand-fuchs, or fox with a brand, after the foxes of Samson. The fox 
is then over, and they wash the eyes of the new-baked young student^ 



DUELS. 807 

since during the fox-year he was held to be blind, not being endued with 
reason. From young Bursche (student) he advances next to old 
Bursche, and then to Be-mossed Head, the highest state of honor to 
which man can attain." The student is dubbed a brand-fox because of 
a certain ceremony through which he is put by his superiors. 

DUELS. 

One of the most common forms of oppression by which the Old 
Houses assert their superiority over the foxes is to pretend to discover 
cause for a duel in something which is said or done ; and if the fresh 
young man should be worked into such a state of defiance as actually to 
accept the challenge, he may be coolly ignored as being unworthy of 
attention. If equals desire to bring a duel one has only to call the other 
"dummen Junger," or "stupid youth " and the business is done, unless 
a retraction follows. If the offense or injury calls for some graver form 
of insult, " Infamen," or "infamous fellow" is the applied epithet. 
The weapons usually chosen are long, flexible, two-edged swords with 
square ends and basket hilts. Pistols or heavy, crooked sabres are 
employed when one of the parties is not a student, or the cause of dis- 
pute is very serious. If the student fights with a military man he uses 
the straight sabre. 

Most of the duels between the students are hatched at their general 
meetings, which are held weekly. It is customary for them to divide 
into corps, or companies, according to nationalities or provinces, and 
few meetings will be concluded without a whole table being pitted against 
another, not only in the display of wit over their beer, but in the more 
exciting display of flashing blades. But duels are unlawful ; so these 
differences- are usually settled in a large rented room of some suburban 
inn. When the floor of the room is found marked with a certain chalk 
character, it is known by any subsequent comers that the quarters may 
be occupied by rival swordsmen for at least two duels. 

At the appointed time each participant is conducted into a cham- 
ber by his witness and second, and clothed in the dueling costume, which 
consists usually of a cap to protect the face, a glove and quilted cover- 
ing for the arm and high stuffed leather trousers. Before hostilities 
actually commence the duelist also puts on a neckcloth, which sometimes 
reaches to his nose, so that a small portion of his face and his breast is 
the only part of his body really exposed. 

Being equipped, the swordsmen are conducted into the hall, and 
while the seconds are marking out the lines within which they must 



8o8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. v 

fight and arranging the other preliminaries, the principals march up and 
down,, each supporting his mighty sword arm upon his witness. The 
duelists may decide to fight with small caps or with large caps, with 
cravats or without cravats, with bandages or Avithout them ; they may 
also have the contest terminate with a certain number of rounds, if the 
surgeon does not decide that a wound is too serious to warrant further 
action, or the trial may end with a wound which draws blood within a 
definite number of rounds. The students are closely attended by their 
witnesses and seconds, the "umpire standing some distance away between 
the combatants, scoring and the end of each round on a chair which 
stands before him. The seconds are armed with short, strong rapiers, 
with which they strike the swords apart when a stroke has been delivered, 
give advice and encouragement and see that the opponent presents his 
sword at such an angle that his champion will not fall upon its point 
when he lunges forward. They must, in fact, be remarkably skillful 
themselves, their object being to protect their combatant without inter- 
fering with the strokes of the adversary. The duties of the witnesses, 
who stand on the right side of the rivals, are confined to arranging dis- 
ordered costumes and supporting weary right arms when a halt has been 
called. 

Except the duels with the crooked sabre, in which the heavy, keen 
weapon, having reached its point, is drawn suddenly downward with great 
force, these contests seldom result seriously. But as we have noticed, 
there are strict academical laws against them, and as a neat reward is 
offered to those beadles who have prevented and detected the greatest 
number of them, the most secret chambers and grounds are often rudely 
invaded by these hounds of the law. Upon their approach the outpost 
whom the students have engaged gives notice of the threatened danger, 
and the dueling costumes are torn from the bodies of the students, 
there is a great scattering through doors and windows, into the woods, 
and each one finds his way back to the university as best he can. 

The beadles, however, often approach in disguise, as peasants and 
sportsmen, and not unfrequently a wholesale capture is made and the 
delinquents are marched off to the university prison in the attic of the 
chief beadle's house. In some universities the confinement is not so 
strict but that the prisoner may drink, smoke, and chat with his acquaint- 
ances whom the magistrate admits, and after a few days he may attend 
lectures, returning to his prison at night ; in others books and visits are 
denied, the student can not leave the prison and during the daytime his 
bed is even carried away so that he can not lie down and smoke his sen- 
tence away. 



DUELS. 



809 



Sword bouts and drinking bouts do not comprise the student's life 
neither is all said when he makes one of the great throng which pours 
forth to the dancing garden. He is invited to the homes of professors, 
becomes a welcome member of a city family, and joins reading- circles, 
musical and social clubs. He takes long walks and rides with his com- 
panions through the surrounding country and in winter enjoys one of 
the sledging processions, which issue fortli from most university towns to 





^^^/^^ 



the thundering cracks of heavy whips, lighted on their way by a mass 
of torches. And lastly, life at a German university is not child's play. 
While the student is at his work his brain buzzes with the strain ; from 
liis necessities spring many of his uproars and pranks, and although he 
is not called upon to be a boor or a rough there is a fascination in the 
irrepressible height which his spirits reach when he has once set out to 
scour the rust of study hours from his variegated nature. 



8io 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 







GREAT UNIVERSITY LIGHTS. 8ir 

GREAT UNIVERSITY LIGHTS. 

Although a native is received into the university through the gymna- 
sium, only foreigners are admtited without examination. When the stud- 
ent has received his certificate of maturity, he not only can enroll himself 
in any university, but can continue his course at any number where he 
thinks he can obtain the most benefit. He can board and lodge where 
he pleases, and is virtually his own master. The regular course of stud}^ 
is four years, some of the universities requiring five years to complete 
the medical course. Dismissal from one university does not bar one out 
from another, but expulsion is final. 

Most of the great literary lights of Germany have availed them- 
selves of the privilege, studying, gleaning and experimenting at several 
universities before returning to enter the world of letters. The 
mighty Goethe went to Leipsic and Strasburg to study law, but found 
that love, philosophy, architecture, anatomy and anything but legal 
studies took hold of him. He also fled to Wetzlar that he might, if he 
would, drain the law libraries there ; but instead he wrote the " Sorrows 
of Werther." There is nothing like the free range of university life in 
Germany to teach a young man wherein his strength lies ; for the best 
of everything is spread before him in one university or another. 

Bonn, Berlin and Gottlngen succeeded in imposing the degree of 
Doctor of Law upon Heine, Germany's greatest lyric poet, but he met 
Schlegel at the former university and discovered that he could not live 
outside the charmed circle of literature. Furthermore he became a 
violent democrat, and on account of some letters addressed to Count 
Von Moltke found it advisable to spend the balance of his life in Paris. 

Next to Goethe, Schiller is recognized as Germany's greatest poet. 
Under the patronage of a duke he tried to press his soul into legal and 
medical fetters, but could not. Although he passed the examination for 
a military surgeon by the time he was of age, the publication of "The 
Robbers" during the same year told where his enthusiasm had been. A 
few years thereafter he was drawn to Leipsic, in which famous university 
town he met contemporaries worthy of his friendship. Schiller was after- 
wards invited to Weimar by the Grand Duke, Karl-August, and formed,, 
for many years, one of a famous quartette, having as companions Goethe, 
Herder and Wieland. The ducal palace, the town church and public 
library still show frescoes illustrating their works, and striking busts 
which add a charm to the frescoes. Herder's tomb is in the town 
church and the bodies of Goethe and Schiller lie in the grand-ducal 
burial vault. 



8l2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

HEIDELBERG. 

The university of Heidelberg is the oldest of the German institutes 
after those of Prague and Vienna. It stands in the center of the town 
which wanders for nearly three miles along the banks of the rushing 
Neckar River, gleaming waters and the vine-clad hills on the further 
shore to attract the eyes on one side and the beautiful suburban gar- 
dens and lightning-rifted castle of the Electors Palatine on the other. 
The university is a plain structure, the library comprising over 200,000 
volumes, and the museums being contained in two separate buildings. 
The university has a world-wide reputation for the completeness of its 
departments, the castle, is almost as celebrated as the university, and the 
beer tun, in the cellar of the deserted castle, has become as notorious as 
either. 

The castle ruins almost throw their fantastic shadows down the 
face of the rocky hill upon the houses of the town. The castle proper 
has as companion pieces two towers which show that the engines of war 
are almost as mighty as those of nature, and behind it, upon the same 
broad terrace, are masses of older palaces and towers, the entire pile rep- 
resenting different styles of architectures prevalent during three or four 
centuries. Next to the Alhambra of Granada, the Castle of Heidel- 
berg has been pronounced the most magnificent ruin of the middle ages. 

In the valley below rushes the Neckar. The mountain of All Saints, 
with its ruined convent for a head dress, rises from the farther bank. 
Eastward the valley is shut in by hills ; westward the sweep over the 
plain of the Rhine is free. Beyond rise the blue Alsatian mountains. 

The dark paths of the castle gardens and their shadowy glens lead 
through valleys, fields and vineyards to the dense beech woods of the 
Odenwald and beyond the mountains themselves. These are fascinating 
and favorite walks for the students and villagers, and once upon the 
heights the picturesque and historical plain of the Rhine is before you. 
In the distance is Worms where the mythical Siegfried sought the hand 
of Kriemhild and where the unquestionable Luther fought a greater bat- 
tle than the " Nibelungen Lied" ever recorded. Toward the south is 
ancient Swabia, and now the German may look boldly over into France. 

LEIPSIC. 

Around Leipsic, the university city of Saxony, circled many of the 
whirlpools of the Reformation. Luther, the intellectual general of the 
movement, was a native of Saxony, and his first disciples were the students 
of the Wittenberg university, in which he taught as the professor of 



LEIPSIC. 815. 

scholastic philosophy. The text of the Latin theses which he nailed oa 
the door of the old Schlosskirche now appears on the bronze doors of the 
new church, while heroic statues of himself and the scholarly, more gentle 
Melanchthon stand near the town hall. In the church the two are 
buried together, the two intellectual leaders of the Reformation in Ger- 
many — and if any of the princes of the German states can claim the 
questionable honor of defending religious liberty with the sword they are 
surely those of Saxony. Maurice of Saxony established the principle of 
liberty of worship for all the states of Germany, and, while the first- 
bursts of public passion were raging, Luther owed his safety to Frederick 
the Wise. Under his protection he was lodged in a castle, and given that 
security and quiet which enabled him to translate the New Testament.. 
The university of Wittenberg, afterwards merged with that of Halle, 
welcomed him when he again entered actively into the fight and over 
her he always hovered as over a favorite child ; but the learned profes- 
sors of the Leipsic university took up his work, and brought as power- 
ful weapons to bear as any of the royal protectors of Lutheranism. 

The university of Leipsic was founded during the first part of the 
fifteenth century, and having retained its landed estates in the city, it is 
a very wealthy landlord, and is enabled to support hundreds of poor stu- 
dents who are found worthy of assistance. It is great in all its depart- 
ments, and its professors have been among the most eminent scholars of 
Germany. The university buildings form an imposing pile, the most prom- 
inent being the Augusteum, which contains a great hall, lecture room, mu- 
seum and libraries. The structure is 300 feet in length and three stories 
hig^h. 

Hahnemann studied in the university, and after he had practiced 
his profession for several years, he returned to Leipsic, with his confi- 
dence shaken in the old system. His family were suffering with disease, 
and he was obliged to prescribe for them according to methods in which 
he did not believe. Virtually abandoning his profession, although he 
was struggling with poverty, he devoted himself to translating foreign 
medical works. It was while thus enoraored that he obtained the clue to 
the law of Similia similibus, which is the foundation of the system of 
homoeopathy. Leipsic feels that he is one of her sons, and has a monu- 
ment erected to him. 

Of all the great men who have been citizens of Leipsic, John Bach,, 
the musician, is among the greatest. He died in Leipsic, and his mon- 
ument commemorates the blessed fact that he lived to inspire more peo- 
ple than the most eloquent of orators. The city which so long has 
been a treasury of genius a:nd learning is one of the leading book cen- 
ters of Germany, as well as the foremost of its commercial marts. 



;8l4 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The downfall of Napoleon dates from Leipsic, 1813, rather than 
from Waterloo, 1815. Here he was overpowered and smothered by the 
overwhelming forces of Prussia, Austria and Russia. Though the Old 
Guard fought with a dash which will always inspire enthusiasm as long as 
there is a history of war, and the entire army of France were heroes 
worthy of being defenders of their own soil, the- invaders were expelled 
and Germany became free. 

AGRICULTURISTS. 

Perhaps, next to her soldiers and her scholars, Germany is most noted 
for her peasantry. The government earnestly supports agricultural 
colleges and the people have made of farming a scientific study. It is 
singular how, even among the most ignorant of the peasantry, the latest 
methods of irrigation and rotation of crops have been disseminated. 
The holdings are generally so small, however, that the most improved of 
farming implements do not cut a figure. But when each agricultural 
village sends its representatives to Leipsic, or some other city where the 
annual congress is held, it receives, with the return of its honored 
citizens, the result of the combined experience of thousands of farmers 
and scientists. The consequence is that not a square foot of land which 
can be cultivated goes to waste ; as the majority of the young men serve 
in the army the women form the bulk of the peasantry, which fact, also, 
accounts for the care which is taken that the profits of husbandry do not 
leak away in driblets of waste. 

Every province, furthermore, has it general society, consisting of 
members from all the rural districts: They are publicly questioned by 
a general committee as to lay of land, methods of irrigation, ways of 
;managing cattle, results obtained from various methods of grafting, etc., 
etc. Statements are compared, discussions are in order, changes and 
improvements are suggested, and the farmers go home to discuss the 
discussions among themselves and in their local gatherings and instruct 
their wives and daughters — or, likely enough, give orders to them. 

Although, as he runs, the German agriculturist is a remarkably 
intelligent, industrious citizen his home Is not what it should be. On 
account of the value of land he can not afford a garden, his yard being 
monopolized by the cows, and, within, his house is dark and contracted, 
it being one of many which are crowded into the narrow lane of a dirty, 
old town. But his floors are white and sanded and he can offer you 
coffee, black bread and rolls in the early morning, a cold-meat luncheon 
in the forenoon, and a dinner of meat, vegetables and dessert. In season, 
lie furnishes his table with apples, plums, grapes and pears ; for there 




o 
in 

03 

O 



AGRICULTURISTS. 8lS 

are few farmers, however small, who have not their orchards, and nearly 
every village has an experimental nursery of fruit trees. 

If the cattle and pigs, geese, hens and chickens were not so near, 
and the dining room table were not put to so many uses, and the drink- 
ing vessels corresponded to the mouths, the fare of the average German 
farmer would be appetizing enough ; but though there is plenty there is 
not freedom. The cattle, sheep and pigs are obliged to be penned, as a 
rule ; there is no room for them to roam. In summer the children and 
women go daily to the pasture and cut green fodder — grass and 
clover. Most of the land is devoted to pasturage. It is carefully sown 
to clover and the best of grasses, and tended with the same regard to 
individual blades and leaves as the florist gives to his most \'alued hot- 
house products. 

Occasionally it happens that the pasture land is irregular and does 
not incline at a convenient 'angle for irrigation. Then the men and 
women remove the entire turf and layer of good earth. Next they take 
away enough unproductive subsoil to obtain the proper pitch, so that 
the water may run over the field. The meadow is graded, the fertile soil 
thrown over it, the turf relaid and the trenches formed through which 
the water is to be distributed. Sometimes a well is dug on the upper 
side of the inclined plane from which the water is run into the supply- 
ing canal which crosses the field, whether of grass, grain or vegetables. 
At the bottom of the field is the receiving canal. Between the two, 
crossino- at rio-ht angles, are the narrow furrows for distribution. There 
is a science of grading the land so that the water will reach every part 
without disturbing the soil ; there is a science in knowing when to 
flood a field, so that the crops will not be chilled ; there is a science in 
the entire industry. Snow water should not be used, as it has a tend- 
ency to dissolve the earth and carry away its richest particles. "After 
the crops are gathered and the land clear, the water overflows two or 
three times a week during the autumn, till frost comes. In spring it is 
done in the night, two or three times a week, when it is dry and warm 
enough not to freeze, as this would injure the grass ; again, in June, just 
before haying time, as thus the stems are rendered softer and the mow- 
ing easier. Then for the fourth and last time, fifteen days after the 
mowing is finished, and when the stubble is dry and decayed, so that it 
will not take in nourishment which is destined for the new shoots, the 
whole is overflowed quite often till fifteen days before the grain harvest 
commences." 

A meadow thus coaxed and cultivated will yield enormous crops of 
feed, many fold greater than if left to the tender mercies of the cattle 



8i6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



and sheep. The number of animals which it will support is increased 
enormously, and with this increase another advantage is derived.. Not 
only are the animals housed and all manures carefully preserved to fer- 
tilize grain-field, orchards and gardens, but the rich fluids from the 
heaps, which most husbandmen allow to run to waste, are collected into 
trenches, drawn by suction pipes into carts and employed as an inval- 
uable fertilizer. 

There are few exceptions among the German agriculturists to this 
ceaseless round of bringing feed to the animals, and fertilizers to the 
fields ; in short, they allow nothing to take care of itself. But in some 
of the villages the cattle of the poor are allowed to crop the grass by 



-Siiite^ 




A VILLAGE GROUP. 



the w^ayside for a few hours daily, the balance of their sustenance being 
obtained through the efforts of the children and the women, who scour 
hill and vale with knives and sickles, cutting blades and tufts of grass 
which have been overlooked by the harvesters and putting them into 
baskets or cloths. In the forests they may be seen gathering the cones, 
which fall from the fir trees, to use for fuel. 



THE FORESTS OF GERMANY. 

The peasants and villagers are very particular what they do in the 
forests, for if not actually government property they are under its super- 



THE FORESTS OF GERMANY. 817 

vision and control. The preservation and cultivation of timber lands 
have been as carefully studied as the science of agriculture, and there 
are few timber tracts of any extent in the empire through which one can 
pass without discovering miniature forests and groves, neatly fenced, 
which are destined to take the place of the giants which are constantly 
being felled. The most extensive forests are found in Central and 
Southern Germany, and, at different times and by different writers, they 
have all been merged into the depths of the Hercynian Forest, the bug- 
bear even of old Rome. 

The blackest member of this dense Hercynian Forest is the Black 
Forest, which for ninety miles throws a mighty covering of pine, beech 
and fiir trees nearly to the summit of a mountain chain. The forest 
stretches from near Heidelberg, in Northern Baden, along the valley of 
the Rhine almost to the Swiss boundary. Within it rises the great Danube, 
and the black woods of fir, whose branches are so intertwined that the 
very twitter of the birds has a muffled sound, have given birth to more 
giants, hobgoblins and robbers to frown upon the dreams of childhood 
than all other localities upon the surface of the earth. But the Black 
Forest is not all shadow, from which horrors issue. For eight months 
in the year the summits of the mountains above it wear their caps of 
snow, and from its feet creep pretty valleys clad with grass and vines, 
for as many months. The Rhine side of the forest pitches the rivers, 
down the steep rocks with tumult and roar of waters ; its eastern slopes 
shed them off so gently that they flow through the cool shades of the 
fragrant woods with just murmur enough to prove them alive. 

The Black Forest spreads out from the mountains for several miles 
on either side, and openings in it are planted to small fields of rye, oats 
or potatoes, with here and there a saw-mill humming and screaming on 
the bank of a picturesque stream ; or a farm house, with its wide project- 
ing roof and balcony beneath, appears ; or a whole village containing 
factory buildings where the rye straw is being turned into hats and some 
of the forest timber into clocks. Most of the strength of the Black 
Forest, however, goes into the masts and timbers of ships. 

But the important manufacturing processes go on in the little forest 
houses. Whatever the denizens of the Black Forest mieht have once 
been, they are now as harmless as the canary birds which they raise in 
the aviaries beneath their porcelain stoves. This is a great business with 
the foresters and can almost be included among the manufactures. But 
while the birds are trilling in their tropic heat, or hopping merrily about, 
the women are braiding straw or making and polishing different parts of 

clocks and watches. When the straw has been braided it will be taken 

52 



8l8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

to the factory, thrown into a vat, boiled in the dye and dried and ironed 
by men. In such a factory also can be seen flowers, wreaths and 
bouquets, fashioned and colored most beautifully by these forest peasant 
women. In the clock and watch factory it is noticed that the women and 
men there employed are merely putting the pieces together which are 
made in the cottages. Neither are the clocks all common in appearance, 
many of them being placed upon fine bronze and marble stands. When 
it is stated that about 180,000 of these wooden clocks are exported yearly 
from the Black Forest to all parts of Europe and America, no one will 
say that we have wasted words upon a very insignificant topic. 

Furthermore, the busy women and children of the Black Forest 
send out many of those wooden sets of villages, with those pyramidical 
fir trees, which have pleased the children of all lands. The spinning 
wheel, with wool or flax upon the distaff, is busy, when the women can 
snatch time from their farm and household labors ; the men give 
much of their attention to the raising of cattle, the country being better 
fitted for that branch of husbandry than for agriculture. And yet, not- 
withstanding there are few people who are more industrious and cheer- 
ful than these dwellers in the Black Forest, their houses are meanly fur- 
nished and their bill-of-fare rests upon pork, black bread, coffee and 
potatoes. 

The lace makers of Saxony, and many of the industrial classes all 
over Germany, are home manufacturers. Cotton and woolen fabrics, 
glass and iron manufactures and other branches which flourish in the 
large cities, have been drawn into the whirl of machinery. The toys of 
the Black Forest and the Hartz Mountains have their uses, and so do 
the gigantic guns of Herr Krupp. 

Their manufacture has founded a city. In the works and in the 
mines over 20,000 men are employed. A railway system, a telegraph 
system, printing and lithographic establishments, a fire brigade, hospi- 
tals, mansions and good dwelling houses are parts of Herr Krupp's 
wonderful machine. He speaks of his furnaces in four figures and the 
engines which supply the blasts which run his four-score giant hammers, 
and are behind the roaring, belching, hissing and deafening monster 
which we call works, are pushing the whole grand machine forward with 
the power of ten thousand horses. His foundries are at Essen. 

THE HIGH AND LOW GERMANS. 

It was in the vicinity of Essen and Miinster and westward along the 
Rhine that the old Saxon sprung up as a written dialect, which was 
spoken in the lowlands of Central Germany from the Rhine to the Elbe. 



THE GERMAN AND THE RHINE. 



819 



The Saxons were, and still are, the most prominent representatives of 
the Low Germans, or those inhabiting the lowlands of Germany. North 
of them were the Frisians, who were also Low Germans, and who 
formed so important an element in the composition of the Dutch. 

The most ancient confederation of Germanic tribes was called the 
Suevi. They were mentioned by Caesar as living between the Elbe, the 
Vistula and the Baltic, in what would now be Northern Prussia. Sub- 
sequently they appear in Southern Germany as the Swabians. The 
Bavari were also settled east of them on the Lower Rhine. The Swab- 
ians, Bavarians, Alsatians and Swiss belong to the High German division. 
There is still a modern Low German, but from Luther's time the High 
German of the south, and the middle High German, which closely 




WATCHING THE RHINE. 

resembled the Saxon, have been formed into the language which is now 
recognized as classical. His translation of the Bible had its effect in 
making of the various German tribes a united people, and since his day 
the distinction between High and Low Germans has not been so 
marked. 

Perhaps in Luther and the Rhine may be found the two influences 
which made United Germany possible. 

THE GERMAN AND THE RHINE. 

The Rhine is the national cord which binds Germany more firmly 
together than even her constitution. There are High and Low Germans, 
Bavarians and Hanovarians, but they are all agreed that the Rhine is 
the dearest river in the world, and if only one thing could be left to the 
Fatherland every strong native voice would shout, " The Rhine ! The 
Rhine ! Take all but the Rhine ! " The river is like the most pleasing 
type of the national character — broad, deep, rugged, tender, impetuous 



820 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

yet controllable. Primarily it draws its life from the glaciers and cold 
streams of the Alps. As it rushes along toward the Fatherland it 
receives hundreds of tributaries, until, no longer able to contain its vast 
supplies, it spreads out into the fickle Lake of Constance. Somewhat 
subdued in its impetuosity, it flows steadily toward France, but as if 
suddenly determining upon another course, turns abruptly to the north 
and becomes the loved one of Germany. If there is any one part more 
than another to which the national heart clings and over which it swells, 
where "The Watch on the Rhine" will burst forth from German lips 
and echo along steep rugged banks, among ruined fortresses and heavily 
laden vineyards, it is that portion of the splendid river which lies between 
Mainz and Bonn. 

But others than the Germans have become drunk with the glories 
of the Rhine. One' of the greatest of our American poets and most 
mellow of scholars exclaims : " O, the pride of the German heart is 
this noble river ! And right it is ; for of all the rivers of this beautiful 
earth, there is none so beautiful as this. There is hardly a league of its 
whole course, from its cradle in the snowy Alps to its grave in the sands 
of Holland, which boasts not its peculiar charms. By heavens ! If I 
were a German I would be proud of it, too ; and of the clustering grapes 
that hang about its temples, as it reels onward through vineyards, in a 
triumphal march, like Bacchus crowned and drunken. Bnt I will not 
attempt to describe the Rhine ; it would make this chapter much too 
long. And to do it well, one should write like a god, and his style flow 
onward royally with breaks and dashes, like the waters of that royal 
river, and antique, quaint and gothic times be reflected in it." 

FOLK LORE. 

To every old castle which hangs fondly over the banks of the 
Rhine, as if loth to give up the ghost, some weird tale of genius or giant, 
or of bold knight and fair lady, is attached. There is scarcely a foot of 
ground which does not add its mite to the folk lore of Germany ; and 
since many good people have become religious, the old ideas of sprightly 
dwarfs and helpful fairies have been strangely entangled with the God 
and Christ and angels of their faith. The Lord himself is supposed to 
come to earth and in various forms, during the silent watches of the night,, 
mysteriously repair the leaking roof of the godly widow, caulk and paint 
the old boat of the good fisherman and put together the barrels of the 
pious cooper. The ghosts still haunt the castles, the fairies hide in the 
forests and the gnomes delve in the mountains, but the number of charac- 
ters is increased. Each city also has its wonderful story to tell. For 



FOLK LORE. 



821 



instance there is Mainz, that massive, warlike city, which has presented a 
grim, stern front ever since Drusus built his castle before Christ lived. 
There is still to be seen a mass of stones, supposed to be his monument, 
and the remains of a vast Roman aqueduct. The town, with its ponder- 
ous fortifications, might remind one of how much that is Roman lies at the 
base of the German character. Gutenberg was born here also. But the 
quaint old German frau will tell you that Mainz is noted because when 
the Emperor Constantine was marching from it the Holy Cross appeared 
to him; that the city is famous, not that Charlemagne should have been 
born in it and should have built his palace of " Ingelheim" just within its 
walls, but that an angel should have visited him. and given him warning 
of an attempt upon his life. The tale is spiced with magic herbs which 
enabled the king to understand the language of birds, with contests with 
mysterious knights in dark forests and all the etceteras. Charlemagne 




SCENE ON THE RHINE. 



made the hills and valleys, opposite to the palace which he called Angel's 
Home, to glisten with vineyards, and filled immense cellars with their 
rich products ; and another story runs that from his mighty tomb in 
Aix-la-Chapelle the great king steps forth annually, when the harvest is 
at hand, and blesses the villages, the cottages and the vineyards which 
he loved so well and which sleep so peacefully on the banks of the 
Rhine. 

The tomb from which Charlemasfne's griaantic orhost is said to stalk 
is in a beautiful cathedral in Aix-la-Chapelle, which is in Rhenish Prussia 
near the Belgium boundary, and at the time of the great monarch's 
death was a convenient point from which to survey his mighty dominions. 
Charlemagne's chair, his portrait, and the pictures of other German em- 
perors who were crowned here previous to the middle of the sixteenth cent- 
ury, are also on exhibition in the cathedral or the town hall. Once in 
seven years it is customary to expose to public view a collection of 



822 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

relics which Charlemagne received from the patriarch of Jerusalem 
and a Mohammedan caliph. They are usually preserved in a tower at 
the west end of the church. 

THE HARTZ MOUNTAINS. 

Leaving the Rhine to creep between the high embankments of the 
Netherlands, or to break through them with its cruel vigor of the spring- 
time, we pass to another region which is redolent with gnomes and 
fairies. The Hartz mountains are not even recorded on many maps, but 
who does not know of the Brocken, upon which the witches, under the 
masterly leadership of Goethe, celebrated their annual meeting during 
Walpurgis Night. From their sides of granite, limestone and sand- 
stone are shed the waters of the Weser and the Elbe, and the Brocken,^ 
as the pivot of the range, has been washed into those swelling lines 
which give it the appearance of a stupendous ant-hill built up in the 
clouds, or a distant world which might, any moment, set out to roll in 
space. • 

THE BROCKEN AND GOETHE. 

When Mephistopheles suggests the desirability of a broomstick to 

ascend the mountain, where a visit was to be paid to the witches, Faust 

replies : 

While fresh upon my legs, so long I naught require 

Except this knotty staff. Besides, 

What boots it to abridge a pleasant way? 

Along the labyrinth of these vales to creep, 

Then scale these rocks, whence, in eternal spray, 

Adown the cliffs the silvery fountains leap: 

Such is the joy that seasons paths like these ! ' 

Spring weaves already in the birchen trees; 

E'en the late pine-grove feels her quickening powers; 

Should she not work within these limbs of ours? 

In other words, Faust not only desired to drink in the beauties of 
the Brocken, but he could see no reason why they should not use their 
own good German legs. Readers of the immortal tragedy know what 
they found, and there are few of a fanciful, wonder-loving disposition who 
have not met the gnomes of the Brothers Grimm, which little misshap- 
pen workmen originated to so great an extent in the folk lore of the 
natives of the Hartz. Even these delving philologists, one of them, at 
least, among the greatest of his age, could not exclude from their literary 
life the quaint conceits and honest beliefs of the common people. 

The Brocken is ascended from the pretty mountain village of Ilsen- 



THE BROCKEN AND GOETHE. 



823 



berg, with the black pipes of the foundries pouring forth smoke and 
flames in defiance of the trees which cluster around. The climb is usu- 
ally made without even the staff with which Goethe was assisted and 
brings one through glades and pastures, forests of pine, over carpets of 
moss and fir cones and wild gardens of roses, forget-me-nots and purple 
heath, with moss and creepers covering the rocks which overhang the 
pathway. Black charcoal burners, both men and women, are seen 
working near masses of felled trees, and further along, it may be, there 




will be found a miniature forest of fir trees, a few inches in height, which 
in years to come will furnish their grandchildren with work. The tiny 
trees are surrounded with little fences, and as they grow will be placed 
further apart. 

Much of the course of the Brocken is determined by the windings 
of the Use, but as we approach the Blocksberg, a spot haunted by witches 
and spectres from time immemorial, the path leaves the stream and the 



824 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

scenery becomes wilder and grander. Great blocks of granite and mossy 
boulders shut out the keen air, which comes to us with a touch of relief 
when we reach a more exposed point. Of course Hans Christian Ander- 
sen has had his story about the Brocken, especially about the Blocks- 
berg, which enormous rock looks with such a secure air over the sur- 
rounding country. He says that the beautiful maiden Use fled to it with 
her bridegroom when the Deluge carried the waters of the northern seas 
to the very base of the Brocken. At the summit of this famous rock is 
an inn, and in the hostelry is a visitor's book which contains verses and 
sketches by not a few noted men and by thousands of would-be wits. 
The genial Danish poet and story-teller left his mark in it himself and 
did not disdain to carve his name on the pine trees of the mountain. 
He also drank in, with quiet enjoyment, as thousands have done before 
and since, stories about those immense granite blocks, the Witches' Altar 
and the Devil's Pulpit. In a few simple words Andersen describes the 
summit of the Brocken : " It gives me an idea of a northern tumulus 
on a grand scale. Here stone lies piled on stone and a strange silence 
rests over the whole. Not a bird twitters in the low pines ; roundabout 
are white grave flowers growing in the high moss, and stones lie in 
masses on the sides of the mountain top. We were now on the top, but 
everything was in a mist ; it began to blow, and the wind drove the 
clouds onward over the mountain top as if they were fiocks of sheep." 

In a clear day, when the clouds have condescended to float among 
the lower forests of pine like a lot of white clothes thrown down there 
to dry, the towns of Brunswick and Hanover appear as dots on the dis- 
tant plains ; but pine hills and mountains hide most of the watering 
places and mining villages of the Hartz, and a descent must therefore 
be made to see what they are like. 

THE HARTZ TOWNS. 

The Hartz, in fact, is being recognized as a delightful collection 
of charming associations and invigorating scenes. There are Goslar, 
and Clausthal, and Harzburg, making with the Brocken almost a paral- 
lelogram, but all different. In Goslar once lived German emperors and 
sat the German Diet. It was a commercial city with its guilds, and 
massive warehouses and breweries, and later a famous mining center. 
One of the imperial palaces, erected by Henry III., in the eleventh cent- 
ury, is partly in ruins and partly used as a granary and store-house. 
The streets are roughly paved, but the old houses bear upon their front- 
ages and gables, their doors and heavy timbers, carvings of vines and 



THE HARTZ TOWNS. 



825 



flowers, mermaids and dragons, which stand out clear and quaint while 
stone and brick are crumbhng. Neither must the building be large in 
order to be artistically embellished. The gables of a small dwelling house 
are as likely to be scrolled and fringed with elaborate designs as the front 
of an imposing old town hall, or an ancient royal palace transformed 
into a hotel. 

In the suburbs of the town are public gardens where patients take 
exercise, breathe 
good air, and, last of 
all, drink some kind 
of wonderful water. 
Near it is one of those 
old mines whose 
chambers reach 
grandly out and 
down, and which, 
when they were 
worked at their best, 
made Goslar great 
and famous. Within 
a few miles are ex- 
tensive fields of slate. 
Burly German offi- 
cers, dreamy meta- 
physicians and poets, 
ponderous mer- 
chants, lank students 
with knapsack and 
song, and ailing no- 
blemen and ladies, 
brush against grimy 
miners, iron-workers, 
and charcoal men and 



women coming from 



the mountains, or 
young girls in 




OLD GERMAN GATEWAY. 

clumsy wooden shoes, laden with huge paniers of fire wood. Here, as 
at Harzburg and other villages in the vicinity, the artist has lingered long 
enough to notice the similarity in the outline of peasants, houses, 
children, pigs and dogs to those old-fashioned toys which have failed to 
charm few of us — those villages in wood and paint which come so nicely 



826 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

packed and stand so squarely on theground when we put them together. 
Even the fir trees of the Brocken are larger types of the green wooden 
trees of our childhood. They were, in fact, carved by the German 
children of the Harz mountains for other children, the world over, and 
they find their models at home, as evidently do other artists for more 
skillful work. We should call the manufacturers of these toy villages, 
the artists who turned the country into stiff wood and bright paint, 
among the most wonderful of the fairies — they have brought such floods 
of joy to the little ones from such dry miaterial. The little forest which 
we saw fenced around as we ascended the Brocken is not much larger than 
our toy trees, but it is royal property, like the mines, and will not change 
its general form ; and when our children who are now playing with the 
toys in other lands travel as men and women to the valleys and villages 
and mountains of the Hartz they will understand the felicitous expression 
which has been applied to this region, "the toy country of Northern 
Germany." 

Though the mountains of the Hartz have fertile valleys, with 
clinging herds of fat cattle, their fairies, spirits, gnomes and mines are 
what have made them famous. Rich deposits of iron, copper, silver, 
zinc and lead have been worked for over nine hundred years, but most 
of the mines date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The 
veins of ore spread over a great area and penetrate to an unknown 
depth, for one of the mines, at least, has been worked into the earth 
for half a mile and is still productive. To reach the silver ore, on 
account of the extreme hardness of the stone, fires are built against the 
face of the vein, so as to act upon the arsenic and sulphur, and decom- 
pose the rock. 

The mines of the Hartz region, which are provincial property, 
employ between 30,000 and 35,000 persons. The mining towns are given 
over entirely to this industry, and no business is conducted in them but 
that connected with mining and metallurgy. One of them, where the 
council meets which has general charge of the mines, has a mint and a 
school of mines. 

The representative mining town of the Hartz is Clausthal, contain- 
ino- the Government School of Mines and the Museum. A visit to the 
latter, with its collections of minerals, models of machinery, and its tiny 
shafts and galleries, illustrates the geological formation of the land and 
every process required to get the ore from the ground and smelt it. 
Everything is run by water power and every rill of the region is put to 
use. 

To master the entire system the students who attend the school are 



THE HARTZ TOWNS. 827 

obliged to work with the miners, learning the use of their tools by actual 
practice. The descent is down steep ladders for several hundred feet, 
side galleries leading out at intervals, from the small shaft. Lanterns 
flash, sparks of light fall from specks of silver ore and the sound of ham- 
mer and pick is mingled with " Gliick auf," or " Good luck to you." The 
wish may come from a woman ; for there are women miners in this region, 
as well as charcoal women and woods-women. In one of the rest- 
ing places, or caverns, of the galleries there is (or was not long ago) 
a chamber about ten feet long, hewn out of the rock, carefully 
proportioned and in the center of which is a chair or throne made 
out of rough silver ore, in memory of an English duke who once 
visited there. 

But such a tour as this, underground, gives one very little general 
idea of the workings of the mine. One flash of the lantern reveals in an 
opening several half-naked men, some of them in pools of water, work- 
ing in the most cramped of positions ; another lights up the gloom of 
a second shaft as far as the rays will penetrate and there seems to be an 
infinity of space beyond. Echoes and shadows are dancing around in 
the most weird confusion. There is a mental conflict between the desire 
to appear unconcerned, the wish to be wholly interested and the instinct 
to feel oppressed as one creeps along through slippery passage ways; 
and peace does not succeed this war of emotions when, in order to 
breathe the upper air, he is obliged to take his stand upon a small piece 
of wood attached to an enormous beam, and grasping an iron ring above 
him, be drawn into a narrow slit of earth, which he is assured leads to 
the regions- above. 

Descending from the Brocken, and going toward the east, a mac- 
adamized road, with the not unusual accompaniments of fine carriages, 
houses and grounds, points the way to Wernigerode, the resort of many 
a wealthy merchant and nobleman and the summer residence of not a 
few who go there to enjoy the mountains and the old town which is fast 
disappearing in the new. Beyond this aristocratic place are the smoky 
valleys of a mining territory and the great caves of Riibeland. One of 
these magnificent chambers is entered through an opening in the rock, 
high above the roofs of the town, and descending by staircases and 
ladders an excursion of miles may be taken underground, the chief 
attraction being the stalactite formations whose curious shapes can be 
tortured into the resemblance of everything under the sun. From the 
caves of Riibeland to a promontory of the mountains is not far, but 
from this point the telescope brings Berlin itself into the range of vision 
and indeed much of Northern Germany. 



828 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

MANUFACTURE OF GERMAN BEER. 

Beer is a fermented but not a distilled liquid. It is among the most 
ancient of drinks, and has been made from beans, peas, rice, wheat and 
barley. The Egyptians were manufacturing a wine from barley in the 
fifth century b. c, and that seems to have been the grain generally em- 
ployed by the Celts, Germans and Britons in the manufacture of their 
beer, which is virtually the same thing. In ale the yeast of the liquid is 
sent to the surface; in beer it falls to the bottom. Ale is the Enorlish 
drink ; beer is the German drink — all of which, and much more, the 
reader probably knows. But so much of a general nature is due an 
article which is of such wide-spread consumption and whose froth, in Ger- 
many, is almost as common as air. 

Like everything else which she undertakes to do, Germany has 
made a thorough study of beer-making. Whatever may be said of its 
consumption the skill shown in its manufacture is something to be ad- 
mired. Bavaria leads in the industry. It is a state which is founded 
upon beer, for two-thirds of its revenue is derived from that source. 
The true lager beer originated in that kingdom, and, in some respects, 
is still a monopoly. Lager beer is literally "store beer," and in Bavaria 
it acquires the right to that title by being allowed to slowly ferment in 
cool cellars. The liquor which is generally sold in this country is 
"draught beer," and contains less alcohol than the Bavarian varieties, 
and most of those made in Germany. 

Much of the popularity of the German beer is due to the fact of 
the excellence of the water employed. It must contain much salt and 
lime, so as to counteract the tendency toward decomposition of any 
animal or vegetable matter which it may hold. So that two things 
must be aimed at : the presence of these purifying and preserving 
agencies and the absence of anything liable to putrefy. The waters 
employed in the most extensive breweries contain at least sixty grains 
of earthy salts dissolved in each gallon. 

BAVARIA AND WURTEMBERG. 

As Bavaria perhaps leads the world in the manufacture and con- 
sumption of beer (per capita), so does she stand in the front rank of 
states in the province of education. The university of Munich stands 
third in importance, the polytechnic school leads them all in point of 
size and the Bavarian newspapers are able and independent. She has 
one of the most extensive picture galleries in Europe. 

In a certain sense, Bavaria stands alone among the German states. 



COLOGNE. 829 

Catholicism has always been the dominant relig'ion, and until 181 2 
Bavaria was frequently an ally of France against both Prussia and Aus- 
tria, She stood between Austria and Prussia as Belgium stood between 
Germany and France. But when French rule became distasteful, she 
joined the Germanic leagues, and during the Franco-Prussian war, to 
the surprise of the Emperor of France, she supported the King of Prus- 
sia and entered actively into the campaign. Even now, Bavaria is a 
kingdom within an empire. 

West of Bavaria is Wiirtemberg, one of the leading states of 
Southern Germany and its capital, Stuttgart, has a considerable book 
trade, numerous paper mills, type foundries, etc. Its old palaces, its 
town hall built in the fifteenth century, its schools and museums, its 
manufactories of wool, cotton and scientific instruments mark it as 
another of those old German cities, flourishing materially and intellect- 
ually. A large public garden, one of the finest in the empire, and the 
King's summer palace and gardens make it a royal place for pleasure 
seekers. 

COLOGNE. 

While pursuing this subject of manufactures in rather a desultory 
fashion, mixing toy-making and mining with fairies and romance, and 
beer with education, we must rest a moment at Cologne, which is sepa- 
rated from Bavaria by only a few little provinces. Now we imagine 
that an uneasiness is working in the reader's mind, born of the fear that 
the thread-bare tale will be expanded to cover the intricacies of the 
manufacture of cologne and the glories of the gigantic Gothic cathedral. 
But it should be of more interest to learn that Cologne was once a Ro- 
man camp and afterwards a town where was born Agrippina, the daugh- 
ter of Germanicus and the mother of Nero. Upon the present site of 
Cologne she induced her husband, Claudius, to found a colony, during 
the first century of the Christian era. " The town then received the 
name of Colonia Agrippina, which it still retains in part. The founda- 
tions of the Roman walls remain and may be traced through the heart 
of the city. Some suppose that traces of the Roman descent of its in- 
habitants may be found in their features and complexion. Down to the 
time of the French revolution the leading citizens were styled patricians 
and the tAvo burgomasters wore the consular toga and were attended by 
lictors." When the city fell into the hands of the French, during the 
revolution, it was found that one-fourth of its people were beggars, 
although Cologne had once been an important commercial link between 
the north and the south of Europe and the far East. This evil was par- 



830 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

tially corrected before the city was restored to Prussia, and since it has 
been voted a member of the railroad world some of its former prosperity 
has returned ; but the great number of churches which survive the French 
occupancy and the Roman Catholic faith which is breathed from the very 
air, carnival celebrations and all, still uphold its claim to the title of the 
Northern Rome. 

FAMILY LIFE. 

The German who has served his time in the army brings a military 
spirit to bear upon his private affairs. It is with him either order or 
obey. Army life also throws the uncultured man in contact with edu- 
cated superiors, who make their calling a stepping stone to political and 
civil honors. But whether in army, private or civil life the same dis- 
cipline is maintained, plentifully enlivened with seasons of recreation. 

Heretofore the German has been viewed as a man of the world — 
as the soldier, student, farmer, manufacturer, traveler and the miner. 
His life at home is the simplicity of his character spread out in detail. 
His greatest horror is that he shall do something which is artificial and 
the result is that he is often artificially brusque and rude. He is prone 
to eat with a knife when a fork is at hand and would serve his purpose 
better. He talks loudly and uses violent expressions, not always 
because that is his individual tendency but because he is a German, with 
the national character to uphold. For the same reason he lets his wife 
drudge at home when he could afford to make life easy for her ; it would 
not become the German to make any lot an easy one. His is a world of 
discipline and why should not hers be ? 

Though her social station may be high the woman, in order to be a 
model German wife, must be an expert at wrangling with the butcher 
and the grocer, a frequenter of the kitchen, and a wielder of flat irons. 
The result is that she, too, is often disagreeably plain and simple. Her 
duties call for loose wrappers, not over-clean, and except she dresses for 
a promenade or a ball she thinks it affectation to strive to please by dress- 
ing in a becoming manner at home. As she grows older she becomes 
even more defiant. It would be unbecoming the simple German wife of 
a German husband to hide the bald patches of her scalp or her red, 
gaunt throat. The German woman fades at a comparatively early age ; 
she has enjoyed none of those bold exercises of sword, parallel bar, 
walking, army drill and open air life which have given her husband so 
splendid a physique. In this regard she is far behind the English and 
American woman. 

Even to the table, where most nationalities have agreed to appear 



FAMILY LIFE. 83 1 

better than they are away from it, the husband, wife and children bring 
all their boisterous ways and loud talk. In whatever costume the lady 
of the house appears, the man, especially if it be an after-breakfast meal, 
will have dressed himself in uniform. But it is not at all certain that 
the family will eat together ; that will depend greatly upon the occupa- 
tion of the man and the school hours of the children. The dinner some- 
times lasts three or four hours. Notwithstanding the family provisions 
are kept strictly under lock and key by the mistress who acts under the 
exacting eye of her general-in-chief, there is always a bountiful supply of 
hearty food. Bread, butter, eggs, milk, coffee, vegetables, soups, meats, 
dumplings, beer and wine, all march to their graves to the tune of 
loud voices and laughter. The servants are noisy and are apt to be 
too familiar, or abject under the treatment of the master of the house ; 
but in their dress, their language and their ways they conform to the 
national standard of studied simplicity or inherited brusqueness. To do 
anything un-Germanlike would be to have the whole town laughing at 
you, as a native nurse once told a foreigner who desired to have her 
child treated according to her own notions. 

Coffee is served at four o'clock and supper between seven and nine. 
The latter is the pleasantest meal of the day, being usually a re-union. 
It is a lunch of bread and butter, meats, cheese, sardines, hard-boiled 
eggs, with tea, beer or wine — sometimes with all of them. "All the 
housewives as autumn wanes, lay in a goodly store of vegetables to last 
through the winter months, when nothing of the kind is to be pro- 
cured for love or money. Potatoes are banked up in the cellars ; cab- 
bages, carrots, turnips and onions are buried in layers of mold, whence 
your cook will extract them, uninjured by damp or frost, for the daily 
meal. Vegetables of the finer sort, such as French beans, peas, etc., 
are, as they come into season, preserved for winter use in tins, which are 
hermetically sealed by a man who comes to solder them down." All 
this hearty food, spiced and greased and vinegared, and washed down 
with Rhine-wine and Bavarian beer, nourishes the vigorous body and 
brain of the German fighter, but it plays havoc with the woman, who 
never gets the start in health which her brother does in his younger 
years. So much is his food a part of the German that the pertinent 
question to those who return from a ball, dinner or supper is not as to 
what was worn, but what was eaten. The common form of inquiry is, 
" What did you get ?" — a blunt, German question. 

Aside from the clubs, theatres and other amusements common to 
other people, the true German has his own enjoyable garden. He erects 
a summer house in his yard, on some prominent spot, and Sunday after- 



832 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

noon he is sure to be found there, with his spouse and daughters, contem- 
platively smoking while his wife knits, or presides over the coffee table. 
At times the prosperous citizen will have established his summer house 
in the suburbs of the city. As the family food is usually cooked in town 
and has to be brought out in baskets, along hot dusty highways, when 
applying for a position the common query of the maid of-all-work is, 
" Have you a garden?" If you have, the bargain is off. 

In these garden scenes, during the family rambles and Sunday 
excursions, home life is seen in its most agreeable forms of simplicity. 
The big German is not abashed at being discovered hand in hand with 
his matronly wife. Though they speak harshly to their little ones, or 
rap them smartly on their backs (as they may consider dutiful), they have 
the most charming words of endearment, in the uttering of which there 
is no hypocrisy. "My little heart," "my beautiful one," "my pretty 
one," " my little love," " little mother," " sweetheart " and a score of other 
caressing terms are bandied about from parents to children, from lover 
to lover, in such a graceful, unaffected fashion as to make one forget the 
gutterals and hissings of the language. 

Wherever an elderly German woman or a couple is, there also, or 
within hailing distance, will generally be a youth and maiden, enjoying 
their betrothal period, as other lovers do when outside eyes are not upon 
them. They have become so used to affectionate demonstrations, with- 
out privacy, that this characteristic will follow them through life. On a 
Rhine steamer, on the cars, on the street, love-making and love-talking 
go on with a coolness which is startling to many. Before the mar- 
riage is arranged, the "caution " must be decided upon, which is a sum 
of money which the man must deposit as a guaranty that his wife shall 
live in a becoming style in case of his death. If foresight is shown 
for the possible widow, the probable maiden lady of high standing is 
also provided for. 

The Protestant nobles of Germany have instituted retreats for 
maidens of their standing who are thought beyond the pale of matri- 
mony. Lands have been purchased and houses built, fisheries, forests 
and farms contributing to support the institution. Each noble who has 
contributed his share toward the original investment is entitled to pre- 
sent his maiden as a member of the retreat. The inmates are uniformed 
in black silk gowns, with the sign of their order across the breast, and 
can obtain leave of absence from the superior to enter society for three 
or six months annually. They have a standing in the community, and 
marriage is not quite out of the question when they can appear stamped 
with the badge of nobility. These retreats, or " Stifte," as they are 



BERLIN. 833 

called in German, often become very wealthy and prove fortunate finan- 
cial investments. It is said that the ladies of these retreats evince a 
pride of blood which is not shown in so marked a degree in many cir- 
cles of German society. 

But despite the ceremonials of a noble and courtly circle, now and 
then, the German character, whether dissected within the walls of the 
private house or the palace at Berlin, is one of simplicity — sometimes, 
as we have ventured to say, offensively rough. The men of standing 
in Germany, from the Emperor down, despite their political views, have 
never seemed far away from the people because of this very trait. Her 
great scholars, poets and scientists, even her statesmen of iron purpose, 
although they may be learned, mystical, analytical and cruel, still exhibit 
to the world beneath the outer crust a certain ruQfgred childlikeness, 
which is a refined form of that earnestness which often deteriorates into 
rudeness. 

BFRLIN. 

The German life, in all its diversity and intellectual muscularity, is 
portrayed in Berlin, a massive, square city, set down on a sandy plain 
and cut in two by a sluggish river, and further divided by broad streets 
which stretched regularly through the city, as if made for the majestic 
tramp of the imperial army. Unter den Linden, a splendid street with a 
double avenue of linden trees, is where the majority of visitors are taken 
to see the most of the empire's capital. Nearly opposite the great 
university is the royal palace, and directly opposite a magnificent bronze 
statue of Frederick the Great. The names of Fichte, Hegel and Schel- 
ling cling to the university, their fame going along more modestly than 
that of Frederick upon his great horse. On each side of the royal 
palace are the fine public squares called Lustgarten and Schlossplatz. 

Opposite the Lustgarten is one of the hundreds of institutes in 
which the German people take a just pride ; it is the old museum, built 
upon a former bed of the river, the entrance being through a number of 
imposing porticoes, ornamented with statues and bronze figures. Its col- 
lections of vases and coins and its sculpture and picture galleries are 
celebrated over Europ'i. In the rear of the old museum is the new one 
containing antiquities of the northern nations and of Egypt, an entire 
hall decorated with pi "ntings by pupils of Kaulbach, casts of famous 
statues and art collections of all descriptions. The Egyptian depart- 
ment is not only very complete but is unique in its arrangement, it being 
exhibited in a court which is modeled after an Egyptian temple. In the 
Linden is also the national gallery of paintings and other famous col- 

53 



834 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



lections. The Royal Theatre, the ItaHan Opera House, the stately 
parks, and elegant pleasure-gardens both within the city and its suburbs, 
show the pleasure-loving side of the people. In one of the most charm- 
ing of the suburban parks, is a monument to the memory of Humboldt, 
who was a native of the city. The city is adorned, from one extremity 
to the other, with masterpieces of architecture and art by the famous 
Schinkel. whose genius took a remarkably wide range ; for he not only 
excelled as a historical painter and sculptor, his works being collected in 
a special museum, but he was the architect of some of the finest public 
works of Berlin. 

The capital is, preeminently, the imperial city of Germany, not only 
in the narrow but the hroad sense of the word. Kings, artists, scholars 




MUSEUM AT BERLIN. 



and poets appear in their marble pallor in the parks, on public buildings 
and in palaces and private houses. There are royal libraries, royal pal- 
aces, royal theatres and streets named after the kings. On King's street 
is the Commercial Exchano-e of Berlin, one of the world's o^reat centers 
of trade. It is near the postoffice, and is a square, massive building, 
presenting a grand front of pillars and groups of statuary. The churches 
of Berlin are many, but perhaps the most noteworthy is the Roman 
Catholic Hedwigskirche, situated in the rear of the Italian Opera House, 
and built in imitation of the Roman Pantheon. 

Berlin is a worthy subject for a book, but it should be added, as a 
tribute to its enterprise and the national unity of the empire, that since 
it became the capital of United Germany no city in Europe has taken 



SOME FAMOUS GERMAN CITIES. g35 

greater strides in every direction, and no people have evinced greater 
pride in their governmental center than have the Germans for the best 
representative of their greatness. 

SOME FAMOUS GERMAN CITIES. 

Frankfort-on-the-Main, formerly the capital of Germany, is rich in 
historic associations, as well as the center of a portion of the Rothschild 
activities. The founder of the great banking house and his children 
after him were born in Jews street, most of the old buildings of which 
have been pulled down. Goethe square contains a statue of Frankfort's 
illustrious citizen and Germany's great, man. Frankfort once led the 
German cities in the publishing business, and possesses among its artis- 
tic attractions a monument in honor of the art of printing. Schiller has 
been commemorated in marble, several times, in the squares and public 
gardens, the most noteworthy representation being the superb bust in 
Berthmann's pleasure grounds. The council house where the German 
emperors were elected, the Church of St. Bartholomew where they were 
crowned for 150 years, and that of Katharine, where the first Lutheran 
sermon was preached more than three centuries and a half ago, are places 
of interest, while the promenades and watering places around the city 
delight as well as interest. The belt of promenades and parks connect the 
old gates of the city and furnish a picturesque view of the river and distant 
mountains. They alone would make Frankfort a delightful pleasure 
resort. The picture galleries, museums and libraries, and its financial 
importance as being the scene of operations of many of the wealthiest 
Jewish houses in Europe, bring to it a great variety of nationalities. 
Business, pleasure, scholarship and art meet together most harmoniously 
in Frankfort ; of all American cities it most resembles Boston. 

Dresden, the capital of Saxony, has received many baptisms of fire, 
but is still a beautiful city. It is celebrated as one of the greatest art 
centers in Europe. The Academy of Fine Arts is near the bank of the 
Elbe River. The Japanese palace was built as a summer residence by 
one of the kings, but is now used as a museum. It contains a gallery 
of paintings, in which all the European schools are represented by their 
greatest masters ; collections of antique sculpture, coins and pottery, a 
museum of natural history and the public library, especially com- 
plete in historical works. In^the royal palace is a collection of rare and 
costly carvings, jewels and relics, gathered by the princes of Saxony. 
Michael Angelo's magic art is seen in some wonderful specimens of carv- 
ings. Dresden has few monuments, and perhaps its most noteworthy 
architectural work is the great bridge across the Elbe, which connec s 



836 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the old and the new cities and from which an impressive view of the 
city may be obtained. 

Breslau, in Southeastern Prussia, on the Oder River, is the most 
important wool market of Europe and one of the greatest in the world. 
The river is navigable from the city to the sea. Breslau is also connected 
by railway with Saxony, Bohemia and other districts famous for their 
wools and woolen goods, as well as with Berlin, Vienna and all the im- 
portant cities of Germany, Austria and Russia. It is in fact, second 
only to Berlin as a commercial city and is the natural emporium for the 
products of the agricultural, manufacturing and mineral districts in whose 
midst it lies. Breslau is, in short, a prosperous, well lighted, well paved, 
well built city — one of the university cities — and although Polish in 
origin is now German to the core. 

Hamburg is one of the three free cities of Germany and just in the 
position to be a great marine port. The Elbe River which commences to 
expand at this point into the North Sea receives the Alster as a tributary, 
and numerous canals connect the rivers, thus enabling barges to dis- 
tribute goods to every warehouse in the city. Hamburg's railway 
connections with the cities of the empire are very complete, and her 
steamship lines communicate with European, North and South American 
ports. The city is an important manufacturing pointy ship-building 
being one of its leading industries. 

From this grand city of canals and ships came Mendelssohn, the 
genius with the sweet soul which so aptly came forth in the solemn 
beauty of sacred music. 

Bremen is the twin-sister of Hamburg, a free city like it, a marine 
port and the greatest ship-building point in Germany. Although Ham- 
burg is the larger and wealthier city, Bremen is the more important port 
of emigration. Bremerhafen, at the mouth of the River Weser and 
thirty miles distant from the city, is the real port, as the stream has 
become too shallow for vessels of great draught to ascend. 

OSTREICH, OR AUSTRIA. 

In Charlemagne's time most of Western Austria south of Bohemia- 
was called Ostreich, the East Mark, the East Country, or the eastern 
frontier of Germany. The Great Karl drove back an invading tribe of 
fierce Huns and annexed this district to his dominions as a shield 
between them and the empire. This frontier land was further extended, 
and although it was at one time conquered by the Hungarians, with the 
exception of a period of fifty years, the Emperor of Germany held it 



OSTREICH, OR AUSTRIA. 837 

for 260 years, appointing princes to rule over it either as a margrave or 
a duchy. The rulers of the duchy were continually quarreling with tlie 
Hungarians, who were infidels and of an alien race, and finally with the 
extinction of the ruling line, the last member of which fell in battle 
with the enemy, the province floated around for a time outside the con- 
trol of the German Emperor. The states of Austria and Syria were 
next ruled by a son of the Bohemian King, who, in turn, ruled his coun- 
try as a state of the German empire. 

But the empire of Austria did not commence to assume its present 
shape until the German Emperor seized the provinces of the Bohemian 
King and placed his son over them, the first of the famous House of 
Hapsburg. The imperial family of Austria derives its name from che 
castle of Hapsburg, or Hawk's castle, which a member of the house built 
in a Swiss canton during the eleventh century. The princes of the 
family, before they became of royal blood, held, at different times x'\lsace, 
Breisgau, Alemannia, Swabia and Aargan, the Swiss canton in which the 
castle was erected. Their Swiss possessions were the cause of many 
misfortunes to the House of Hapsburg, two members losing their lives 
while attempting to regain them. By marriage the thrones of Hungary 
and Bohemia passed into the possession of the family, other provinces 
were ceded to them, and not only did the great state become an arch- 
duchy of Germany, but the House of Hapsburg grasped the imperial 
scepter of the empire itself, of the Netherlands, Spain and the Indies. 

The Hungarians and Bohemians, however, were as distinct from the 
Germans in their race characteristics, as the Dutch were from the Span- 
iards whom the Spanish-German Philip desired should rule over the 
Netherlands. The Huno^arians are of the Finnic and the Bohemians of 
the Slavic race, and, as such, belong by natural right to the people who 
compose the Russian empire. The Slavs alone number over fifty per 
cent, of the population and the Hungarians over fifteen per cent. The 
Germans form a quarter of the population. The balance are Italians, 
Armenians, Jews and representatives of all races under the sun. They 
form merely a collection of people within certain geographical limits. 

The same tyrannical measures were taken in Bohemia as in Holland 
to crush the spirit of the Reformation, but John Huss left a martyred 
name and founded a new literature. Bohemia and Hungary are, in fact, 
treated merely as conquered provinces and never since they were incor- 
porated with the empire have their people ceased to strive for separate 
governments. But we shall treat the Bohemians and Hungarians, 
hereafter, as allied to the families which go to make up the Russian 
character. 



838 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

VIENNA. 

In the fifth century the Huns drove the Romans away from a town 
which they had founded beyond the Alps, several centuries before, as a 
station for legions, as a base of operations against the German tribes. 
This station and town was called Vindobona, and when Charlemagne 
established the East Mark, or Ostreich, it was the principal city of the 
new country. It became the residence of the princes whom he placed 
over the duchy ; and under the House of Hapsburg it obtained its start as 
one of the finest of the European capitals, becoming the seat of the 
German emperors. But through the arms and intrigue of Napoleon the 
German states were organized into a confederacy, and Austria was 
alone left to Francis. 

Much of Vienna's fame as a modern city rests upon work accom- 
plished during the past century. The unsightly walls which surrounded 
the old city have been torn down and thirty-six suburbs admitted into the 
corporate territory. Within ancient Vienna, however, are the grandest 
squares and edifices, and the limits of the old city are retained by a belt 
of boulevards nearly three miles in length. The present municipal 
limits are also indicated by another belt, which is sixteen miles in length 
and follows the line of low ramparts erected during the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. The Ringstrasse, or that street which marks the 
bounds of the old city, is lined with palatial residences, as are also the 
streets which intersect it. In this locality are the opera house, archducal 
palaces, academies, museums, the imperial theatre, the military head- 
quarters and other edifices and interesting localities, which, to mention, 
would be tiresome and to describe impossible. The center of this area 
is St. Stephen's Square, which is also the geographical center of Vienna. 
Many of the leading streets converge here, and the grand St. Stephen's 
cathedral and the Episcopal palace are worthy ecclesiastical monuments 
to this stronghold of Catholicism. In the church are numerous monu- 
ments and underneath it vast catacombs. There are numerous squares, 
all worthy of notice, but perhaps the Franzensplatz is most visited by 
foreigners since it is formed by the four wings of the imperial palace. The 
outer palace square is the largest in Vienna, containing statues of Arch- 
duke Charles and Prince Eugene ; the inner square, the Franzensplatz, con- 
tains the monument to Francis I. Within the palace are not only splendid 
treasures, among other valuable curiosities the regalia worn by the Ger- 
man emperors when they were crowned, but cabinets of antiquities and 
of zoology and botany. Under royal patronage are also fine art galler- 
ies, a truly imperial library, not only of books but of engravings ; a print- 



VIENNA. 839 

ing office of vast appliances and the University of Vienna. The uni- 
versity has a world-wide fame, being founded in the fourteenth century 
a few years previous to Heidelberg. Its medical school has long enjoyed 
celebrity. Connected with the University are museums, observatories, 
botanic gardens, and collections of every description. The Oriental 
academy which prepares candidates for diplomatic service in the East, is 
peculiar to Vienna. A great assistance to them in their studies is the 
oriental collection of manuscripts in the library of the academy, pro- 
nounced by some the richest in the world. 

Vienna's reputation as a city of magnificence and of grand propor- 
tions, a diversified pleasure resort for all nationalities and tastes, is 
enhanced by her theatres, gardens and out-of-door resorts. An island 
in the Danube, several miles in length, called the Prater, is laid out in 
parks, avenues and promenades, and may be called the fashionable 
resort. This was the scene of the Exhibition of 1873. Besides the thea- 
tres, some of them unrivaled in Germany, and the gardens adorned with 
works of art and frequented by a greater diversity of nationalities than 
any other localities in Europe, there are most picturesque surroundings 
to be enjoyed. The imperial gardens, menagerie and summer resi- 
dence are a few miles from the city. There are old castles and ruins for 
the artist and antiquarian, and bold heights from which a grand view of 
the Alps and Carpathians may be obtained. A combination of natural 
grandeur, quaint picturesqueness and historic charm is the mountain of 
Kahlenberg, upon which are an old ruined castle and a church. It was 
from this height, overlooking an impressive expanse of mountainous 
country, the mighty Danube and Vienna itself, that Sobieski, the fiery 
warrior King of Poland, saw the great army of the Turks entrenched 
before the imperial city, and it was in the church of the ruined castle 
that he prayed for success in the coming conflict. The Hungarians 
were in rebellion ao^ainst their German rulers and had invited their blood 
relatives to assist them. The battle before Vienna was as effectual in 
pressing back the Mohammedans from Christian Europe as the battle of 
Tours ; so that Sobieski, who had repeatedly saved Poland from the 
Turks, was now hailed as the savior, not only of the German empire, but 
of Christianity. 

BUDA-PESTH AND PRAGUE. 

Buda and Pesth, on the opposite banks of the Danube, were both 
originally Roman camps, and ever since the Hungarians formed a king- 
dom, or a nation, one or the other of them has been the seat of govern- 



840 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ment. The capital of Hungary is therefore spoke, of as Buda-Pesth, 
although at present the smaller city of Buda contains the palace of the 
Austrian Emperor and the government offices and residences of the 
ministers. In a Gothic church adjoining the government buildings, 
which was both a Turkish mosque and a stable, the Emperor of Austria 
was crowned King of Hungary over twenty years ago. In the palace 
square is a large cross erected to the memory of the Austrian commander, 
who fell at the bloody and successful siege which the Hungarians con- 
ducted against Buda, and near by a chapel in which are preserved the 
Hungarian national regalia. The city is built around a rocky hill which 
is surrounded by walls, and upon which are the structures previously 
mentioned, its summit being capped by a castle erected by Maria 
Theresa. Beyond this hill is a loftier one, upon which is a fort com- 
manding both Buda and Pesth. 

The two cities are connected by a magnificent suspension bridge, as 
well as other minor structures. Pesth is much grander in appearance 
than Buda, although its foundations are upon the sand. The broad 
quays along the river, large warehouses and business edifices, improved 
public squares and parks, large railroad accommodations and extensive 
flour and iron manufactories, give it a life which is missed in Buda. 
Pesth is in fact a railroad center, the granary of Austria, a book empo- 
rium, and a seat of the university which ranks next to Vienna. Its 
national museum contains many interesting and important collections. 
The building in which the Hungarian Diet meets is one of the most ele- 
gant structures of the city, and is an indication of why Buda-Pesth Is the 
capital of Hungary rather than Buda alone. 

Prague, the capital of Bohemia, lies in the valley of the river Mol- 
dau, a branch of the Elbe. The city is upon both sides of the river, the 
east bank marking the bounds of the old town and the business and Jew- 
ish quarters. In the latter section is the oldest synagogue in Europe; 
in the old town a church which contains the tomb of Tycho Brahe. On 
the opposite bank are the former palace of the Bohemian kings, the 
palaces of the nobility, the government and the Diet houses. The Uni- 
versity of Prague still m.akes the city a shrine of learning, although it 
has never again reached the prosperity which it enjoyed when Huss, the 
reformer and martyr, was its ^resident and lecturer of philosophy and 
theology. 



THE SCANDINAVIANS. 

HE Cimbri are said to have been the first inhabitants of Den- 
mark. After they had emigrated to Great Britain the Goths 
took possession of the country^ and the son of Odin, their god 
of war, is reputed to have been their first monarch. The 
people seem to have been divided into two classes : " freemen," 
who were the warriors, pirates and governors of the land, and 
"bondsmen," who were the huntsmen, fishermen and peas- 
ants. While the Danish monarchs were firmly seated on the 
throne of England, Denmark itself was torn with civil dissen- 
sions. Finally, however, the country was not only consoli- 
dated, but Norway and Sweden were united to it, the three forming a 
great Scandinavian kingdom. This union, however, was of compara- 
tively short duration. Sweden was erected into a powerful state in the 
sixteenth century, and Norway followed during the first part of the 
present. Germany had for centuries claimed the duchies of Schleswig and 
Holstein, which originally comprised South Jutland. In i864Schleswig- 
Holstein v.'as annexed to the kingdom of Prussia, and is now, therefore, 
a portion of the United Kingdom, while Denmark has been so dismem- 
bered that she retains but the northern part of the peninsula of Jutland, 
with some neighboring islands, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, 
and insignificant possessions in the West Indies. 




THE DANISH PEASANTS. 



For over a century the peasants were serfs to the crown and to the 
German nobility, and their disabilities were not entirely removed until 
the commencement of the nineteenth century ; and this, notwithstand- 
ing that more than half the population are devoted to agriculture. The 
Danish peasant is the type of bodily health, strong and muscular, of 
middle height, fair complexion, light hair and blue eyes. He is open 
and unsuspicious, not easily aroused to action, and rather yielding in 
disposition. His home is not only cleanly, but indicates that the Dane 

is aesthetic in his tastes. Flowers and pretty little decorations, both 

841 



842 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

without and within, make the cottages gems of art and comfort. The 
peasantry not only cultivate their small farms, but raise horses and cat- 
tle. The horses are especially valued for cavalry or draught purposes, 
and the cattle in connection with the dairy. Sheep, also, are kept more 
for their milk and for their flesh, than for their wool. The Danish 
peasant does not stop at cultivating his farm, tending his live-stock and 
making butter and cheese, but manufactures his own wearing apparel 
and domestic utensils. 

THE DANISH SEAMEN. 

Though individually bold seamen, the Danes are not the warriors of 
the seas that they were when they were the scourge of European coasts 
and the conquerors of England. Other nations have even usurped their 
fisheries, which in the middle ages were of great importance. They are 
more apt, in short, to be the sailors for other countries than to independ- 
ently navigate their own vessels. At home many of them are employed 
in the oyster beds lying near the northeastern coast of the peninsula, 
being a portion of the royal domain. 

Many Danish seamen find employment in Greenland, where their 
nation has established a dozen or more different colonies or factories 
along the coast. Here they may be said to have rather a monopoly of 
the employment, for each settlement is little more than a government 
station, presided over by a trader and his assistant, who receive their 
salaries from Denmark. 

Iceland became subject to Denmark in the fourteenth century, but 
its natives are more Norwegian than Danish and their institutions and 
language were imported from Norway when its people were pagans ; 
so that Norway must have the honor of preserving the ancient tongue 
of the Northmen in its purity. Danes, Norwegians and Swedes meet 
here as upon common ground and sing their ancient sagas. Fishing is 
the chief occupation, although the cod-fishery is prosecuted here to such 
an extent by the French government as to exclude many native seamen. 
From two to three hundred vessels and about 7,000 seamen are engaged, 
more than anything else to train themselves for the navy. 

COPENHAGEN. 

The center of this grand central point of Denmark is a large 
square on an island, from which radiate broad streets, also leading to a 
second island, upon which is built a division of the city called Fred- 
erikshavn. The finest thoroughfare is Broad street, which connects the 



COPENHAGEN. 



84J. 



square directly with the fortress of FrederiTtshavn. Tlie old city of 
Copenhagen is called West End, being situated at the extremity of the 




principal island, the ancient royal pal- 
ace havinof been converted into a his- 
torical treasure house, separate apart- 
ments being set aside for collections 
bearing upon the reign of each king from 
Christian IV. The famous old palace 
of Christiansborg, which was destroyed 
by fire, was rebuilt during the first por- 
tion of the century. It is on a little 
island, being now the parliament house, 
contains a spacious banqueting hall 
ornamented by four of Thorwaldsen's 
splendid bronze statues, and is, perhaps, 
the city's most imposing structure. 
Other palaces, formerly occupied as 
royal palaces, are devoted to military 
instruction, the fine arts, etc. The 
principal royal residence consists of four 
palaces, erected by different nobles and ^ 
purchased by the King after the de- ^^^v 
struction of Christiansboro-. While a \ 






royal guest, Thorwaldsen, the great 

Danish sculptor, died suddenly of heart frederickshavn. 

disease. His magnificent marble work, "Triumphal. Entry of Alex- 



844 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ander into Babylon," adorns the palace, and other evidences of his 
genius are seen in the churches and public build'ngs of Copenhagen. 
The body of the modest man lies in a fitting mausoleum, in a museum 
which the city >erected to contain the works which he bequeathed 
to it. The museum of Northern antiquities, representing the stone, 
bronze and iron ages, is unrivaled in the world, and the royal library 
is among the largest in Europe. In a word, Copenhagen is a magnifi- 
cent city, and the most of Denmark's commercial and intellectual ac- 
tivity is to be found in it. 

Although born in what is now German territory, Tycho Brahe, who 
was of true royal blood, received his education in Copenhagen, and as 
the father of practical astronomy Denmark has the honor of giving him 
to the world. 

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARY. 

The natural division between Norway and Sweden is a mountain 
chain covered with forests; the artificial division is "a broad avenue cut 
in the forest and having at certain intervals stone monuments. This 
avenue is maintained with great care by the Norwegians, and its condi- 
tion regularly reported to their Legislature." The Norwegian side of 
the chain is generally rocky and precipitous, while in Southern Sweden 
it consists more of a plateau, from which rise lofty peaks and which 
declines gradually toward the seashore. The southern extremity is a 
fertile plain. Northern Sweden is rocky and bleak, and Central Sweden 
essentially a forest country. In the regions toward Lapland the wild 
reindeer are met with, while the brown bear is found in the dense forests 
and is shot and trapped. 

RAVAGES OF THE LEMMINGS. 

A greater enemy to Sweden than the bear or any other beast is an 
animal of the rat species, not more than five inches in length. Period- 
ically vast troops of these animals, called lemmings, come down from the 
north where they have been feeding on moss, lichens and grass, and emi- 
grate toward the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Bothnia. Hawks and 
owls above them, and bears, wolves and foxes behind them, and in their 
very ranks, do not so diminish their mighty numbers as to prevent a 
wholesale devastation of crops and pastures. Huntsmen and villages 
turn out and wage war against this invasion of the beasts of the field, 
but armies of the lemmings find their way to the warmer coast regions. 
After having spent a* winter there the experience through which they 



PEASANT AND COTTAGER. 845 

have passed does not deter the old ones from migrating again to their 
northern grounds, being reinforced by milHons of the younger genera- 
tions. These migrations southward are said to be occasioned by a 
pressure of population in the northern mountains of Scandinavia, for 
lemmings breed almost as rapidly as rabbits. The Lapps eat the lemming. 
In ancient times the Scandinavian peasants, seeing these animals 
descendinof from the mountains and from the north, like clouds from 
above, imagined that they fell as plagues from heaven, and they were 
often exorcised by the priests as troops of evil spirits. 

PEASANT AND COTTAGER. 

These are representatives of two distinct classes, the peasant being 
one who owns his land and house, while the cottager hires both and may 
be called a farm laborer. Although the tendencies of the Swedes are 
toward democratic ideas, the cottager is far below the peasant socially. 
The agriculturists are crowding out the nobility, many of whom are now 
extemely poor, though so proud that they will not labor to retain their 
property. They formerly owned one-fifth of the lands of the kingdom. 
Those engaged in the manufacturing industries, such as making cotton 
and woolen cloths, silks and leather, and the metal workers are called 
burghers. Although the Swedes as a people still drink considerably, 
the legislation of the kingdom has checked this vice very perceptibly, so 
that the distilleries within thirty years have decreased from nearly 90, ")00 
to a few hundred. There is still much to be accomplished in this line, 
however, since many of the Swedish peasants, cottagers, and working- 
men give both Sunday and Monday to dissipation ; the latter especially, 
which with other people is called " Blue Monda)'," being the first work- 
ing day of the week, is usually set aside for such a decided jubilee that 
it has been dubbed in Sweden " Free Monday." And yet though so 
many thus strike out a laboring day from the week, the nation is thrifty, 
industrious, progressive and independent, gradually absorbing the prop- 
erty formerly held by the nobility merely by right of birth. 

• There is one class of householders, however, which stands if any- 
thing above the peasantry. The military colonists form a very important 
body of the army. This grade was established by Charles XI., and 
consists of select soldiers, who are distributed in military districts, and 
each provided with a house and a piece of land. This he cultivates for 
himself, but is actually provided for by the holders of crown lands in the 
district to which he is assigned, receiving his pay in money or in kind. 
The military colonists comprise about 21,000 infantry, and 4,000 cav- 
alry, and as their entire annual period of drill does not exceed a month. 



Z\6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



and a half, the service is not much of a hardship. The regular reserve 
is drawn from the whole male population, between the ages of twenty 
and twenty-five years, and no substitutes are allowed. Besides these 
are the conscript troops, composing the Royal Guards, -Artillery and 
Engineers ; the hussars, the flower of the army, who are enlisted for six 
years and, with the military colonists, comprise the active soldiers ; 
the militia of Gottland, who are not obliged to serve out of the island, 
and the volunteer rifle association. 



THE SWEDES. 

The Swedes are a law-loving people, but are more prone than the 
Danes to stubbornly resist dictation from royal sources. The law which 
regulated the costumes of servants, peasants and, in fact, those of all the 




SWEDISH LANDSCAPE. 



lower classes, nearly caused a revolution. Now every one dresses as he 
pleases, the peasants being particularly fanciful in their tastes. Wooden 
shoes, or leather shoes with wooden soles, are a general feature of dress. 
" Men, women and children labor together in the fields ; women do 
various kinds of outdoor work in the towns, such as the mixing of mortar 
and the tending of masons, and most of the drudgery in factories. By 
law no children under twelve years of age can be employed in a factory 
and none under eighteen can be required to work after dark." 

Reference has been made both to the Swedes' loyalty and their 
independence. Their attitude toward the Queen is a fair illustration of 
their temperament. She shared the general dislike shown to her hus- 
band, who was struggling against the national parliament of Norway 
and seeking, also to subject Sweden closer to royal authority. The 
Norwegian peasants, who really constitute the nation, despite their 



STOCKHOLM. 847 

jealousy of the Swedes, added their voice in protest against his acts, and 
with the concession of the royal pair to some of their most important 
demands, their attitude became more friendly. The marriage of one of 
the young princes to a girl of comparatively humble standing has also had 
its effect. In connection with this affair a little incident is related, which 
is worthy of notice. The Queen was obliged to submit to a serious 
surgical operation, and upon what she thought would be her death-bed, 
gave her consent to the union. While the surgeons were plying the 
knives the palace was besieged by a dense crowd of anxious subjects, 
and when the Queen had passed the ordeal she was so affected by the 
general solicitude that she expressed her feelings in public print. 
The royal family, in fact, seem to make the newspaper as com- 
mon a vehicle for the conveyance of their sentiments and of in- 
formation as any of their subjects. It was reported, not long ago, 
that one of the King's sons was about to marry a certain lady, 
whereupon the prince inserted a card in a newspaper, which read 
thus concisely : 

"I never saw that lady but five minutes." — Oscar. 
Such little incidents as tV"~.Le make one realize the small distance 
which lies between the peasant and the King of Sweden and Norway. 

STOCKHOLM. 

The pride of Sweden is Stockholm and it is undoubtedly one of the 
most attractive of European capitals. The city proper is built upon 
three islands, the surface of which has been raised by piles far higher 
than the natural level, and connected by massive bridges. The royal 
palace, a massive structure of granite, stands upon the central island and 
the most elevated, which is further adorned with orovernment buildings 
and great mercantile houses. Upon another island are most of the ele- 
rant stores and mansions and the national museum. The workine classes 
occupy the third island. All around, upon the islets which stud adjacent 
waters, are extensive pleasure grounds, monuments, royal palaces, and 
everything which can please the eye and gratify the national taste. The 
tombs of Sweden's royal soldiers and of Bernadotte, her adopted king, and 
the founder of the present dynasty, are in the churches of Stockholm. 
In the city is also shown the house where Swedenborg was born. Hun- 
dreds of manufactories send their clouds of smoke over the fair expanse 
of waters and great vessels and steamers move majestically past her har- 
bor fortress and moor at her quays, upon which the royal palace fronts. 
The city is connected with the mainland by railway. 



848 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

THE NORWEGIANS. 

The Danish language, with unimportant modifications, is generally 
spoken in Norway as in Sweden ; but the mountaineers and sailors of 
the north who do not frequent the towns use a dialect more like the old 
Norse tongue. As the language of the Northmen was exported from 
Norway to Iceland nearly a thousand years ago, so within the past cent- 
ury an attempt has been made to revive the Icelandic tongue, or the 
Norse, in Norway. The different dialects now in vogue away from 
those parts of the kingdom which were subject to Danish influence, when 
the country was a dependency of Denmark, not only conform quite closely 
to the old Norse, but the very costumes of the people seem to belong to 
another aQ-e. The women wear immense woolen skirts and bright colored 
knit bodices, fastened and adorned with silver or brass clasps and 
buckles. 

WILD LIFE ON THE COASTS. 

On the western coasts of Norway, amid the rocks, precipices, cata- 
racts, maelstroms, glaciers, pine forests and icy fiords, the strong, yellow- 
haired Norwegian, daring the awful storms of that wild region in his 
weather-beaten fishing smack, is the true son of the Northman. From 
the crest of the waves he can witness some of the wildest sio^hts in the 
world. Sea and land are wild and bold, and he clings to them both 
until flesh and blood cry out — and then he emigrates. 

Although fish is caught in every lake and stream of the interior, 
the salmon, herring and cod fisheries of the coast are the most impor- 
tant. The latter, alone, give employment to about 25,000 men. The 
chief grounds are the Loffoden Islands, which lie above the Arctic circle. 
At tlie southwest end of this group is the famous m.aelstrom. From 
this point the coast of the Arctic ocean trends northeast toward the 
Russian frontier, and is so cut up into rocky islands, solitary rocks, 
peninsulas and promontories, that it is simply a tremendous jumble of 
sea, land and mountain. At places the stormy waves beat into the fiords 
through desolate gorges nearly to the Swedish boundary, while all of the 
land not dashed by the sea is heaped with mountains which send their 
great glaziers to the water's edge. It is Switzerland set down on the 
sea-shore in the Polar regfions. 

The influence of the sea and of the Gulf Stream, however, greatly 
modifies the climate, so that it is more mild than any other country in so 
high a latitude. Norway contains' the highest point of land, and the 
most northerly town in Europe, and yet many of the western and north- 



A GIGANTIC SNOW FIELD. 849 

ern fiords are nearly frozen. Those of the south, on the contrary, are 
filled with ice, as they escape the direct influences of the Gulf Stream. 

A CxIGANTIC SNOW FIELD. 

It is in Southwestern Norway that the hig-hest mountains, the 
greatest snow fields and the vastest grlaciers are found. Borderine the 
shores of Sogne Fiord, which extends for many miles inland, are peaks 
which shoot 8,000 feet above the sea. At a lower level of about 1,000 
feet is the snow field of Justedal, the largest in Europe, covering an 
area of 600 square miles. From this and other plains of snow vast gla- 
ciers slowly fall toward the sea, but are often arrested by more level 
land, in which have been formed deep lakes. The upper valleys and 
heights, as in Switzerland, are covered Avith forests of pine, and pastures 
to which cattle are driven. These famous pines also fringe the fiords, 
and are, next to the fisheries, Norway's greatest source of revenue. 
Among the industrial arts ship-building is almost the only one which is 
extensively cultivated, the people being generally their own manufact- 
urers. The most extensive forests of pine and fir stretch along the rivers 
which flow into the southern fiords, in the vicinity of Christiania. Not 
only are the woods alive with lumberm.en, but the industry has built up 
whole villages, and the timber merchants of Norway are among her sub- 
stantial citizens. The scene of the greatest activity is Drammen, a 
small city in direct water communication with the capital, and to which 
most of the lumber is sent for export. Drammen also has manufactories 
for rope, sails, etc., and may be considered the most important out- 
fitting point for vessel-men in Norway. The wood is not only converted 
into ship-material, much of it also being sent to France, but is used for 
fuel in Vv^orking the copper and iron mines. 

UNCERTAINTY OF CROPS. 

On account of the sandy texture of the small area of arable land 
more attention is given to the raising of cattle, horses, sheep and goats, 
than to agriculture. There are vast pasture lands of rich quality scat- 
tered all along the mountain ranges, and the small farm in the lower 
lands is often but a mere shelter for the stock durino- the winter and 
a source of supply for their feed. As a rule the cultivators own 
their own land, the laborers on an estate usually hiring a small tract 
from the proprietor that they may keep a few cows and sheep Rent is 
paid in labor, much of which falls to woman's lot. The principal crop is 
barley ; the other grains, with fruits, are raised almost entirely in Southern 

54 



850 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Sweden, But the inferior nature of the soil and the crude methods 
employed make the crops so uncertain that, in the best of seasons, they 
are insufficient for home consumption and corn and potatoes are imported 
in large quantities. Rye and barley also come from Denmark and 
Russia. 

To a limited extent, the government has provided for this uncer- 
tainty by establishing corn magazines throughout the country. When 
the season is good the farmer deposits his surplus and is guaranteed 
12^^ per cent annually for it. If times are bad, however, he is obliged 
to pay 25 per cent, in order to borrow the grain. In times of great dis- 
tress the peasants are sometimes reduced to the necessity of resorting 
to the pine forests for their bread, tearing away the bark from the 
great trees and grinding the inner substance into a kind of meal. 

AS MAN AND CITIZEN. 

The Norwegian sailors, peasantry, lumbermen and kindred workers 
take away so much of the population from the towns that there is only 
about one-tenth left for them. The result is that the voters belono;- to 
the rural classes. Even Christiania, the capital and principal city, has 
only about 70,000 people, but here is centered their independent national 
life ; here, in its own home, sits the native parliament, or Stortling, 
which represents the sovereignty of the Northmen over the King. The 
suffrage is based upon property qualifications. Voters choose their 
deputies, the proportion being one in the towns to two in the rural dis- 
tricts. The deputies elect the Stortling representatives, who assemble 
annually. That body may overrule the King's veto, as it has repeatedly 
done. It may keep the Swedish army out of its dominions, or keep 
the Norwegian army in, just as it pleases. The King must spend a por- 
tion of his time in Norway, and while he is in Sweden the Norwegians 
have their ministers near him at Stockholm. For all practical purposes, 
in fact, the Norwegians are an independent people, governed by their 
own representatives. They preserve their own official language, their 
own flag, their own government, and at the fortress of Aggerhuns, 
erected in the middle ages, they guard their national archives and 
regalia. The Norwegians have never quite forgiven the Swedes for 
accepting from Russia the present of their country, which she had no 
right to give away, and the remembrance of repeated invasions of 
Swedish armies is still keen. 

Within the past forty years, however, under the most conciliatory 
rule of the monarchs, the wounds show signs of healing ; but the uncom- 



THE ICELANDERS. 85 I 

promising Norse spirit of the rural population will crop out, and although 
the Norwegian voter and citizen may be peaceable enough under the 
decrees of his Stortling, when it comes to voting extra supplies to the 
royal family, he often says " nay" in a voice which comes down to him 
from the fierce ol^ sea-kings. 

THE ICELANDERS. 

Politically, the Icelanders are related to the Danes as the Norwegians 
are to the Swedes. They are nominal subjects, merely, possessing home 
rule in every particular. As stated, the Icelanders are descendants of 
the Northmen. They carried their language with them, and through their 
national songs, which commenced to appear shortly after they settled the 
island, they have retained it. Their sagas are not only outbursts of 
poetry, but have historical value, in that they treat of events in the reigns 
of famous kings of Norway and Denmark and of such home affairs as 
the introduction of Christianity. The world of philology, history and 
literature is therefore far more indebted to the Norwegians of Iceland 
than to the Norwegians of Norway. Although a land composed of outer 
masses of active volcanoes, and beyond a tableland of rocks, lava and 
mud, with occasional fertile valleys, the Icelanders are proud of their 
country and of their history. Their- volcanoes may spout, their precious 
meadow land sink into a crevasse, or huge islands shoot up from the bot- 
tom of the sea. They may have scurvy and elephantiasis and live in 
turf and lava huts. They may wash their clothes in boiling springs one 
day and find nothing but rocks and ice there the next. They may have 
no roads, no vehicles, and few means of communicating with each other. 
They may live upon mutton, sour butter, fish and the like, with what they 
can afford to import, but still they are a proud people. 

In this dreary country coal is an article of luxury, and in some dis- 
tricts the dried refuse of sheep and sea fowl is the only fuel which can 
be obtained, so that a fire is seldom made, except in the small kitchen, 
even in winter. And yet the women knit their stockings and gloves, and 
the men tend their cattle, if they have any, and fish and hunt, bartering 
their home manufactures, skins, feathers, eider-down, oil, etc., for 
hoarded treasures of grain, flour, coffee, sugar, tobacco and liquor. 
Their children are as industrious, but what makes the Icelanders proud 
and almost contented is that they have their literature. They have few 
primary schools, but it is rare to finei an Icelander who can not read and 
write. For the sake of their literature and their lansfuacje each com- 
munity is interested in the education of every child. " Parents, besides 



852 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



teaching their children all they know themselves, are careful to send 
them for further instruction to better informed neis^hbors. All the books 
and manuscripts in the house, as well as those to be found within a 
radius of fifty miles, are read aloud over and over again to the family 
and discussed by them. Moreover, there is a law enabling the pastor or 
overseer of the parish to remove the children of careless parents and 
board them with others who will teach them. This is done at the ex- 
pense of the parish when the parents are too poor to pay." With the 
Icelanders amusement and education walk hand in hand ; for the pe- 
rusal of the " Edda," in which is incorporated their ancient mythology, the 
readinsf of the sao^as and the recitino^ of tales and lesfends constitute a 
large part of their diversion. 




THE DUTCH 




THEIR DIKES ASSAULTED. 

HE world knows that Holland was snatched from the sea and 
that the Dutch should have the credit of almost creatino- the 
soil upon which so much of their prosperity rests ; that gran- 
ite, wooden and sand dikes, great and little canals, windmills 
and hydraulic machines, in the hands of a plodding, brave, sen- 
sible people, have, in some way, accomplished the task of 
planting a land far below the level of the sea and making it 
teem with riches ; and that with all their stupendous labors, 
the natives must never rest day or night in fancied security. 
The rivers and the sea are still persistently fighting for the 
mastery — the sea to tear away the coast and what land the rivers make, 
and the rivers to burst their banks and cover the fertile fields, the vil- 
laofes and cities which the Dutch have created. Even within historic 
ages the course and level of the Rhine have changed ; it is said, in fact, 
that there is a general rise of all the river levels, which the dike-builders 
are obliged doggedly to follow. The rivers are no longer able to bear 
German soil against the currents of the ocean, but rather drop it, in 
apparent exhaustion, at the entrance to the sea, making it difficult for a 
small vessel to pass out where great fleets were once crowded. The 
result has been that the danger from inundations of the rivers is 
increased ; they can not flow freely to the sea, and with the advent of a 
severe winter they are firmly locked near the ocean. When the spring 
thaw sets in, from the south comes a moving body of water and tremen- 
dous ice cakes, which crash against this solid wall. On from behind 
comes pressing a mighty procession of assaulting forces ; huge cakes 
and pinnacles of ice grind each other in their rage, the waters from 
behind rushing and roaringf over them until such a barrier is formed that 
the irresistible forces of nature strain and tear outward at the mighty 
dikes. The waters heave at the foundations, gigantic battering rams 
and titanic spears assault the banks, there is a moment of indecisive 
trembling, a roar which the ravenous sea, in its uncontrollable fury, 

853 



854 panorama" of nations. 

might have given, and the country is under the waves ; men, women and 
children are flying to the hills and church steeples, the wild bells of 
alarm are pealing, grain fields and houses are beneath the foaming water 
and seething ice, cattle, sheep and human beings are struggling and 
groaning together ; and when the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt 
have once again had their way, the patient Hollanders collect their dead 
and repair the wrecks of fortune. 

THE ZUYDER ZEE COUNTRY. 

Latin authors make mention of several inland lakes in Holland, the 
largest of which was formed by the overflow of the Rhine. An isthmus 
separated it from the sea. The ocean burst this barrier in the thirteenth 
century, and advancing step by step formed Zuyder Zee, which opens 
such a great gap in Northern Holland. In the body of the sea are three 
islands and upon them are the descendants of the primitive Batavians 
and Frisians, members of that same stubborn, sturdy, tireless, stout, 
broad-shouldered family which made Germany and England possible. 
Their features, characters and even customs remind one of the ancient 
Germanic tribes and above all of the Saxons. On the western coasts of 
Zuyder Zee are now dull villages which, in the times when the submerged 
district and Friesland, on the other shore, were portions of a fertile coun- 
try dotted with hamlets and waving with .fields of wheat, rye and barley, 
were flourishingf centers of trade. The destruction of villaQ^es and fertile 
lands, with the consequent decline of the towns which escaped the devas- 
tation was the cause of the rise of Amsterdam. This city is farther in- 
land, yet nearer the North Sea and sheltered from the storms by lying 
around an abrupt peninsula of North Holland upon the southern shore 
of Zuyder Zee. 

It is in one of these towns, on the edge of this submerged ancient 
Holland, that William Schouten was born who first rounded America's 
cape. The port is called Hoorn, and the South American cape should 
therefore be Cape Hoorn, The old town is the center of the dairy pro- 
ducts of Holland. Further south are towns and cities Avhich have no 
prosperity, having had their life drained by Amsterdam. Opposite lie 
some of those islands upon which dwell such primitive people. Their 
houses are built upon simple mounds of earth, as in ancient days, and 
connected by small piles of earth. From the roof of one of the churches 
are hung two models of the fi.rst fishing boats employed by the islanders. 
Few houses have chimneys, " but before the principal window there is a 
large flat stone surrounded by a row of bricks. A piece of iron is fast- 



FURTHER RAVAGES OF THE SEA. 



85; 



ened at the back of this stone, against which the fire is kindled. An 
opening in the roof allows exit to the smoke, which, before emerging, 
spreads through the loft where the nets are dried. The house belongs 
to the wife ; but the fly-boat, the external house, belongs to the husband. 
He displays the same coquetry and zeal in adorning this floating abode 
as his wife does in cleaning the cottage ; and on Sundays and holidays 
the fishing boats collected in port seem rather a squadron of yachts 
arranged for the pleasures of the eye than a fleet of toil and utility." 

FURTHER RAVAGES OF THE SEA. 



North of Zuyder Zee, and all along the shores of the North Sea 
from the mouth of the Scheldt to that of the Ems, the most startling 




IN A DUTCH PORT. 

changes have been traced in the configuration of the country, not since 
ancient times only, but since the middle ages. Hundreds of villages 
have disappeared as so many Pompeiis ; the sea has burst in and out, 
making islands of peninsulas, making gulfs of lowlands and seaports of 
inland towns. From the western shores of Zuyder Zee to the German 
coast is a chain of islands, undoubtedly marking the former bounds, 



856 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of Holland, and, since the first century a. d., seven of the twenty-three 
islands which Pliny noticed have been beaten into the ocean. As late 
as the thirteenth century a new island was formed from a detached por- 
tion of North Holland, and in the fifteenth, thirty-five out of seventy- 
two villages which stood on a group of islets in the broad mouth of the 
Meuse, were buried out of sight by the rising of the ocean tide and the 
bursting of a sluice. "Not a trace of them can be discovered save an 
old, gloomy, solitary tower called the House of Merwed. At a later 
date, in order to fix the spots where the fishermen might be permitted 
to cast tlieir nets, the course of the old Maas, which traversed the coun- 
try before the submersion, was conjecturally reconstructed. The spot 
where the villages were destroyed still bears the name of ' Biesbosch,' 
or the wood of reeds." 

The Dollart is a bay which indents both the coasts of Holland and 
of Germany. In the thirteenth century it was the triple mouth of the 
River Ems, a promontory stretching northeast toward the German coast. 
Upon this tongue, of land were half a hundred villages. The fierce 
North Sea deluged the land and swallowed up thirty-three of them, 
blotting out the mouths of the river and forming the gulf " Furious," 
or Dollart. 

Within the last century, in fact, both sea and river have spread 
over nearly every fertile district of Holland ; and still the Dutch love 
their country. Death and disaster, their unceasing struggle with nature, 
have bound them to it as closely as the Swiss is wedded to his Alps. 

THE DIKES, AND HOW THEY LOOK 

Having drawn the character of the foe, what are the human weapons, 
defensive and offensive, employed against it } It is said the Cimbri, 
before they started for Great Britain, built the first dikes, and that these 
were destroyed before the Frisians and Batavians came. The first dike 
which we hear of was constructed near Leyden, on the old Rhine. The 
Meuse was next attacked, and early in the Christian era the Romans 
even took a hand in digging a canal or two to connect the rivers, of all 
the barbarians the Batavians being their favorites. Whatever of nobility 
there was in these old times was overshadowed by the officers appointed 
by the land owners to watch the rivers and dikes. These officers were 
called the Counts of the Dikes, and in seasons of inundations and dis- 
tress their power was supreme. 

From their time to the present the whole architectural and mechani- 
cal genius of the country has been concentrated upon hydraulic works. 



THE DIKES, AND HOW THEY LOOK. 857 

First in order of time and simplicity come the dikes. In some cases 
they are merely earthworks. On the sea coast, in places, the ocean casts 
up ridges or hills of sand, which are sown with plants, chiefly rank grasses. 
These reeds or grasses while they are taking root have to be protected, 
sometimes for miles along the coast, by coverings of straw ; otherwise 
they would be lifted out of the soil by the strong sea winds. When the 
grasses have taken root, however, and escaped the inroads of the Dutch 
rabbit, which is as great an enemy to them as the wind, the shifting 
masses of sand are cemented and a natural dike is formed. These ridges 
.are called sand dunes, and where they exist at all they line the coast in 
three parallel series, the outer one touching the sea and being of most 
recent formation. These partially natural protections, which on a Hol- 
land level look like mountains, are sometimes strengthened with brick, 
wood or stone work, while every point of the coast which is not guarded 
by the sand dunes is covered by a dike. The most massive of these 
works is the Great Dike, in the vicinity of the Helder, where the north- 
ern peninsula of North Holland is exposed to the full fury of sea and 
wind, and which would otherwise be soon cut off into the southernmost 
of the long chain of islands which stretches toward Germany ; it is six 
miles in length, twenty or twenty-five feet wide, and strengthened by 
massive bulwarks of granite projecting far into the sea. Many of the 
dikes are smoothly paved on the top with small yellow bricks and form 
excellent carriage roads, and from an elevation of twenty-five or thirty 
feet one may obtain broad views of the country, with its handsome villas 
and farm houses, green fields, and numerous canals whose courses can be 
traced by long lines of willows and other trees which intersect each other 
like a tracery of veins. 

In place of the road a canal is sometimes dug along the dike. The 
sides of the embankment are often covered with willows, which are 
planted, and interwoven like wicker-work, so that from a distance it 
resembles an immense green ridge. Still outside of the dikes, in exposed 
places, walls of masonry are built or solid rows of piles driven into the 
river or ocean bed. Although every point of danger along sea and river 
seems to be guarded, engineers are constantly employed to make repairs 
and watchmen patrol the dikes by day and night, to give timely warning 
of a strain, a break or a rising of the tide. The people repair to the 
scene of danger with mats of straw and rushes, sail cloth and bags of sand, 
w^ith which to stop the leak or build up the embankment in a temporary 
manner. Millions of dollars are still spent annually for strengthening old 
works, building new dikes and canals, and in reimbursing the army of ofifi- 
cers and employes conected with this stupendous system of fortifications. 



858 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

As in military tactics, it has been found by the ablest of the Dutch 
engineers that it is often best to yield a point to the powerful enemy for 
the sake of the general result ; so that sluice gates are constructed at the 
mouths of rivers, and when the sea is very tempestuous one or more of 
the gates are opened that the waves may partially spend their force 
before they assault the inner line of fortifications. 

The untiring vigilance of the people (notwithstanding which they 
have been so often circumvented by the tireless foe) may be better 
appreciated when it is remembered that during the howling tempests 
which sweep upon the coast of Holland from the northwest the tide of 
the Rhine rises eleven feet above Amsterdam, that of the Meuse nearly 
as much at Rotterdam, while the river Leek, some distance from the 
latter city, towers seventeen feet above. The Amsterdam level is the 
standard of the country. 

THE CANALS. 

But the system of dikes does not embrace the whole wonder — for 
despite the casualties which have already buried a country under the 
waves, the dikes, sluice gates, the pumping machines, the canals form a 
more stupendous monument to the patience and industry of man thaa 
all the pyramids of Egypt. A dense forest which formerly covered South 
Holland and extended over a portion of North Holland has disappeared 
in the piling of the dikes and in the foundations of Amsterdam. Hav- 
ing exhausted their own country of wood, the people dug out great beds 
of peat for fuel, which at once were converted into marshes and lakes. 
The Dutch saw with alarm that they were thus making thousands of acres 
of waste land — that land which had been bought at such a price — and 
they perseveringly set to work to drain the hollows. Then it was that 
those ponderous arms commenced to rise aslant against the sky and to 
christen Holland "the land of dikes and windmills." At first they were 
constructed so as merely to take the wind from the northwest, the 
prevailing quarter. '" From this period date the regular diking of the 
low-lands, the formation of trenches to discharge and guide the water^ 
the construction of sluice gates to establish the level between the reser- 
voirs ; in a word, a scientific system of desiccation. Through this dis- 
covery the internal state of the country was changed and agriculture 
could spring up. At the present day, mills of all shapes and dimensions 
stand in the middle of rich plains, whose superfluous waters they draw 
off ; their busy wings are in the distance blended together in a tranquil 
sky and give the landscape a singular character. Some of these mills 
are true edifices, which seek the wind at a considerable height ; others 



DRAWING OFF THE SEAS. 859 

smaller and built of wood and brick, are very prettily finished off. This 
rustic coquetry ; these huge sails which flutter in the air like the wings 
of gigantic and fabulous birds ; this tic-tac blended with the rustling sound 
of the waters, spreads over the calm nature of Holland an undefinable 
charm and movement. Elsewhere, these monuments of a pastoral life 
are only employed in' one way ; but here, on the contrary, they are hy- 
draulic machines, saw and flour grinding mills. Formerly efforts were 
limited to draining ground at no great depth ; but since science has. 
progressed the wind is called upon to exhaust deep marshes." 

DRAWING OFF THE SEAS. 

The first extensive tract drained was in the eastern portion of North 
Holland, during the first part of the seventeenth century, by which some 
thirty lakes were converted into fertile gardens and grazing grounds, 
the former beds being intersected with pretty avenues bordered with 
trees and canals lined with green banks, while numerous hamlets sprung 
up as briskly as all vegetation. The pioneer in the work which has spread 
over Holland is said to have been a seafaring man who had seen the 
mighty fleets of Philip H., which had been scattered on every coast. 
He had witnessed the sinking of a gold-laden vessel, a mere piece of 
drift-wood from the great Armada, upon the coast of Ireland, and, after 
making several voyages to that localit)', found the treasure, and with the 
proceeds of his rich discovery drained the Purmer. 

From the scene of his labors a magnificent canal, massively pro- 
tected, furnished with great sluice gates and all other appliances, is cut 
across the peninsula from Zuyder Zee to the North Sea and connects 
with the canal from Amsterdam, which traverses it from north to south. 

With the application of steam to these stupendous drainage enter- 
prises they became bolder in their nature. Haarlem Meer, a sea which 
in a century had been formed by the coming together of four lakes, 
which had drowned three villages and rose to the very gates of Amster- 
dam, this ra\'enous body of water was drawn into the sea, after several 
pumps were kept constantly at work for fifteen or sixteen years. The 
project had been proposed more than two centuries previous, when 
steam was not at hand to make it practicable, but the first gigantic 
engine which commenced to draw the life blood from Haarlem Meer, in 
1847, was named after the originator of the idea, Leegh Water. If 
this could be accomplished during the "sixties," it is quite likely that 
during the " nineties" from the various propositions to reclaim Zuyder 
Zee will be sifted the wisest ideas and that the audacious enterprise will 
be inaugurated. 



86o 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



THE SEA AS AN ALLY. 



In describincr this contest of the Dutch with water and wind, how- 
ever, the friendly traits of these foes should not be entirely passed over. 
They have utilized the wind for- drainage purposes, and against human 
enemies they summon the floods as their allies. During the invasions 
of the Spaniards and the French the flood gates of their rivers and 
canals were more effective than cannon, and fortresses and fierce assault- 

ing columns. 
How, even with- 
out the presence 
of William of Or- 
ange, Philip's grim 
warriors, under 
the bloody Duke 
who had never 
been defeated, 
were driven out 
of Leyden by the 
floods which were 
sent against them, 
and welcome relief 
rolled up to the 
gates of the city 
on the return bil- 
lows — these are 
matters of dra- 
matic history, pic- 
tured by the mas- 
ters. The old 
walls of Amster- 
dam are down, but 
she has her canals 
from the Rhine, 
REMBRANDT VAN RYN. and Zuyder Zee, 

with their massive flood gates, and the great hollow of Haarlem Meer, 
the country round about the city herself, could be flooded before a 
hostile army could ravage the territory. 

The connection between the famous defense of Leyden and the 
founding of the great university, is that when the Prince of Orange 
appeared to the distressed citizens, he gave them the choice of two 




SCENES ON THE CANALS. . . 86l 

rewards for their heroism — the remittal of their heaviest taxes, or the 
estabHshment of such an institution — and with -one voice they shouted 
"The University, the University!" So it was founded, — one of the 
greatest monuments to the cause of education in Europe. Its other 
glory is that, in one of the windmills which surround the clean, antique 
city, Rembrandt is said to have been born, and its greatest curiosity is a 
ruined tower, situated on a mound in the centre of the town, whose 
builder is said to have been Hengist, the Saxon. The tower has been con- 
verted into a sort of inn, and the grounds about it are used as a tea-garden. 

SCENES ON THE CANALS. 

But whether you go to the Hague, where the King and his palaces 
are, which contains prisons and squares where Dutch patriots were con- 
fined and executed, splendid collections of paintings by the Dutch 
masters; which is the birthplace of William III. of England, and long 
the residence of the hardy stadtholders ; or to Utrecht, the scene of the 
formal establishment of the great political and religious league, and of 
memorable treaties in which vast territories in Europe and America 
were shufifled around by the Powers as a pack of cards ; or to the com- 
mercial centers, Amsterdam and Rotterdam — it matters not where you 
go, — the cities will be cut into districts by numerous canals, upon whose 
broad embankments are laid out wide and clean streets. Facing the 
streets, or (as they become in Rotterdam and Amsterdam) the quays, 
are lofty houses which overlook the bustle upon the water and the land. 
Their sites are cut into many islands, and to their great wharfs come ves- 
sels from all parts of the world, their masts protruding above the lofty 
■dikes, but their bodies hidden behind the huge ramparts ; and away 
from river and sea the same movement is seen on the water. The 
sails of little boats glide apparently over the face of the country, or 
o^listen throug-h the grreen trees which line the banks of the canals and 
rivers. Holland has its railroads, but its canals still reign supreme. 
Large cities in America have their milk-trains. To the large cities of 
Holland come processions of boats, laden with oaken buckets of milk 
from the surrounding farms, attended frequently by pretty girls, with 
great straw hats turned up before and behind, and with very red cheeks. 
The water-boats of Holland are distinct from the milk-boats, the 
Amsterdam supply being brought from Utrecht, or pumped from the 
sand of the ocean dunes, where the rain water collects. There are 
regular companies organized for the distribution of Avater, but many 
private individuals gain a livelihood by selling water, which they carry 
about the town in casks placed upon carts. 



862 • • PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Upon the boats constructed for passenger travel the character of 
the typical Hollander will be revealed in as quaint a light as in Amster- 
dam. He makes himself at home as much in one place as the other. 
The little cabin, with its glazed windows and colored curtains, its looking- 
glass and mat, and, if it is winter, a foot-warmer for the ladies, with cush- 
ioned benches on either side and a small case or shelf acrainst the wall 
holding a modest library, everything bright and neat ; this is an index of 
the Hollander. If his journey is long he has his own table, where he 
can write, and opens a regular business office, preparing necessary cor- 
respondence or even carrying on trade with some brother merchant who 
may chance to be going his way. The women sew or knit, the length 
of the journey being often reckoned in stockings. There is much 
smoking and tea-drinking, the girls sing soft choruses at night, which 
float more calmly over Holland than any other land and water on earth, 
and when it is time that all honest people were abed the cabin is divided 
into two parts — the saloon, and the sleeping room, which occupies the 
width of the cabin, composed of simple mattresses and counterpanes all 
smacking of fresh air and good, honest soap and water. 

So these thousands of boats, usually about thirty feet long, glide 
along the Dutch water ways, being drawn by horses upon which are 
mounted postilions. In front of each boat is a mast, which is lowered at 
the bridge, and to the top of which the long rope is fastened which 
drags the craft along. The master of the boat is placid, polite and 
quiet, but the postilion lustily blows his buffalo horn, or shouts at the 
top of his lungs wlien he approaches a bridge or a boat. 

But should he urge his beast along every canal in Holland and drag 
the boat after him in which the writer is supposed to be, there would 
come before him one continuous chain of evidence that , despite their 
centuries of disasters, the Dutch are a uniformly pirosperous people. Near 
the towns, which are so numerous that their limits can scarcely be traced, 
are built upon the banks of the canals Chinese pavilions, where the 
women take their needlework and knitting and the men their pipes, and 
from soft clouds of smoke or over their cups of tea and coffee calmly 
watch the flow of industry along the watery thoroughfares. 

EVERYONE SEDATE AND CLEAN. 

Sedateness and cleanliness seem to be the outward manifestations 
of the Dutch character. The present generation inherits these tenden- 
cies from the past. Such struggles with nature and man as the people 
have had for their country have engraved themselves upon the persons 
■of children yet unborn ; with the Dutchman, life has been no laughing 



EVERYONE SEDATE AND CLEAN. 



863 



matter. But though sedate he is far from being sad or gloomy, as the 
roses, the hyacinths, the tuHps, the gay houses and the placid happiness 
of his women and children prove. Even the maidens of the Netherlands 
are sedate. Whether in the country or the city it is not customary for 
them to look boldly at passers-by. They hide themselves behind vines 
and green frameworks, and if they wish to look upon the crowded street 
the objects below them are reflected in two mirrors, set at the proper 
angles, and placed outside the window, so that they may see without being 
seen. 

Why the Dutch are clean as well as sedate it may be impossible to 
explain on any philosophical or historic 
grounds. Perhaps the abundance of 
water and the crowded condition of 
their land may have had something to 
do with it. Existence in Holland would 
be impossible without cleanliness. As 
it is there are no healthier people in the 
world. In the laroe cities the hours 
before 9:30 a. m., daily, are devoted en- 
tirely to cleaning, this matter being reg- 
ulated accordinor to law. This is all 
the more necessary, since, if the build- 
ings do not face canal embankments, 
the streets, especially in the old quar- "L\ 
ters, have been raised as high as the /r| 
dikes to improve the drainage ; so that 
access to the structures is obtained by 
descending a flight of steps, and when 
mistresses and maids, having no yards 
in which to perform such duties, take 

possession of the streets to beat car- "^ - ^ 

pets, shake mats, throw water upon a neat dutch inn. 

the houses from little brass hand engines, wield window washers attached 
to long poles, and, in fact, to brush and wash and dry their dwellings 
inside and out, then the pedestrian who ventures upon a Dutch street 
before 9:30 is miserable indeed. Though the vigor with which the 
women conduct this siege against dirt transforms them for the time 
being into a species of maniacs, they still maintain their reputation for 
cleanliness, being generally dressed in pale lavender bodices, with a 
black petticoat below, a white apron in front and a snowy cap over the 
head. 




864 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Go to a Dutch farm house, visit the cow shed even, and everything 
is as neat as wax. The cow herself is clean, and the brass milk pails, 
arranged in racks outside the shed, seem to actually add light to the 
landscape. The house is before you, painted green and white, the flower 
pots are red, the vegetable and flower gardens are trim and fresh, and 
the farmer's wife and daughter are the neatest of them all. It is not 
hard to understand why the Dutch love their homes, such types of order 
and purity. Another explanation has been given to account for the 
native passion for cleanliness and that is the fact of the humidity of the 
atmosphere which would produce mildew, rust and other destructive 
agencies, if the people were not constantly painting, rubbing and polish- 



mg. 



THE KERMIS AND HOME. 



There is one occasion, however, which completely submerges every 
trace of native sedateness, and that is the Kermis, which was formerly a 
Catholic festival following a season of penance and fasting. As long as 
the season of festivities continued red wooden crosses stood in the 
churches, before the city gates and bridges and at the district boundaries. 
This custom continued until after the Reformation and the Kermis was 
the excuse for much disorder, drunkenness and crime. Then, as now, the 
foundations of the national character seemed overturned. Notwith- 
standing the efforts of the clergy to have the Kermis suppressed, both 
for its bad effects and because it is a relic of Catholicism, it flourishes as 
a national institution, although in Amsterdam it has been abolished. In 
Rotterdam it continues for a week, and in towns and villages the festiv- 
ities are boisterously sustained for several days. The Kermis is of the 
nature of an average country fair, but the participants, especially in prim- 
itive Friesland, move about from town to town, singing, drinking and 
dancing day and night, seeing the sights, having their fortunes told, and 
eating very small pancakes ("broedertjes ") and pickled vegetables. 

The Kermis is the best place in the world in which to observe the 
many varieties of Dutch costumes. The islanders of the north of Hol- 
land do not seem to belong to the countrv, the men wearing enormous 
wide breeches and jackets, made of the coarsest stuffs. On the other 
hand, the Zeeland farmers of Southern Holland appear in natty jackets 
and knee breeches of black velveteen, grey stockings and scarlet waist- 
coats, a row of silver buttons running down the front to a belt, in the 
center of which flare two immense bosses of the same metal. In many of 
the towns modern costumes are crowding o ut the picturesque old, and 
often there is a quaint blending of the two. F or instance, over the " head- 



THE KERMIS AND HOME. 



865 



iron," as it is called, will often be drawn not only a linen or lace cap but a 
modern bonnet, with artificial flowers, feathers, ribbons and all. The 
"head-iron ' is a skull cap made of finely polished gold or silver, and its 
orio-in is uncertain. When made of the baser metal it might have been a 
badge of servitude ; now it is an ornament and heirloom, being pre- 
sented to the girl when she is confirmed at church. At the top there is 
a hood for ventilation, a fringed lace hood falls to the shoulders and 
pendants of gold hang from the edge of the cap, or a broad band is 
worn across the forehead almost 
in a line with the eyes. Over 
all this, as stated, is sometimes 
worn a bonnet of modern con- 
struction. 

Kermis over, however, the 
Dutch Boer returns to his round 
of duties and faithfully performs 
them until the next season of 
national relaxation comes round, 
his machinery being kept in 
smooth running order by his 
pipe, his tea cup, his church and 
small social affairs. If his worldly 
affairs are not prosperous the 
interior of his cottage will be 
found divided off by wooden par- 
titions into a number of rooms, 
with a loft for corn and hay 
above. Racks for dishes are 
fixed against the wall. If his 
home is particularly exposed to 
inundations, the family bed con- 
sists of a huge square box, raised 
six or seven feet from the floor, 
approached by ladders and filled with warm grasses or sea weed. Like 
the Turk coming into the mosque, the Dutch peasant takes off his shoes 
when entering his house ; but the Boer leaves his without. They may 
be painted white, black, red, white and blue, and artistically carved ; but 
in the true rural districts the number of shoes ranging near the cottage 
door will indicate the extent of the company to be found within. 

One of the first things which a stranger notices when entering a 

Dutch house is that it has no fixed gfrate or stove. The stoves are 

^ 55 




GOING TO BAPTISM. 



866 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 




usually portable and may be hired, like a carriage, of regular dealers in the 
property. The invariable fuel, however, is peat or a coke made from 
peat. In summer, stoves are generally removed from the houses and 
much of the fire which cooks the householder's food and boils his tea and 
coffee, is sold to him. In some street close at hand is an industrious 
Dutchman, who at breakfast and tea time sends out a force of boys with 
small iron vessels containing a kettle of water upon a red-hot turf to be 
delivered at the houses in the neighborhood. The same individual, also, 
often contracts to wake persons who are obliged to rise early, and over 

his shop is a sign 
which, translated, 
means, " Here they 
knock and wake per- 
sons." 

But it was of peat 
that we intended to 
particularly speak ; for 
peat is used not only 
in the house but in 
many factories, and 
there are as many 
grades of it in Holland 
as there are of coal in 
America. The con- 
sumption of peat has 
increased, in a greater 
ratio than coal, and, 
perhaps, next to the 
EXTERIOR OF A DUTCH HOUSE. fisheries, its excava- 

tion, preparation and transportation employ more, people than any 
other industry of the country. The fuel cut from the low beds of Hol- 
land is preferable for its compactness and fineness, although much of 
the peat is now compressed by machinery and transformed into char- 
coal. For running machinery regular coal is undoubtedly preferable. 

PEAT BEDS, HIGH AND LOW. 

Whole villages and districts in Holland owe their prosperity to the 
acres of peat beds which have been exposed in the course of centuries. 
Whether the beds are high or low, they have to be drained of water, 
with this difference : From the high beds the water is first drained 
before the peat is cut, while that which lies on a lower level is spaded 



PEAT BEDS, HIGH AND LOW. 86/ 

and removed under water, the stratum of clay having first been laken 
away. The process of draining the high lands sometimes requires seven 
or eight years before the bed can be worked at all, trenches being dug 
and gradually deepened, which run into a central canal, where great 
barges wait to receive the fuel. After the peat has been cut into squares, 
lifted and piled so scientifically that every side is exposed to wind and 
sunshine, each piece is turned by women and children, that which is least 
dry being placed on top. When the whole yield is dry it is stored in 
sheds, arranged on laths or planks, and is ready for shipment. 

But before it gets under cover an unusually rainy season may cause 
the owner great loss by transforming the entire product into almost a 
liquid consistency. The carelessness of a workman, or of a villager who 
lives in the peat district, may be the means of destroying hundreds of 
acres of the fuel bed before it even sees the light of day. A stray match, 
a piece of lighted sod thrown upon the ground which has been used for 
boiling a tea kettle, may start such a smoldering conflagration in the 
drained mass of fuel as will hollow out the bed of a pond or a lake. 
This danger has also been used as a weapon in the course of the Hol- 
lander's unique campaigns against national enemies. One strikingly 
effective move of this nature was made against the Spaniards, by which 
their only practicable road was undermined, gouged into enormous hol- 
lows, flooded and made useless, gulfs and lakes being thrown across their 
military pathway. 

It was the working of the low peat beds for so many years which 
filled Holland with lakes and marshes, to drain which the windmill pumps 
arose and her great canal system was perfected. When the soft sods 
are cut and lifted from beneath the water, they are thrown into barges 
and carried to land. There they are placed in large circular troughs and 
trodden into a doughy consistency, stones and roots being thrown out 
as the work progresses. This mass is allowed to dry in the trough, after 
which the workman fastens a plank to either foot and enters his tread- 
mill again to smooth the surface. The peat is then cut and dried and 
loaded on to the long, ancient-looking turf boats, which in no mean pro- 
portion form in line with the milk and passenger boats which enliven 
the highways of Holland. The boats are provided with wooden houses 
in which the boatmen live with their families, and when one is loaded 
with these vegetable blocks, piled with the utmost precision and only a 
few inches above water, it is in appearance a new order of Merrimac 
transferred to Holland waters. Women often assist in the unloading, 
the final transfer being accomplished in clumsy hand-carts of the same 
pattern, it is said, as those in which the Spaniards brought their muni- 



868 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

tions of war into the country. The Spanish carts, of course, were drawn 
by horses, but it was made unlawful to construct hand-carts according to 
this model, although old ones might be repaired. 

The utility of peat does not end with its burning. In place of 
piles, it is used as a foundation for houses built in marshy districts. Its 
ashes constitute a valuable fertilizer, its soot cleans steel or tin, its smoke 
prepares salt meats and herrings, and the substance is employed in the 
manufacture of ink and paper. 

THE HERRING FISHERIES. 

Holland obtained its first real start as a commercial nation from the 
privileges which it obtained from England to fish for herring on her 
coast ; this was during the latter part of the thirteenth century. The 
fisheries became a great source of prosperity to Vlaardingen, which is 
still the principal depot, and to other towns, especially when a peculiarly 
fine way of curing herring was discovered and kept a close secret. The 
fishermen who lived in a collection of huts on the south shore of an arm 
of Zuyder Zee, called Damsluij's, were especially enterprising, — sell- 
ing their fish in all parts of the world and bringing back produce for 
home consumption and for export. This was the basis of Amsterdam's 
foreign commerce and opulence, and, to some extent, the colonization^ 
schemes of the Dutch and her boldness in foreign lands and waters had 
an inception in the greater prosperity which the herring brought to Hol- 
land. Having added to their stern contest with floods at home this 
broad experience on the high seas, the Dutch became the most success- 
ful navigators in the world, contesting the palm with the bold and hardy 
Portuguese. The war with France and the rivalry of England greatly 
embarrassed their fisheries, and their commerce during the last part of 
the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries greatly 
declined. Both herring fisheries and foreign commerce are improving, 
although the Dutch never again reached the height of power which 
they attained in the seventeenth century. 

A LITTLE HISTORY. 

During the latter portion of the sixteenth century the republic of 
the Seven United Provinces was formed. Flanders and Brabant refused 
to join the confederacy, remained under Spanish and Austrian rule, and 
were subsequently annexed to Holland as a shield against France. But 
the two people could not assimilate, and Belgium was erected from the 
two Catholic provinces. 



WINTER IN HOLLAND. 869 

The next important historic event after the formation of the repub- 
lic was the death of WiHiam of Orange. His son succeeded him, that 
brilhant general, Prince Maurice of Nassau, who made Holland one of 
the foremost military powers on land. Within thirty years after his death 
the Dutch expelled the Spaniards from many of their possessions in 
South America and the East Indies and forced them to formally ac- 
knowledge the independence of the United Provinces. 

Thus the herring, the sword and the ship made Holland the great 
power which we find her in the seventeenth century. She has retained, 
despite her subsequent reverses, her possessions in the East Indies, and 
has even extended them. In Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the Celebes, New 
Guinea and other islands of the Archipelago we have seen how the Dutch 
are firmly established on native soil. They were early driven out of 
Brazil by the Portuguese, but have important possessions in Guiana and 
South Africa. Wherever they have gone, east or west, they have found 
their old rivals, the English, either there before them or close upon their 
heels. 

The East India Company formerly monopolized the rich trade of 
the Asiatic islands, it being a combination of several companies which, 
under a charter from the State, was granted exclusive privileges for 
twenty-one years. This gigantic monopoly was extended by the gov- 
ernment, from time to time, for two hundred years, but its course became 
so tyrannical toward both natives and Europeans, in its efforts to rule 
the markets of the world, that it fell into disrepute. The establishment 
of the Batavian Republic in Java was the fatal stroke delivered after it 
had been weakened by English arms and commercial rivalry. The 
Netherlands government took possession of its affairs in 1 795 and the 
government trading association succeeded it in many of its features. 
This company is the selling agent and carrier of the government produce 
in Europe, but attempts to exercise no such arbitrary power as to dic- 
tate to producers how much or what they shall raise. 

WINTER IN HOLLAND. 

Winter in Holland is not all gayety — not composed solely of warm 
furs, red cheeks, gleaming skates, and love on ice. The canals are 
utilized, it is true, as in no other land, for both pleasure and trade. 
There are laughing skaters, lovers gliding along arm in arm, and long 
lines of young men, Indian file, bound together with a long pole, shoot- 
ing between town and city. There are also the women bearing their 
€ggs and butter to market, with long, regular, strong strokes ; and much 



870 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

darker pictures of suffering among the fishermen and artisans of the 
country, notwithstanding the general prosperity. Sleighing parties go 
dashing along in odd, gilded sledges lined with furs, the horses adorned 
with colored plumes and silver bells, but seem almost stationary as they 
are approached by the ice-boat with its huge sail and excited occupants. 
The more severe the winter the more of life the rivers and canals of 
Holland bear, but hundreds of poor laborers look out over the ice which 
bars the vessels from the great ports and snatches away their bread. 
Artisans and their families are thrown out of employment, and suffer 
from long winters and dearness of food, as they do in other countries. 
But the Dutch are extremely practical, and see that it is cheaper to give 
the unoccupied employment than to punish and support them as crim- 
inals. Their sense Qroes with their benevolence. 

PROMOTING THE PUBLIC GOOD. 

Holland has her soup kitchens and her pauper colonies, where heads 
of families are allotted cottages, land and live-stock. She has every 
possible public institution for the relief of the sick and needy ; but her 
brightest glory is a private institution, which has thrown its broad spirit 
over the country like the great warm coat of a whole-souled man around 
the bent, trembling shoulders of a poor woman. Within a century, from 
an association consisting of a Protestant minister, his son and a few 
friends, the Society for the Promotion of the Public Good has grown into 
a body of 15,000 or 16,000 members, divided into more than 300 depart- 
ments. Each town or parish where there are only eight members who 
wish to join the Society has the privilege of organizing a branch, and 
sends a representative to the general assembly, which meets once a year 
at Amsterdam. With their heads, their hearts and their pockets this 
great body of philanthropists labor in the establishment and mainte- 
nance of schools for the poor, industrial homes for the temporary indi- 
gent, hospitals and asylums. The Society, in fact, laid the foundation 
of the present excellent system of public education which has made 
Holland famous, the members of its central committee actually assisting" 
to draw up the law of 1806. In a word, the object of the Society of 
Public Utility (for its title has been variously translated into English) 
is to found all institutions, from the contributions of its members, which 
it decides are for the good of the public, and to keep them on their feet 
until they can run alone, or until private individuals or the state will 
support and lead them. It also wisely directs the streams of charity 
which otherwise would flow wide of the mark to which they were 
directed. 



THE BELGIANS. 87 1 

One of the wisest as well as the most profitable of the works in 
which the Society has been engaged is in reclaiming the sandy borders 
of the ocean and changing them into cultivated fields. The government, 
which stands far down on the debtor side of the account, by request, 
turned over a large district of sand dunes, and without removing the 
necessary coast protections, the Society, with the assistance of those 
whom hard seasons have stranded, has converted the land into vegetable 
gardens which not only have supported the indigent but realized some- 
thing for the market. Every winter hundreds of workmen who would 
be idle in the cities, are engaged in lowering the sand hills, manuring the 
ground and preparing for the spring planting. The sand, also, frequently 
covered with moss and lichens, is sold to mix with clayey soil or as 
ballast for ships. 

THE BELGIANS. 

The large Celtic element found among the Belgians is what parti- 
cularly distinguishes them from the Dutch. The Flemings are Teutonic 
and the Walloons, Gallic or Celtic. The Dutch are Protestant, the 
Belgians Catholic, but the races and nationalities which are found within 
the confines of Belgium have done nothing more than to group them- 
selves together. They have never been moulded into a people, with 
national traits, such as the Germans, the Dutch, the French and the 
Encrlish. The Austrians bear much the same relation to the Germans 
and Russians as the Belgians do to the French and Dutch. They 
occupy a certain country, but they have not a distinct nationality. 

The political parties into which the Belgians are divided are formed 
upon religious grounds, which also are generally laid out upon race 
characteristics. Celtic blood is the strength of the Catholic, and Teutonic 
blood of the Liberal party. The Walloons are descendants of the old 
Gallic Belgae, and are related to the French in race and language ; in. 
fact, their tono^ue is a dialect of the French, containinor the jyreatest 
number of Gallic words. The Walloons not only inhabit the country 
in France which borders upon Germany, but predominate in all the 
provinces of Belgium except those lying adjacent to Holland. They 
are what remain of the ancient stock which held their own in the moun- 
tains of Gaul when the country was overrun by the Germans. They are 
the agriculturists and the manufacturers of Belgium, the revolutionists 
to whom the country owes its independence of Holland, and the states- 
men, also, of the kingdom. The Flemings mostly give their attention 
to commerce. The Walloons are of average height, with powerful 
limbs, dark hair and dark brown or blue eyes. They have the earnest- 



8/2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

ness, perseverance and diligence of the Flemings, or Dutch, with the 
impulsiveness and adroitness of the French, 

After the fall of Napoleon the Belgian provinces were severed from 
France and attached to Holland. The Dutch or Flemish element then 
attempted to impose its language and its very character upon the 
Walloons, planting the seeds of the revolution of 1830, which made 
Belgium an independent State. The Flemish language, however, is 
spoken not only in the provinces bordering on Holland, but to so'great 
an extent in the Walloon districts that it may be said to be the national 
tongue of Belgium. It is essentially modern Dutch, containing more 
of the ancient forms, especially of the Frisian tongue. The Flemish 
language has a literature extending back into the thirteenth century ; 
and to-day the literary talents of Belgium are with the Flemings rather 
than the Walloons. 

Upon one point, however, the Belgians are agreed as a people — 
their country must be developed internally. The Dutch province of 
Zealand, which extends into their geographical territory, covers the 
mouths of the rivers which form their principal water communication, 
and 'Holland was not generous in granting them privileges. Conse- 
quently Belgium proceeded to build a system of railroads, which not 
only follows the courses of the navigable waters of the interior, along 
which hundreds of villages have sprung, but runs between them, connect- 
ing her large cities with every necessary point. The system which the 
country is still perfecting is the most complete of any on the continent, 
and Belgium gets along very well without the mouths of the Scheldt, 
the Maas and the Rhine. It not only binds her own territory closely 
together, but places her in convenient communication with Germany 
and France. 

BELGIUM'S CITIES. 

The tendency of the Belgians to sink everything in trade is strik- 
ingly illustrated in the appearance of Brussels. The portion of the city 
which lies along the Seine River and the Scheldt Canal is the old part, 
and was formerly occupied by the nobility, who lived in great fortresses 
and palaces. Under Charles V. Brussels was the capital of the Neth- 
erlands, and his son made it the principal scene of Inquisition horrors. 
The old town also contains several grand Gothic churches, but the 
palaces of the former nobility are now occupied by great merchants. 
Linen, paper, soap and carriage factories throw their shadows upon the 
walls of famous old churches. What of the carpet manufactories ? 
They are chiefly found in Tournay, forty-five miles southwest of the 



BELGIUM S CITIES. 



873 




READING A CONDEMNED BOOK. 



874 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

capital, and the products are sent to Brussels. The city manufactures 
many mathematical instruments, to remind people that the celebrated 
Quetelet once had charge of her observatory. 

The Upper Town, on a hill side, is the residence of the King and 
government officers. It contains his palace and that of the Prince of 
Orange, a great number of fine parks, squares, churches, fountains,, 
statues, public and private buildings. In one of the squares is a memo- 
rial to' those who fell in the revolution of 1830. The Palace of the Fine 
Arts contains the finest specimens of the Flemish school of painting to^ 
be found and a great public library in which are thousands of manuscripts, 
adorned with beautiful miniature paintings from the hands of Van Eyck's. 
scholars. The new Palace of Justice is a superb structure. 

The Belgians have never forgiven Antwerp for defying the revolu- 
tionists of 1830, but the city had a commercial reason for doing it. Her 
fortunes were joined to Belgium, instead of to Holland, her natural ally,, 
and her prosperity declined. Her trade went to Amsterdam and Rot- 
terdam, but her greatest treasure remained. The interior of her noble 
Gothic cathedral exhibits two of Rubens' grandest pictures and another 
church contains the monument to his family. 

Ghent, northwest of Brussels, was the birthplace of Charles V., 
father of Philip II.; but manufactures of cotton and wool, and great 
religious paintings by the Dutch masters, such as Van Eyck, again divide 
the attention. The churches of Belgium, in short, like those of many 
other countries, are best known to the world by the works of art which 
adorn them and become a part of religious teaching. 

The field of Waterloo is twelve miles south of Brussels, and the 
ofreat conflict there fousrht was but the conclusion of a longr series of 
troubles into which Belgium had been drawn by being attached tO' 
France, Spain, Austria and Holland, and being drawn into their quarrels. 
Whenever a treaty of peace was signed between any of the great 
Powers a slice of Belgium was passed over to France, or an old piece 
taken back by Spain or Austria ; or, it may be, that Holland was allowed 
to get a fresh hold upon the little state or was forced to loosen an 
unfair one. The secret of all these shiftings and turnings lay in the. 
desire to erect a state of some power to counterbalance France and 
Germany, and the result was that for over a century Belgium was the 
battle-field of Europe. On the map of Europe it resembles nothing sO' 
much as a little triangular wedge driven in between the two rival Powers, 
standing in the most convenient path for the invasion or retreat of hos- 
tile armies. 




THE SWISS. 

WITZERLAND is the most elevated and mountainous coun- 
try of Europe. Five-sixths of its surface consist of glaciers, 
rocks, forests, lakes, gorges and other unproductive elements 
which make it the most rugged and picturesque of all lands,, 
but valueless for all practical purposes. 

The origrinal inhabitants of Switzerland are believed to have 
been of Celtic origin. Collectively, the tribes were called 
Helvetii. But the country first became a Roman province and 
finally the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Goths and the 
Franks overran, devastated and subdued the land, stamping 
out nearly every vestige of the Roman and Celtic civilization. Although 
the Helvetii were incorporated into the empire of the Franks, Swiss lib- 
erty was lying dormant in the three ancient cantons of Schwytz, Uri and 
Unterwalden, the inhabitants of which are believed to be descended from 
Swedish immigrants. They had never been conquered, Schwytz was the 
most powerful of the cantons and the whole people assumed its name — 
the Schwytz, the Swiss. Two centuries later Germany relinquished all 
claim upon the Confederacy and during the French revolution two French 
armies marched into Switzerland and forcibly erected " the indivisible 
Helvetii republic." The first constitution, however, which was adopted 
by the people was promulgated in 1848 and revised in 1874, although a 
federal compact had been in force since 181 5. This, in brief, has beea 
the progress of the Republic of the Alps. 

THE SWISS REPUBLIC. 



The government consists of the National Council and the Council 
of States or Cantons, which correspond to our Senate and House of 
Representatives. All Swiss are equal before the law ; but the Jesuits 
are forbidden to hold office, as being a mischievous element in the coun- 
try. The confederacy may send away dangerous foreigners. Liberty 
of conscience is guaranteed and no one is bound to support a church to- 
which he does not belong. The age of the voter is fixed at twenty 



■876 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



years, and all except clergymen are eligible to the National Council 
The maintenance of a standing army is forbidden, every able-bodied 

citizen being considered a 
defender of his country in 
time of need. Trial by jury 
is not universal, but it has 
been introduced into many 
of the cantons. The Fed- 
eral Court is chosen by the 




SWISj SCENES 



National Council for a term of six years. In order to place before the 
people a revision of the constitution, the two Councils must agree to such 



FAMILY LIFE IN THE ALPS. 877 

action, or 50,000 citizens demand it ; and, to become law, the revision 
must be adopted by a majority of tiie voters and a majority of the can- 
tons, 

FAMILY LIFE IN THE ALPS. 

The peculiarly wild nature of the country has not only made its peo- 
ple rugged and independent, but has been the best possible instructor in 
all the branches of industry and has formed them to those habits of sim- 
plicity which the most artificial can not but admire. Its pastures are 
comparatively few, but they are mown with care. Switzerland is not 
rich like our own Texas in cattle, but to the Swiss herdsman every cow 
and calf has an individuality, and amid the howling blasts of an Alpine- 
storm he goes from one charge to another, encouraging the terrified 
animals as though they were frightened children. 

The majority of the Swiss agriculturists are, in winter weather, en- 
gaged at their crude looms or in making lace. In the north nearly every 
family has its piece of cotton or silk upon which it is engaged, or, if re- 
siding on the borderland of France, its members are busily employed in^ 
fashioning the various parts of musical boxes. Here also is the district 
where the Swiss watches are made and great quantities of fine jewelry.. 

The six or seven months of winter are therefore not joyless ones, 
for the Swiss farmer, although he shares his house with his cattle. They 
often occupy the lower floor, himself and family the second story, and the 
great attic is packed with fodder which serves the secondary purpose of 
furnishing a warm covering for them. If he is not so fortunate as to- 
have a three-story house, animals and people are brought a little nearer- 
together — that is all. As the spring suns commence to melt the snow 
from the highlands, members of the family drop their winter's work 
more and more often and consult together about some important matter,, 
passing frequently back and forth to the neighboring houses. At length 
the emerald green of the crisp, young grass appears on the slopes of the 
uplands, and the villagers put on their best clothes and brightest rib- 
bons, decorate their cattle, goats and sheep with ribbons, summon the 
town band, receive the blessing of their pastor, form in procession (al- 
though it is most difficult to restrain the buoyant spirits of the brutes, 
mad with fresh air and sunshine and a sense of freedom) and march to 
their summer grounds. There the men take up their quarters in moun- 
tain huts, several miles from the village and often separated from their 
wives and families. The cattle frisk and eat, eat, ruminate and frisk, 
and are only required to report two or three times a day, in order ta 
deliver the raw material for cheese. This is the source of greatest 



-878 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

revenue to the Swiss mountaineer. He sometimes, however, varies his 
money-making labors by one of pure love ; for it is a custom in some 
of the mountainous regions for two related families to unite in making a 
stupendous cheese, on which are carved the names of the latest betrothed 
couple connected with them. When married they receive the cheese, 
and it may even pass down to their married children. 

Swiss courtships are conducted in quite a romantic manner. Sat- 
urday nights are the favorites with lovers, and the swain sings under the 
window of his lady as if he lived in the middle ages. "As it is visiting 
night, and she expects company, she is at the window neatly dressed, 
and admits or rejects the petition which is always drawn up in regular 
form, generally in verse and learned by heart. Permission being granted, 
the young man climbs up to the window, which is commonly in the third 
story; and as the houses are furnished with conveniences for this pur- 
pose he runs little risk of breaking his neck. He sits on the window 
and is regaled with gingerbread and cherry bounce. According as his 
views are more or less serious, or he proves more or less acceptable, he is 
allowed to enter the room or is forced to remain outside." / 

The distinctive feature of the Swiss house is its immense projecting 
roof, which succeeds in maintaining the unity of the structure despite 
the many improvements which the proprietor is always making ; as it 
has been more felicitously expressed " the original picturesque building, 
with its immense projecting roof sheltering or shading all these succes- 
sive additions, looks like a hen setting with a brood of chickens under 
her wings." The owner's pedigree often appears over the doorway, or 
.a motto, or a long text from Scripture. 

The wealthier peasants have sometimes two or three houses or 
"chalets" at different elevations in the mountains, so that as the lower 
-pastures are exhausted, the herds of cattle are led up to the higher 
levels. The women themselves are often thus employed and also gather 
hay on the mountain sides. But wherever they go they exhibit the 
:same love of flowers and of nature, their staffs being adorned with rib- 
bons and wreaths and their wide hats and beautiful hair covered with 
them. Their large, meek companions, who follow after them, are also 
decked as gayly. The horses which come to the villages from the 
mountain dairies, loaded with boxes of cheeses, make the clear air tinkle 
with their bells and seem proud of the colored tassels attached to them. 

And up near the dark forests of pine, where are the fresh, green 

■pastures, both below and above, there are millions of twinkling wild 

flowers, which, with the bright sun, fresh air, and water falling from the 

• cool rocks above, assist in sweetening the milk and butter of the sleek 




A MOUNTAIN MAID— SWITZERLAND. 



PHYSICAL AND NATIONAL CENTER. 879 

kine. The same landscape which offers you flowered meadows, cas- 
cades from the clouds, distant Alps and dizzy gorges, will press upon 
you the riiilkman with his one-legged stool strapped behind, his baker's 
hat and short pants, the savage dog which guards the chalet, and the 
indignant bull which charges at you as you are considering what course 
you had best pursue with the dog. There is no way by which one can 
so efTectually reach a contrast between animal and God-like nature as 
by tramping through the cattle districts of Alpine Switzerland, with 
their million of horned cattle. 

Wood-cutting is an important occupation of the mountaineers. In 
the uplands the trees are stripped of their branches and pitched into the 
valleys below until they reach a navigable stream, when they are rafted 
into France and Germany. 

PHYSICAL AND NATIONAL CENTER. 

Schwytz, Uri, Unterwalden and Lucerne are called the Forest Can- 
tons, and inclose as a jewel the Lake of Lucerne. One of the most mag- 
nificent peaks around its shores is the Rigi, which may be ascended either 
by rail or by foot. To the majority of healthy tourists the latter mode 
is preferable — the gradual rising from the shadows of its base, through 
forests of pine, beneath gloomy rocks, into the pure, upper air, leaving 
the tinkling of bells and village noises farther and farther behind; the 
grand view of lakes, villages and mountains getting broader and broader, 
until, as the summit is approached, it seems as if with one exultant bound 
one might leap out into God's universe. For each hour of the day and 
night a different picture would be painted ; each season of the year and 
change in weather bring their peculiar tints, mists, clouds and glories. 
The following is a morning picture which has been painted by an artist 
— a picture which embraces a range of 150 miles from the Rigi : 

" In all this region, when the upper glory of the heavens and moun- 
tain peaks has ceased playing, then as the sun gets higher, forests, lakes, 
hills, rivers, tree and villages, at first indistinct and gray in the shadow, 
become flooded in sunlight, and almost seem floating up toward you. 
There was for us another feature of the view, constituting by itself one 
of the most novel and charming sights of Swiss scenery, but which does 
not always accompany the panorama from the Rigi, even in a fine morn- 
ing. This was the soft, smooth, white body of mist, lying on most of 
the lakes and in the vales — a sea of mist, floating or rather brooding 
like a white dove over the landscape. The spots of land at first visible 
in the midst of it were just like islands half emerging to the view. It 
lay over the Bay of Kussnacht at our feet like the white robe of an 



88o PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

infant in the cradle, but the greater part of the Lake of Lucerne was 
sleeping quietly without it, as an undressed babe. Over the whole of 
the Lake of Zug the mist was at first motionless, but in the breath of 
the morning it began slowly to move altogether toward the west, dis- 
closing the village of Arth and the verdurous borders of the lake, and 
then uncovering its deep sea-green waters which reflected the lovely 
sailing shadows of the clouds as a mirror. Now the church bells began 
to chime under this body of mist, and voices from the invisible villages 
mingled with the tinkle of sheep bells and various stir of life awakening 
from sleep came stilly up the mountain. And now some of the moun- 
tain peaks themselves began suddenly to be touched with fleeces of cloud, 
as if smoking with incense in morning worship. Detachments of mist 
begin also to rise from the lakes and valleys, moving from the main 
body up into the air. The villages, chalets and while roads, dotting and 
threading the vast circumference of landscape come next into view. And 
now on the Lake of Zug you may see reflected the shadows of clouds 
that have risen from the surface, but are them.selves below you." 

The Rigi towers between Lake Lucerne and Lake Zug, and around 
its base lies the most interesting historic ground of Switzerland. Near 
it is the meadow, the Griitli, on which the distinguished patriots of 
Schwytz, Uri and Unterwalden met to form that league which expelled 
the Austrians and razed their castles. A few miles away is the village 
where Tell (we insist there was such a man) refused to bow to the cap 
of the Austrian tyrant and where he made that historic shot. A fountain 
in the middle of the town marks where he stood, and a rude tower, where 
his boy was placed bound to the linden tree. What better evidence is 
required that Tell lived and cut the apple in twain which rested upon his 
boy's head? We refuse to abandon either William Tell or Robin Hood. 

From the Rigi glances may be shot over Eastern and Northern 
Switzerland into the country of her former enemy and beyond the Jura 
mountains into the ancient duchy of Swabia, the land of their faithful 
German friends. Far to the west also, over the canton of Berne, the 
vision can range almost to the territory which once belonged to France. 
From this mighty observatory, also, commanding a view of over 200 
rocky and snow-capped peaks, may be traced the battle-ground of the 
fierce civil wars between Catholicism and Protestantism. The Rigi rises 
from the center of the Catholic stronghold, the four Forest Cantons. 

ANOTHER GLORIOUS COUNTRY. 

W^e can not see all of Switzerland from the Rigi, but so much of 
its northern half that we will take a closer view of what partly comes 



HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 88l 

before us in the distance. But thousrh we leave the beauties and olories 
of the lakes of the Forest Cantons, others as charming come up before 
us, and on the border of each lake is a city or a locality which is a 
religious and a patriotic shrine to some Swiss or other. Where the 
Rhone contracts into a stream, shortly before it enters the Lake of 
Geneva, a bridge is thrown across the narrow gorge. The bridge is 
commanded by a fort. This point, St. Maurice, was the scene of many 
struggles during the long conflicts which the Swiss had with the dukes 
of Savoy. Dent du Midi, sloping majestically up toward heaven, its 
snowy peaks set off so vividly against a dark foreground of rocky and 
pine-clad hills, has been left behind, but all the way around the shores of 
the lake there are peaks and massive mounts, some of them nameless, 
but of almost equal grandeur. 

Perhaps the most bewildering of sublime attractions are concen- 
trated at the Creux des Champs, a great amphitheatre in a mountain's 
side, surrounded by glaciers, rocks, forests and green pastures. From 
the heights arc seen the Burnese and Pennine Alps, far east and south 
to Mont Blanc, and the bright waters of Lake Geneva, whose farther 
shores reflect so much of the Reformation. The hills to the north of 
this prodigious amphitheatre (which is often used by the Protestants as 
a temple dedicated to God) command a view of fertile valleys, little vil- 
lages and scattered wooden chalets, quaintly carved and ornamented 
with good texts from Scripture. Little churches stand in the shadows 
of the mountains, on green slopes, or almost hidden by coverings of 
flowering vines. There is human and brute life on every mountain side 
and stretch of meadow, and the incessant tinkling of bells, and the occa- 
sional crack of a rifle, bear to the ears the information that we are in a 
great dairy country and a district famous for its hunters and marksmen, 

HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 

Owing to the scarcity of the game and the difficulties of the pur- 
suit, chamois hunting is a sport which is now little engaged in by Swiss 
mountaineers. Occasionally, however, these very difficulties and dangers 
will make a hardy, keen-eyed peasant passionately fond of the hunt. In 
summer the chamois are now usually found in very small flocks near the 
snow line, and in Avinter they descend to the forests and mountain mead- 
ows. Their haunts may often be discovered by curious hollows in the 
stones made by the tongue of the chamois in their eager lapping for the 
saltpetre with which they abound. But this knowledge will generally be of 
little avail, for their sense of smell is very acute, and one of their number 

is usually posted on some rocky pinnacle to give warning, by a whistle, 

56 



882 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of the enemy's approach. Then the most remarkable leaps to be observed 
in the animal kingdom are witnessed, not only across ravines six or seven 
yards wide, but over walls a dozen feet high, and down perpendic- 
ular precipices of twenty feet. The manner of conducting this last 
species of gymnastics is worthy of particular mention. During its descent 
the animal strikes its feet against the side of the rock in order to guide 
its course. There may be a narrow ledge of rock at the bottom, and an 
abyss beyond, but by a peculiar turn of the body the chamois alights 
firmly upon its hind feet, brings its fore feet together and then is ready 
for another sure leap. 

Such a mark is worthy the bullet of the most skillful Swiss marks- 
man, and the hunter of the Vaud, who leads them all, takes a pride in 
venturing out alone to bring back a trophy of his prowess, as well as skill. 

LAND OF THE REFORMATION. 

The northern or Swiss shores of the Lake of Geneva are pictur- 
esque in the extreme ; the French shores are "solemn and stern, with the 
mountains of Savoy in the background." Rounding the southern 
extremity of the lake, past Byron's Castle of Chillon, the prosperous 
town of Geneva comes pleasantly into view, with its broad quays and 
streets, its handsome hotels, its famous watches, music boxes and jewelry 
and its historic interest. The Rhone rushes through the town, form- 
ing two islands on its way, and it is noticed how the lake has transformed 
the turbid, yellow waters which entered at the upper end, into the deep, 
blue crystalline stream which pours from the Geneva side. In coming 
upon Geneva the mountains and hills fall away, but looking across the 
lake from a less elevated position Mont Blanc becomes, if possible, more 
impressive than from any other standpoint. Not only is the view less 
obstructed than usual, but, although sixty miles away, the snows and rosy 
tints of the mighty mass are often reflected in the fair Geneva crystal. 

Monuments to the leaders of the Reformation are found in Geneva 
in the shape of colleges, universities and libraries, Farel, Calvin and 
Beza are stamped upon the town as they are upon the age, A substan- 
tial memorial hall of the- Reformation appears as one of the principal 
buildings of Geneva, as do also the cathedral in which Calvin preached 
and the museum which holds many of his manuscripts. The house in 
which he lived is also pointed out to the curious. Geneva was Rous- 
seau's native town and one of the islands in the Rhone is laid out in 
beautiful pleasure grounds which contain an elegant statue of the French 
eccentric, whom Carlyle compares to " a man in convulsions" all through 
life. 



. THE SWISS CAPITAL. 883 

Voltaire, like Rousseau, found an asylum in Geneva from his ene- 
mies ; and Madame de Stael came there, and Knox, and Casaubon, and 
Sismondi, and a host of others of the most startling mental and moral 
diversities. The town on the lake became one of the greatest centers 
of religious education in Europe, the Protestant youth of all countries 
resorting thither to be educated in its schools. From it at the same 
time shot forth the most brilliant shafts of atheism which were ever 
leveled at the world ; for here was the grand center of free speech, and 
the man or woman whose tongue was curbed in other parts fied to 
Geneva as to a fortress from which the enemy could be assaulted. 

From Geneva along the slopes of the Jura mountains the vine is 
cultivated, and the type of scenery is softer than among, the Alps of 
Southern and Central Switzerland. The canton of Neufchatel, into 
which we now enter, is the scene of the labors of William Farel, who was 
the father of the Reformation in Switzerland and the adviser and friend 
of John Calvin. Ruskin has dipped his pen in "the deep tenderness 
pervading that vast monotony " of the Jura mountains, and finds that 
" no frost-ploughed, dust-encumbered paths of ancient glaciers fret their 
soft pastures ; no splintered heaps of ruin break the fair ranks of her 
forests ; no pale, defiled or furious rivers rend their rude and changeful 
ways among her rocks. Patiently, eddy by eddy, the clear green streams 
wind along their well-known beds ; and under the dark quietness of the 
undisturbed pines, there spring up, year by year, such a company of joy- 
ful fiowers " as he knew not the like of amongf all the blessino-s of the 
earth. 

THE SWISS CAPITAL. 

By following the windings of the River Aar eastward from this can- 
ton of mountains, lakes and streams, one would pass nearly around a 
lofty sandstone promontory upon which stands an imposing city of stone 
houses, promenades, gardens and fountains, the supply of which runs 
through the beautiful streets. Looking southward across the bright 
valleys of the Aar and Emmen, and the Bernese Oberland, over corn 
fields, orchards, and pastures covered with fat herds of cattle, the line of 
vision is bounded by the mighty front of the rugged Bernese Alps, which 
we shall presently visit. This is the view from Berne, the capital of the 
republic. To those who can not always enjoy the picturesque there are 
a collection of huge bears which afford the usual amount of amusement, 
and to whom there is a tale attached. There is a tradition that the city 
derives its name from the German baren (bears); firstly, because these ani- 
mals used to be killed in the vicinity, and, secondly, that a man gave the 



884 TANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

village which he founded the present name because he killed a bear upon 
the very spot. Consequently bears have been maintained at Berne for 
several centuries, and a fine collection of them may now be seen in the 
Botanical Gardens in Paris, whither they were borne by the French army 
when it captured the city in 1798. In the middle of the town is a clock- 
tower, in which, every hour, appears a procession of puppet bears. The 
fountains have figures of them made of every material and represented 
in every attitude. 

THE LAKE DWELLINGS. 

On the Lake of Bienne, further west, is one of these pre-historic set- 
tlements in which not only stone, clay and wooden utensils were dis- 
covered but manufactures of bronze, iron and gold. At one place the 
very moulds for casting the bronze hatchets were found. Along the 
shores of the neighboring Lake of Neufchatel a wonderfully perfect col- 
lection of iron implements was gathered, with colored glass balls and 
beads, which remind us of the fondness which the savages of Africa and 
the Eastern islands evince for such trinkets. 

In the east of the lake we also meet with more of those lake settle- 
ments. In the same canton, near Lake Pfaffikon, are several acres of piling 
and the remains of a bridge. The piles were sharpened with stone 
hatchets, and the timber platform is fastened to the substructure with 
wooden pins. It was found that these three systems of piles, and the grain, 
nuts, bread, hearthstones, flaxen cloth, pottery, weapons, long bows and 
canoes which were dug up were suggestive of the very life which we 
have described as being led by the coast tribes of New Guinea. The 
charred timbers and household provisions and the beds of charcoal which 
were noticeable at both of these lake settlements in Switzerland bore 
evidence of a destruction of the dwellings by fire. 

There is a little lake near Berne which is not particularly picturesque, 
but it has attracted a great many scientists and curiosity-seekers, for 
here, some thirty years ago, were discovered what have been decided 
upon as the most ancient of the so-called "lake dwellings." Their pile 
foundations were uncovered by an extraordinary fall of the lake, caused 
by drought, and a few years afterward artificially lowered several feet, 
so as to bring- to light the bridges which connected the two settlements 
with the shores of the lake. A harpoon made of a stag's horn, a flint 
saw, various bone implements, such as needles and fishhooks of boar's 
tusks, wooden combs, fragments of pottery, charred grain and unfinished 
instruments of flint, were found in the soil above the ancient lake bottom. 

With all these interesting discoveries, only a few human skeletons 



ZURICH AND CONSTANCE. 885 

or skulls have come to light, although the remains of many distinct 
animals have been examined. The bed of nearly every Swiss lake has 
yielded up its quota to the archaeologist, but few definite results have 
been reached. It is only certain that there was a diverse, though not 
very advanced, civilization among the lakes and mountains of Switzer- 
land before the Celts, Helvetii or Romans came upon the scene. 

ZURICH AND CONSTANCE. 

As we pass north of the Forest Cantons to enjoy the calm beauties 
of Lake Zurich, the air is filled with an unceasing hum and clouds which 
are not the soft mists of Lake Lucerne float over its waters. The city 
of Zurich is the chief manufacturing point of the country. Cotton and 
silk factories, locomotive works and machine shops make one forget, for 
the time, the distant Alps and the Rhine and the struggles of Zwingli 
and the other Reformers. Within sight of the Lake of Constance, whose 
very name is associated with the martyrdom of John Huss, the Reforma- 
tion of Switzerland merges into that of Germany. 

The Rhine enters its dark green waters from the east, its hilly shores 
of sand being lined on both the Swiss and German sides with pastures 
and groves, orchards, vineyards and corn-fields, with the ruins of old 
castles thrown in to give a sombre feature to the landscape. The same 
mysterious rise and fall of the waters have been observed in the Lake of 
Constance as of Geneva, while the spring thaws sometimes bring such 
vast quantities of water from the Alps that they rise twelve feet above 
the ordinary level. When high winds toss this swollen body back and 
forth between its confines, the lake reaches a truly appalling height of 
rage. There is one case recorded in which during one hour it rose 
twenty-four feet. Above the Lake of Constance the Rhine, commer- 
cially, ceases to be of any value, but it sweeps along with such majestic 
strength that its birthplace is well worth seeking. 

TRACING THE RHINE. 

In following the Rhine to its source you travel the muslin cantons 
of St. Gall and Appenzell, and then the western portion of the Grisons. 
Many of the peasants and woodsmen whom we meet in the valley still 
wear a gray home-spun cloth, which gave the canton its name ; the cas- 
tles, which are seemingly about to pitch from the Alpine heights, are 
mementoes of the Gray League, formed by the natives against the for- 
eign and domestic nobility. In their own tongue this was called " Lia 
Grischa," and the canton received its name from the French. The 



886 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Grisons is a mountainous country, and gets to be extremely rugged as 
the Rhine commences to be contracted ; in fact, it would be hard to con- 
ceive of an expansion of its waters against such imprisonments as 
it undergoes in narrow gorges and between closely-bound moun- 
tains. 

Through the Grisons, it should not be forgotten that the river takes 
us into the country of an ancient tribe who have been connected with 
the Etruscans. The land was conquered by the Romans, who established 
a camp upon the Rhine where Chur (which means camp) is now located. 
A railroad runs from this capital of the canton to the eastern districts, 
whence some of the most sweeping views of mountainous scenery may 
be obtained which the world affords. The ascent to the summit of Piz 
Languard, one of the loftiest peaks, is through pine forests, level past- 
ures and rocky gorges to a final and towering pyramid. There, from a 
few square yards of surface, the tourist sees a forest of peaks to the 
east; looks over the water-shed into Italy; turns to the west and finds 
himself sweeping along in spirit to Monte Rosa, toward Mont Blanc and 
over the Bernese Alps : fronts the northwest and imagines that he 
gazes at the sky which hangs over Lake Lucerne, while to the north 
there are still peaks, masses and chains of mountains. In fact the naked 
eye may range over the whole of this land of mighty mountains and 
glaciers, having as points of observation Piz Languard, the Rigi, and 
the hills of Creux des Champs. Though hemmed in by mountains it 
always seems possible to lift yourselves above them, and keenly enjoy 
a sense of freedom — a sort of triumph over nature. 

Returning to Chur, the H inter Rhine is ascended and a few hours' 
journey from its sources in the mountain glaciers, the Via Mala is reached. 
Its rocks and cliffs and mountains grasp the infant Rhine and, at times, 
press its rushing waters out of sight and almost of hearing. " You enter 
this savage pass from a world of beauty, from the sunlit vale of Doms- 
cleg, under the old Etruscan castle of Realt, spiked in the cliff like a war 
club, four hundred feet above you, and totally inaccessible on every side 
save one, and are plunged at once into a scene of such overwhelming 
power that you advance slowly and solemnly as if every crag were a 
supernatural being. The road is carried with great daring along the 
perpendicular face of crags, cut from the rock where no living thing could 
have scaled the mountain, and sometimes it completely overhangs the 
abyss a thousand feet above the raging torrent. Now it pierces the rock, 
now it runs zigzag, now spans the gorge on a light, dizzy bridge ; now 
the mountains frown on each other like tropical thunder clouds about 
to meet and discharge their artillery, and now you come upon mighty 



ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL. 88/ 

insulated crags, thrown wildly together, covered with fringes of moss and 
shrubbery, constituting masses of verdure." 

ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL. 

As we leave the glaciers of the Rhine behind and near the Bernese 
Alps, great sights are in store for the tourist. He not only will see some 
of the most stupendous exhibitions of nature but one of the greatest 
works ever performed by man. Before he visits the glaciers of the Rhone, 
and those in its vicinity, he comes to the St. Gothard tunnel, a course 
for the iron steeds which is driven for nine miles through the mountains 
which raise their ineffectual barriers between the cantons of Uri and 
Tessin. The work was eight years in execution, and the railway which 
passes through it now forms the most direct route between the North 
Sea and Italy ; so that both tunnel and railway are rivals of the similar 
feat at Mont Cenis. 

THE RHONE GLACIER. 

It is on the western side of Mount St. Gothard, not far from the 
sources of the Rhine, that the Rhone bursts from a great glacier which 
fills a valley and rises up against an overhanging mass of rocks. Many 
a traveler would say — this is a great, a magnificent, an indescribable 
sight ; this is how our own Longfellow saw it : "A frozen cataract, 
more than two thousand feet in height and many miles broad at its base. 
It fills the whole valley between two mountains, running back to their 
summits. At the base it is arched, like a dome ; and above, jagged and 
rough, resembling a mass of gigantic crystals, of a pale emerald tint, 
mingled with white. A snowy crust covers its surface ; but at every 
rent and crevice the pale green ice shines clear in the sun. Its shape is 
that of a glove, lying with the palm downwards and the fingers crooked 
and closed together. It is a gauntlet of ice which, centuries ago, Winter, 
the King of these mountains, threw down in defiance to the sun ; and 
year by year the sun strives in vain to lift it from the ground on the 
point of his glistening spear." 

Above the glacier and all around it are grass, bushes and flowers, 
and higher still, surrounded by cliffs of snow and ice, a black lake which 
hides the bodies of many an Austrian, for this is the scene of one 
of their conflicts with the French. This is the region of glaciers and icy 
water-falls as well as bright mountain flowers, which fact is one of the 
striking singularities of Swiss scenery. There are Wellborn, and Wet- 
terhorn, and Aletchhorn and dozens of other "horns," and each horn 



888 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

pours forth its glaciers and water-falls and now and then gives birth to 
a roaring, crashing, devastating avalanche. We know that each crystal 
of these rivers and gulfs of ice is as white as a drop of water, but accord- 
ing to their depth the color passes from a light blue to an indigo. The 
traveler not only sees the living glacier, but in the glazed and lined sur- 
faces of huge rocks he traces the action of some ancient body of ice 
which is now dead and buried ; and the charm of companionship 
is all about him also— cattle clinging to the mountain pastures, vil- 
lages standing at the convergence of the wildest passes, chalets and 
churches rising from the least expected localities, tourists like him- 
self dragging each other up peaks not far distant in a straight line, 
yet miles away, and little inns pitched above the icy beds of infant 
rivers. 

A companionship at a distance is what the majority of Alpine wan- 
derers desire, but in this region where the mountain horns rise so thickly 
as sometimes almost to interlock, the frequented roads are beset with 
beggars and horn blowers. For a slight compensation, a dozen boys 
and men, in the course of as many miles, will toot their horns that the 
echoes may bound along from peak to peak, from valley to valley, over 
glacier and dark icy lake until nothing is left but remembrance of the 
weird result. These pests who so vigorously ride a wonder to death, in 
order to vary the performance a little, will favor you with a deaf- 
ening discharge from a rusty cannon. Fruit sellers also are on 
hand who do not pretend to appeal to anything but the most sor- 
did appetite ; and, to tell the truth, after having returned from a 
long tramp up the mountains to meet one of them is often far from 
objectionable. 

By ascending any of the branches of the Rhone to the Italian front- 
ier other groups of horns will be reached. The central point of some 
of the grandest scenery of the Pennine Alps is at Zermatt, near the 
headwaters of the Saas, the first important tributary which the Rhone 
receives from the glaciers of the south. In the upper part of the basin 
in which it lies are a number of glaciers from which the torrents of water 
pour, but as they approach the town they become almost as calm as her 
own meadows. From a bold elevation overlooking the basin, or valley, 
a grand view of the slowly advancing glaciers is obtained, and of 
the gigantic tower-like Matterhorn, lifting its head a cool 5,000 
feet above its snowy bed, with Monte Rosa and a score of other 
wonders in the distance. There is, perhaps, no mountain of the 
Alps which has been so fatal to adventuresome travelers as the 
Matterhorn, 



ST. BERNARD. 889 

ST. BERNARD. 

Near Monte Rosa is the Great St. Bernard pass, at the summit of 
which is the hospice in which the dozen monks consecrate their hves to 
the rehef of suffering. Although fifteen years complete the period of 
their vow, such are the terrible exposures to which they subject them- 
selves that the performance of their vow is to offer themselves a living 
sacrifice. Celts and Romans have reared their temples to the mountain 
god upon this dreary spot which commands a world of suffering and 
death, and through the pass have marched great armies of Romans, 
Franks, Germans and Frenchmen ; but they are forgotten in admiration 
of the dozen monks and their world-famed doo^s — a breed of brutes who 
are only known for the good they do ! The substantial stone hospice 
will comfortably shelter 300 persons, and during the sudden storms 
which descend in winter, filling gorges and valleys with snow to a 
depth of forty or fifty feet, it is filled with besieged travelers. Attached 
to the building is a storehouse of sad sights, entering which one will 
always remember — the morgue of the hospice. In the marble figures 
which there appear, as many stories of love and of grim struggles against 
death are told, as were written in the faces and postures of the uncovered 
victims of Pompeii. 

MONT BLANC. 

Beyond Monte Rosa one enters Italian and French territory, in 
which he makes the circuit of Mont Blanc, ever doubtful as to which 
view of the European giant is the most imposing. Whether approach- 
ing the vales of Chamouni and Mountjoie on the west, or those of Ferret 
and AUee Blanche on the east, Mont Blanc stands before you unrivalled 
in its intoxicating beauties and absorbing impressiveness. It carries 
sixteen glaziers upon its northern side and twenty upon its southern, 
their waters shedding into the Rhone and into the Po. 

There are other crystals amid the gorges of Mont Blanc than the 
perishable ones of the glaciers. Many of the higher valleys or gorges 
consist of limestone formations turned up against the granite and other 
primitive rock. These often take the form of a calcareous spar, or calc 
spar, which, although a common mineral, are found in such a variety of 
beautiful forms, sizes and colors, that climbers of the mountain find it a 
favorite amusement, as well as a source of some profit, to spend whole 
days with their hammers and knives in procuring them, tying ropes to 
their waists and being let down into the most frightful depths, in their 
search for rare and beautiful crystals. The spar is quite readily cut with 



890 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the knife, so that it can be shaped according to the fancy of the finder. 
In its crude state it is pure white, but mixture with foreign substances 
imparts to it many beautiful shades. It is found in masses, varying 
from a few ounces in weight to many pounds. 

Not only in the villages which cluster in the valleys near the moun- 
tain do the travelers of the world linger to collect a dozen mental pict- 
ures of it, but they ascend the highest points opposite the monster and 
still find themselves thousands of feet below his summit. But gradually 
the fever seizes them to actually place foot upon those rocky peaks and 
masses, and look into the depths of the Mer de Glace, and even to stand 
upon the very summit of the highest of the three principal peaks. This 
roadway in the clouds is a ridge about 150X 50 feet, and since a French 
guide, a century ago, first planted human feet upon it, others have stood 
there and wondered. Although not a Swiss mountain, with Mont 
Blanc ends Switzerland, by right of nature. By almost Divine right 
Switzerland should possess Mont Blanc, as a stupendous pivot upon 
which the whole little republic might turn. 




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THE RUSSIANS. 

THOUSAND years ago the Slavs consisted of a number of 
tribes who had settled near the sources of the great rivers of 
Southern Russia and had for neighbors the Finns, who- 
occupied the country nearer the Baltic Sea. These races were 
continually harassed by the warlike people to the west, the 
Teutonic tribes attacking them by land, and the Scandinavian 
giants rushing up the shores of the sea and falling upon them 
from that direction. Like the ancient Britons they sent for 
foreign aid. The Normans therefore came to rule over them 
and to protect them. From this union resulted the modern 
Russian and the greatest empire, in continuous extent, in the world. The 
country was often parceled out to rival princes who quarelled, was con- 
solidated, was oppressed by the Mongol Khan for more than two cent- 
uries and a half, but at last threw out its mighty arms and firmly grasped 
one-seventh of the globe's solid land. 

A GIGANTIC LAND. 




The country of the Slavs can not be spoken of except in mighty 
figures. Its boundaries, if extended in one continuous line, would nearly 
encircle the earth. When the Slav has passed from the eastern to the 
western limits of his dominion he has traveled more than a quarter round 
the globe. Russia is a giant, with arms extended from ocean to ocean,^ 
with head lifted into the eternal frosts, and with a sword dangling from 
his belt he watches, from under his shaggy brows, the Turks, the Per- 
sians and the Mongolians, who lie at his feet. 

The Russian is now attempting to digest, in his capacious stomach,, 
scores of Tartar and Mongol tribes, the Pole who is the purest represent- 
ative of the Slavic tribes, the Finn, the Lapp and the Circassian ; at the 
same time girdling himself with railroads and telegraph lines ; keeping an 
eye upon China, India, Afghanistan and Turkey, and, by way of diver- 
sion, periodically sharpening his sword and cleaning his gun. 

891 



■892 PANORAMA OF NATIONS.' 

THE PURE SLAVS. 

In treating of the Russians as a people, as the Slavs of history, the 
first place, as before intimated, must be given to the Poles. Until 
twenty years ago they did not even become Russians, having retained 
their individuality in spite of the hostile tribes who surrounded them, in 
spite of the rule of the Norman princes and the dissensions of the petty 
Russian rulers, in spite of the invasion and triumph of the Mongols. 
Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Turkey have all felt the heavy hand of the 
Pole, and have been made to respect the prowess of the Slav. 

As early as the fourth century four Slavic tribes dwelt between the 
Oder and the Vistula Rivers, and of these the Polani gave the name to 
the modern Poles. They were, during the middle ages, the sole cham- 
pions of Christianity against the Turks, and their national existence, 
until their kingdom was dismembered, was one of incessant war and tur- 
moil. The result has been to fix their character, which may be described 
as one of impatient independence. 

Since the transportation of so many of the bravest of the Poles to 
Siberia, on account of their insurrection, and the eradication of the 
kingdom even as a duchy of Russia, the sharp lines of their character 
are not so evident ; so that an unromantic picture of them, as they now 
are, shorn of their high-spirited, patriotic nobility is thus given : " The 
populations of the towns is largely employed in wool-spinning and the 
manufacture of woolen cloth, paper, beer and porter, and cotton and 
linen spinning and weaving. A large proportion of the country popula- 
tion employ themselves in the rearing and breeding of horses, cattle and 
pigs. Sheep are not so common, but swarms of bees abound, and there 
is a large export trade in honey." Formerly, the soil was the property 
of the hereditary chiefs, the minor nobles attached to their fortunes and 
the clergy ; while merchants, tradesmen and agriculturists were reckoned 
as serfs. The latter were not attached to any master, but to the land ; 
hence they had an interest in defending it against all invaders. It was 
an easy bondage, and their pride in the warlike deeds of their Slavic 
forefathers bound them closer to the soil and to their country. 

THE COSSACKS. 

The oriein of the Cossacks is obscure. The movements of the vari- 
ous Mongolian tribes previous to the middle ages were so rapid and so 
eccentric that their courses run into each other like the figures of a 
kaleidoscope. To this day it is impossible to determine whether the 



THE COSSACKS. 



893 




A COSSACK FAMILY. 



Cossacks are one tribe or a combination of many tribes. They first ap- 
peared about the middle of the four- 
teenth century in their present strong- 
hold on the vast steppes west of the 
Don. At first they were subject to the 
Kinof of Poland who g^ave them a 
military organization. They were 
members of the Greek Church, how- 
ever, and rebelled against Jesuit per 
secutions. They submitted to Russia, 
both the Cossacks beyond the Dneiper 
and the Cossacks of the Don, and 
although their revolts have been the 
fiercest and most danoerous with 
which the empire has had to contend, 
they have for the past century formed 
an invaluable body of the Czar's army. 
But before they had become the 
the servants of the Czar they accomplished the task of conquering 

Siberia. Yermak Timofeyeff 
fled to its wilds before the 
fury of Ivan, and after a year 
of successful warfare as^ainst 
the scattered tribes of fish- 
ermen and hunters, he forced 
them to acknowledge the 
superiority of his band of 
warriors, and, as payment 
for his pardon, presented the 
vast country to the Czar, 

In times of war every 
man from eighteen to fifty 
years of age mounts his 
small, hardy horse, and arm- 
incf himself with lance, pis- 
tol,carbine and sabre, holds 
himself in readiness to obey 
the orders of his grand chief, 
the Crown Prince of Russia. 
As light-mounted warriors; 
as musquitoes harassing the 
rear or flanks of an army, the Cossacks have no equals. They are as 




A VOTER. 



«94 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



o 
o 

in 

> 
n 



> 
n 

H 

O 

JO 



untiring as their horses, and their great bear-skin caps and trousers were 
nightmares to the weary troops of Napoleon as they struggled homeward 
over the snow fields and icy rivers of Russia. 

Except that they pay this military service to the Czar the Cossacks 

are almost independent 
within the country as- 
signed to them. The 
chief of the Cossacks 
was formerly called the 
Attaman, and he was 
elected by being buried 
under a heap of their 
great fur caps ; these 
massive votes were cast 
at the candidates in pub- 
lic meeting, and he who 
had the largest heap was 
proclaimed Attaman. 
The office was abolished 
when the Cossacks re- 
volted under Mazeppa, 
a Polish refugee — he of 
Byronic fame — but it 
was restored, and by the 
Emperor Nicholas vest- 
ed in the Crown Prince. 
The Cossacks are 
chosen by the govern- 
ment as specially fitted 
by their bravery and ac- 
tivity to guard the front- 
iers of Southern Russia 
and to keep in check the 
fierce tribes of the Cau- 
casus country. In their 
strongest positions they 
therefore establish forts, 
called kreposts,the most prominent features of which are the watch-tow- 
ers, from which they can signal, by means of fire, when threatened with 
attack, and call assistance for many miles around. It is stated, how- 
ever, that this duty is so distasteful to the free tastes of the Cossacks 




THE CIRCASSIANS. 



895 



that suicides are not unconmmon among those consigned to such con- 
finement. The strategic part which the Cossacks play in the actual 
military system of Russia is to unite an army on the march with its 
base of supplies, or with the empire itself. In times of war this irreg- 
ular cavalry is supported by Calmucks, Buriats, Tungooses and other 
Siberian tribes. 

Most of the Siberian tribes pay merely a tribute of furs to the im- 
perial government, this being the only mode of taxation which their cir- 
cumstances would allow. The whole of Siberia is ostensibly divided 
into civil districts but really into military departments, governed by mili- 
tary men. An invaluable aid to the Russian officials are the Cossacks, 
who are often placed in responsible posi- 
tions themselves, where they are peculiarly 
useful in enforcing the fur tax and other- 
wise in bringing the power of the imperial 
government home to the Siberian tribes. 

THE CIRCASSIANS. 

The great wedge of territory which 
Russia has driven down between the Black 
and the Caspian Seas is the Caucasus 
country. The Caucasus mountains stretch 
through the region from sea to sea, and in 
their deep valleys ripen the fruits of the 
tropics, while on the higher lands temper- 
ate fruits and grains are grown. Rice, 
tobacco, sugar-cane and cotton are raised, 
and fine timber stretches almost to the 
snow line. The Caucasians who dwell in this region, so varied in its fer- 
tihty, are divided into agreat number of tribes of the Indo-European race. 
They have always been bold and resolute, shepherds and agriculturists 
among themselves,and robbers and guerrillas to the Persians, Russians and 
Turks. Their last decisive struggle for national life was made against the 
Russians, during the first half of the present century. A Mohammedan 
priest organized a movement in 1823, and it was enthusiastically upheld 
by the military chieftains of the tribes. By the death of several import- 
ant leaders the conduct of the war finally fell into the hands of a young 
man named Shamyl, who for a quarter of a century resisted the Russian 
arms. He not only became a military leader of renown, but organized 
a government among the diverse tribes, establishing a capital and a code 




READY FOR ACTION. 



896 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



of laws. Buf he could not hold the confederation together, and being 
taken prisoner at the siege of one of his mountain forts in 1859, he was 
taken to Russia and held as a prisoner of state for twenty-one years. 
He afterwards went to Mecca. 

The bravest of the hostile tribes during this last long war were the 
Circassians, who denied the right of Turkey to cede their country to Rus- 
sia. They lived between the Kuban river, the Caucasus mountains and 
the Black Sea, south of the Cossack country. Their land was rugged, 
except near the river, but they wished to hold it as subjects of Moham- 
medan Turkey. 

The Circassians are called robbers by the Tartars ; they call them- 
selves the noble, and are divided into 
numerous families governed by princes of 
blood. Below the princes are the nobles 
middle class, retainers and serfs. The 
princes and nobles constitute a landed 
aristocracy, and are allowed the privilege 
of regulating even the marriage and edu- 
cation of the villagers. The middle class 
are the elders and wise men of the vil- 
lages, who stand in place of the laws, 
while the retainers and serfs are the com- 
mon soldiers and laborers. The Circas- 
sians are democratic in regard to their 
food and residences, but the nobility only 
can wear red and appear in war with 
costly equipments of mail, sword and 
rifle ; and though there are princes, nobles 
and retainers, the princes may be deposed for misconduct and the 
retainers may leave the service of their lord and transfer their allegiance 
to another. 

The Circassians are polygamists, but the wealthiest seldom have 
more than two wives. They are absolute masters of their wives and 
children, and notwithstanding the Russian government forbids thern 
sellinor their dauo-hters to Turkish harems, considerable of the nefarious 
business is carried on. The majority of the Circassian girls, however 
are obtained from the thousands of emigrants who left Russia for 
Turkey in 1864, when they found that they could not retain their coun- 
try and be independent of the Czar. To prevent the traffic in slaves 
within her dominions Russia has built a number of forts on the coasts of 
the Black Sea. 




A CIRCASSIAN GIRL. 



THE GEORGIANS. 897 

The beauty of the Circassian girls has not been exaggerated. They 
have fine forms, beautiful eyes and hair, and their complexion is made 
simply dazzling by their open air life, their exemption from hard labor 
and their careful diet. When they marry, and are no longer subjects for 
the Turkish harem, then they do the household work as their mothers 
did before them. 

The men shave their heads and dress in the tunic and trousers of 
the East. Their garments are confined at the waist by a leather belt and 
on each side of the breast is a row of cartridges kept in small pockets. 
They wear round fur caps, smaller than those worn by the Cossacks. 

THE GEORGIANS. 

Georgia, or Tiflis, is in the center of the Caucasus country, being 
a grass country shut out by mountains from the other provinces. The 
mountain valleys are also fertile, and in them the vine is successfully cul- 
tivated. The Georgians manufacture much wine and they drink nearly 
all they make. It is said that six bottles is the daily consumption of the 
average inhabitant of Tiflis, the capital of Georgia. The Georgians are 
poor agriculturists, but bold soldiers. Formerly the greatest source of 
revenue which the nobles enjoyed was from the trade in slaves, which 
they sent to the harems of Turkey and Persia, the slaves being beautiful 
women from the lower walks of life, over whom the nobility had supreme 
control. At the present time Georgian girls are undoubtedly sent to the 
seraglios of the East, but ostensibly as servants. The beauties have oval 
faces, fair complexions and black hair, with beautiful lips and rounded 
forms. While they were being raised for the slave market it was cus- 
tomary to keep the waist tightly laced almost from girlhood, which had 
a tendency also to develop the bust. A small waist is, in fact, generally 
considered a mark of beauty in both men and women, and the higher 
classes of either sex wear tight-fitting belts or stays in order to come up 
to the requirements of the fashion. The men themselves were formerly 
sold as slaves for service in the Egyptian armies, as both they and the 
Circassians are remarkably athletic. 

Tiflis, the capital of the government by that name and of the former 
kingdom of Georgia, is where the beautiful women, the Armenians^ 
Persians, Cossacks, Russians and other nationalities of Europe and Asia 
come together. It is a busy place. The manufacture of Persian 
rugs, carpets and shawls is briskly carried on, and it is the headquarters 
of the army of the Caucasus. The Russian quarter is St. Petersburg 
on a very small scale. Palaces, government buildings, great mansions, 

57 



898 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



o 



H 
X 

H 
X 

> 

o 




MODES OF TRAVEL. 899 

broad streets and airy squares, give it a decidedly European aspect. 
The native quarter contains diminutive houses and irregular streets, 
with a line of bazaars extendinor alone the river. 

Where beauty and wealth, soldiers and officers, meet in one city, we 
in America even know that gayety reigns queen most of the time. So 
at Tiliis it is not unusual for Georgian beauties, Persian women and 
officers of rank to be brought together under the magic charms of music 
and the dance. 

MODES OF TRAVEL. 

We have already given panoramic views of Lapps and Finns, Poles 
and Caucasians, Cossacks and Siberians. The vastness of the empire 
must have entered the consciousness of the reader, and a natural desire 
be awakened for further information as to the means of communication 
between these people separated by thousands of miles of steppes, moun- 
tains and snowy plains. First as to the cities, and we take St. Petersburg 
as a type. 

In summer the common vehicle of conveyance is the drosky, which 
is a four-wheeled vehicle, setting very near the ground, the seat being so 
arranged that the weight of the passengers is thrown upon the hind 
wheels, the driver towering above them. The harness of the horse Is 
very light, and the high collar which rises over his neck Is a part of the 
thills. W^hips are not used, but driver and horse seem thoroughly to 
luiderstand each other, and though a Russian was never known to drive 
moderately, it Is seldom that an accident occurs. The city drivers, or 
ishvoshtnlks, have no regular abiding place. They carry their oat bags 
with them and feed their horses when they feel disposed or have leisure. 
Small shops sell them hay in little bundles. There are mangers for them 
in every street, and convenient approaches to the canals or river so that 
they can water their steeds. Many of them sleep In their sledges. 
Among the nobility the styles are as various as among the wealthy of 
any other European capital, and there is perhaps no city in the world 
where finer specimens of real live, beautiful, intelligent, docile horseflesh 
can be seen than In St. Petersburg. The streets are kept clean by being 
swept and sprinkled from the hydrants, but are poorly paved with cobble 
stones. In the winter the thoroughfares are cleaned after every snow- 
fall, leaving a couple of Inches for sleighing. 

The population of the Russias is so scattered, and much of the 
empire Is so Incapable of supporting population, that it is impossible to 
conceive of railway service being general. It is a country also in which 
the springing of rails and snow blockades would play altogether too 



900 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

frequent a role. But the government horse-service, or post-service, is 
rapid enough for ordinary travelers. It is such an effective way of get- 
ting over the country, that not only government officers take advantage of 
it but private individuals. Three passengers are usually carried, and the 
first difficulty is to obtain the " padaroshna," or government order, for 
the supply of horses. This obtained, a fresh relay is assured every thirty 
miles or so. Applying to the nearest post-station, a drosky on a large 
scale, a driver and horses are furnished, usually after sufficient delay to 
draw from the travelers an extra stipend to hurry up matters. In winter 
a broad sledge, filled with warm furs, is supplied, in place of the heavy, 
jolting tarantas. Whether the horses are three abreast or more, will 
depend upon the pressing nature of the errand. The animals are driven 
abreast, there being no pole to the wagon or sledge, but the horse 
between the thills guides, and his companions are fastened to the 
whiffletree. The collar, which resembles a horseshoe, is the duga, to the 
top of which is attached the bearing-rein, and underneath the highest 
part is fastened a big bell, to warn other furious drivers of the approach 
of the tornado. A most picturesque grouping of the horses is obtained 
from the manner in which they are harnessed, for the bearing-rein forces 
the animal within the shafts to hold his head high, while those to either 
side of him have their heads turned outward and their necks gracefully 
arched, having their intelligent eyes fixed upon the driver. 

The vehicle which the Imperial Government provides has been de- 
scribed as a cradle upon wheels. An armful of hay is spread over the 
bottom of the wooden box and you sit with your legs under the driver's 
seat. 

It should be no disappointment if the horses produced are lean and 
ungainly, for, under the generalship of a master, they may do wonders. 

Suppose the race commences — eight, ten, twelve miles an hour, for 
hundreds of miles. If the road is between important points, such as St. 
Petersburg and Moscow, it will be found in good order, the little station 
houses a few miles apart being occupied by retired soldiers, who see to its 
repairs. On each side are tall poles which mark the width of the winter 
road. Seated on his high seat, with his hands and arms full of reins, the 
driver urges on his steeds with shout and curse, encouragement, sarcasm, 
angler and affection beincr thrown at them in the various intonations of 
his voice. Now he draws his rushing children together, now spreads 
them over the entire width of the roadway, zigzaging from side to side, 
bounding over little bridges with only an inch to spare on either side, 
playing with his pets as if they were a pack of hounds in leash and he was 
only concerned in getting them over the ground. 




O 
P 



D 

« 



MODES OF TRAVEL. 9OI 

Travelers, even on the public roads, are not numerous, but it will 
sometimes happen that a whole procession of little government carts 
(telegas) will be met or overtaken, laden with hides, tallow, provisions 
and goods, or bearing merely messengers burdened with imperial orders 
flying along at the top of speed of which their little horses are capable. 
This is the opportunity for which the Russian postilion craves. If any- 
thing, he increases his furious gallop and winds in and out, in and out, 
taking the greatest pride in narrow escapes from total annihilation or 
from totally wrecking the smaller fry. In taking a journey of any length, 
it is often found a physical necessity to sleep at a post station. A 
wooden bench and a possible bundle of hay, furnished by the keeper, if 
sufificiently feed, are the accommodations which may be expected, with 
the further expectation of being disturbed several times during the 
night by 'beetles (and worse) and travelers, who, waiting to change their 
horses, smoke, laugh, chat and drink tea. 

Whether in Russia in Europe or in Siberia, the Russian driver is 
the same — tireless, brave, proud of his horses and his horsemanship, 
reckless because so skillful, and as impervious to cold as the Arctic bear. 

Traveling by steamer on the Volga and the Don does not repay one 
by offering any scenery, but rather by enabling one to come in. contact 
with so many of the races which go to make up the great empire. The 
Finns are rather silent, but the Tartars, who usually carry bundles of 
goods for sale which they have perhaps bought at the Nizhni-Novgorod 
fair, are communicative and lively. Whatever the temperature the 
Tartar wears a fur cap, and toward sunset he retires, with other good 
Mohammedans, to a quiet spot on deck, to kneel on his square of carpet 
and say his prayers. If the passage is by way of the Don, a number of 
burly Cossacks are always on board and when the steamer runs aground 
the discovery is made that they have their uses. They are dead-heads, 
in American parlance, and pay their fare by jumping overboard when- 
ever the steamer grounds and pulling it out of the mud. 

It is not at all likely that the empire will ever become netted with 
railways, but already the western half of Russia in Europe, with St. 
Petersburg and Moscow as the principal centers, have fair facilities. 
Strictly speaking St. Petersburg is the head of the system and Moscow 
is the center, the travel to the Black Sea ports and the Caucasus country 
being chiefly from the latter point. From St. Petersburg to Moscow 
the line is straight as an arrow, because the Czar ordered it so ; and if 
the autocrat of the Russias should decide to build a line from St. 
Petersburg to Behring's Strait it would undoubtedly be constructed, but 
considering the question economically, Siberia is not destined to be a 



902 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

land of railroads. The cars are heated with small stoves, few stops are 
made, and if the aim is to get from point to point twice as fast as by 
horse conveyance the modern steed will be patronized. 

Whether traveling by rail or river, however, there is one peculiar 
custom which is constantly obtruding itself upon the native's pocket- 
book. In Russia the bedding does not go with the bedroom. Pillows^ 
blankets, bed-linen and towels are extra, and are borne around as lug- 
gage by the Russian traveler. The bedrooms are thoroughly heated in 
cold weather, so that a blanket and a pillow are all the bulky articles 
which are required; but it causes the foreigner to smile internally, when 
stopping at railway stations or hotels, to see men and women carrying 
their pillows. 

Tea is as much the popular beverage in Russia as beer is in Ger- 
many. At the eating stations on the line of the railroads, in each private 
house, the invariable brass urn is on hand filled with hot water. A 
charcoal fire is kept burning beneath and whether it is the train of pas- 
sengers or the master of the house that arrives, tea is the first considera- 
tion. The boiling' water is poured over the leaves in the porcelain or 
earthen tea pot. The liquid is not allowed to steep but is quickly trans- 
ferred to glasses or cups, and drunk with lemon and sugar. Counting 
houses, cafes, street booths, all have their tea urns. Not only does the 
mode of preparing the tea give the delicious drink its fragrant first 
strength, but the overland journey through Mongolia and Southern 
Siberia prevents the salt sea breezes from extracting any of its vigor ; a 
sea voyage, in fact, is said to have a deleterious effect, so that few Euro- 
peans outside of Russia really know what good tea is, 

EXILES TO SIBERIA. 

Exiled to Siberia ! The very sentence has a hopeless, weary sound 
to it. Yet, except to the very worst classes of offenders, the sentence is 
not so much a living death as an escape from the wearing delay of the 
Russian courts. To exiles, however, who are sent to the mines for life, 
there can be nothing surrounded with such terrors as the portentous 
words of the Russian court. After being tried, the offender is removed 
from the common prison to a plain building, where all those destined 
for Siberia, of whatever sex, age, or degree of wickedness, are huddled 
together. The friends of the prisoners are allowed free access to them, 
but escape from the empire, as every one knows, would be next to an 
impossibility ; consequently escape from the prison would be useless. 
The rendezvous for exiled criminals is Moscow. Before their departure 



EXILES TO SIBERIA. 



903 



on their long journey they are visited by a committee of citizens who 
inquire if there is any reason for delay. If there is a good one, such as 
sickness or the expected coming of a relative, the respite is granted ; 
but everything being at length in readiness active preparations are made 
for the departure. 

" The scene is then transferred to a yard, where the parties are all 
collected ; several barrels of qvass and abundance of bread are provided 
for their refreshment, and a priest furnishes each person with a book of 
prayers and other religious works ; what little money they may have is 
taken from them, to prevent their losing it or being plundered on the 
road, and a receipt is given them for the full amount which they are en- 
titled to reclaim on their arrival. All this is excellent and praiseworthy, 
but the worst is to follow. Piles of chains and an anvil tell the tale of 
suffering to be endured on the weary 
march, and as the men are arranged in 
little squads of six or eight individuals 
the manacles are fixed and are not to be 
removed until the journey is accom- 
plished. Single individuals have irons 
riveted round the ankles connected with 
chains fastened round the waist, and thus 
are comparatively free in their move- 
ments ; but others, being handcuffed and 
linked to a long chain passing from one 
to the other, are entirely dependent on 
each other's will as they walk in file. 
The day's march is about ten miles, and 
thus the journey occupies at least four 
months, during which time the chains 
are not removed nor the arrangements altered. It is worse than hard 
ship ; it is torture. The women prisoners are without bonds, and bring 
up the rear of the procession with the little carts containing the bag 
gage of the party and the wives and children who have selected a volun 
tary exile. The caravan is accompanied by a guard of soldiers, whose 
responsibility is of so penal a character that they are made to take the 
place and suffer the sentence of any prisoner who may escape." 

The average journey of the exiles is ten miles daily, and the average 
weight of chains upon the hands and feet, four pounds. They have 
regular sleeping places, and many of the exiles are accompanied by their 
families. The weary journey lies due east, through the city of Kazan, 
and if the prisoner is wealthy his chances are decreased of dying upon 




A SIBERIAN EXILE. 






904 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



the road. The exiles are much less in number than in former years, 
and whereas over thirty per cent, formerly died upon the way, now fif- 
teen per cent, fail to reach the mines of the Ural Mountains and Eastern 
Siberia, or the various towns of Southern Siberia. 

Before starting, the convicts are inspected by a surgeon, and those 
who can not walk are placed in carriages, with many of the wives and 
children. It sometimes happens that male relatives, who are not crim- 
inals, accompany the squad on foot. The journey lasts seven or eight 
months. The prisoners are allowed to talk and sing, if they have the 
heart to do it, and if they are not bound for the mines they know that 
their condition will not be bad when they settle as colonists in the not 
unfertile tracts of Southern Siberia. They generally pass through the 
towns at night, but the peasants of the villages on the way feel such 

pity for them that 
they usually bring 
the weary tramps 
jugs of liquor, im- 
mense piles of 
bread, and even 
better food. The 
contributions are 
so liberal that the 
guards sell the ex- 
cess and purchase 
additional cloth- 
ing for the con- 
victs. Thouo^h 




VIEW OF OMSK. 



the prisoners may 
speak among 

themselves no outsider is allowed to converse with them, so that all 
these good offices are done amid perfect silence. 

The Asiatic portion of the journey is the most trying, and if winter 
weather has set in the mortality is shocking. Upon their arrival in the 
country beyond the Urals, the worst criminals are sent to the mines. In 
former days they never again saw the light of day, but now they are not 
kept underground more than eight hours a day, and have their freedom 
on Sundays. The next grade are employed on public works for a time, 
and afterward are allowed to become colonists. 

The colonists of Southern Siberia are politically dead, but are gen- 
erally prosperous, the descendants of the early convicts being especially 
fortunate; some of them are very rich. The convict colonist commences 



GOVERNMENT AND ARMY LIFE. 



905 



an entirely new life in a community which is under military surveillance, 
it is true, but in which no one is allowed to remind him of the past. 
Both in the public reports and in conversation, if he is designated in a 
general way, he is simply called " the unfortunate." Within a few )'ears 
he can establish a good home and be the owner of a field which will suf- 
fice for the wants of his family. Omsk, in Western Siberia, is one of the 
best known of the convict towns. Colonists, convicts to the mines and 
voluntary exiles, such as wives and children, are estimated to compose 
over 100,000 of the population of Siberia. 

GOVERNMENT AND ARMY LIFE. 

As one would be able to gather, by putting together certain facts 
already given, the government and army of Russia are one. Whether 
in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, the 
Don country, the country of the Caucasus 
or Siberia, attempt to place your hand on 
a civil official and you will touch an army 
officer, or there will be one within reach. 
The vast extent of the empire and the 
restless character of its numerous semi- 
civilized tribes make military rule, to a 
great extent, a necessity. 

St. Petersburg is covered by the 
imperial guards as well as the police. 
The active army faces the frontier of 
Europe, with head-quarters at Warsaw, 
a separate corps being reserved for Mos- 
cow and Novgorod. The army of the 
Caucasus includes the Cossacks, the Cir- 
cassians, and Tartars, with many Poles 
who are being gradually drawn from their 
old kingdom. A division of infantry 
occupies Finland, and another is scattered 
over Siberia, subject to the call of the 
governors. In the government of Nov- 
gorod, east of St. Petersburg, and in soldier of the Caucasus. 

various governments of Southern Russia, are whole brigades and 
squadrons of infantry and cavalry who are outwardly tillers of the soil. 
Lands belonging to the Crown are divided among reliable peasants, who 
are furnished with stock and implements, and each must maintain a 
soldier. When not engaged in the service, the soldier assists the peas- 




9o6 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



ant. Both colonists and soldiers are deprived of their beards, and 
uniformed, the peasants being entitled to the surplus of their produce 
after they have contributed to the common magazine of the village and 
done their share toward keeping the roads in repair. Soldiery and 
peasantry intermarry, and the children generally enter the army. In 
addition to the principal soldier, each peasant retains in his cottage a 
substitute, usually his own son, so that if the regular limb of the army 
dies the vacancy can be at once filled. 

The Guard of the Interior and the gendarmes are the police of the 

army, the political 
police and spies, 
and form the con- 
nection between 
the widely-extend- 
ed secret service 
and the milicary — 
the stone wall 
against which nihi- 
1 i s m commonly 
dashes itself. 

The Russian 
soldiers are care- 
fully drilled, and 
for blind obedi- 
ence, wonderful en- 
durance and un- 
flinching courage 
have not their su- 
periors in Europe. 
The great aim 
seems to be to 
teach both infantry 
and cavalry to fire 
rapidly. Capital 
punishments are 
rare. They are occasionally inflicted in times of war, but the usual 
forms of punishment are transportation to Siberia or corporal dis- 
cipline. Formerly, nobles, magistrates, clergymen, students, and mer- 
chants and traders, enrolled in the different guilds, were exempt 
from service. The noble could nominate his serf to fill up a 
quota, the slave becoming a free man when he entered the army. 




A COSSACK OF THE LINE. 



THE SWORD AND THE CROSS. 



907 



If he deserted he was again enslaved. Now there is an annual con- 
scription to which all able-bodied men are liable who have completed 
their twenty-first year. If they so desire, however, educated young 
men may enter a short period of service from their seventeenth year. 
Fifteen years is the period of service in the army, six in the active 
and nine in the reserve. During the latter period the soldier is liable 
to service only in time of war. Under the general law, however, the 
Cossacks, the Finns and the non-Russian tribes are not liable, mili- 
tary service with them being regulated by special enactments. 

Neither army officers nor soldiers save fortunes from their salaries. 
Besides a few allowances and mess money the officer is entitled to a 
servant or two from the government, whom he must equip at personal 
expense. The pay of the common soldier consists of a few dollars in 
money, a new uniform and a stock of flour, salt and meal On fete 
days an Imperial Guard is enabled to eat butcher's meat at govern- 
ment expense, but the soldier of the line has no such allowance. With 
all this niggardly treatment the Czar spends over $100,000,000 on his 
army and as much more for his navy ; but it is quite likely that if the 
pay were not so inadequate there would be less jobbing and thieving 
in the service. 

THE SWORD AND THE CROSS. 

The great ally which the Czar possesses in the Church is never so for- 
cibly shown as when his armies are turned toward Constantinople. Then, 
it matters not what the real pretext, the conflict is held up to view as a 
holy war. Never was this truth so evident as when the last imperial 
proclamation of war issued against Turkey. At two o'clock in the 
afternoon a solemn service was ordered to be held in each church of the 
Russian empire, the declaration of war having been read in these 
thousands of holy places. Moscow, especially, that superb, church- 
laden city, which in the Kremlin alone contains almost a city of churches, 
was stirred to its depths. 

Within the massive gates of the FZremlin are cathedrals and 
churches where the Czars have been baptized, crowned, married and 
buried. The Cathedral of the Assumption was the most abandoned 
scene of warlike and religious fervor. Its entrance was kept clear by 
soldiers, and soldiers kept open a passage for the carriage of the Gover- 
nor-General and the plumed generals and officers, with swords and 
spurs. 

At length the civil and military leaders of the people were assem- 
bled and the services commenced. The royal proclamation was read,. 



•908 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

iDlessings were bestowed upon the imperial arms, prayers were said, 
noble and peasant knelt together In a common cause and the bells in 
all the churches of Moscow and the two Russias lashed and clanged 
the empire into fury. The dense crowds without in vain attempted to 
breathe the incense within the temples, and then shouted and reeled 
through the streets, intoxicated with war and smothered beneath war- 
like flao^s and emblems. 

In speaking of the Greek Church we usually have in mind the 
Russian Church. There is no Patriarch of the Church, as there was 
before Peter's time. The first step towards the founding of the State 
Church was to make the see of Moscow a patriarchate, with jurisdiction 
over the empire, and to cut clear of the Patriarch of Constantinople, 
This was the doing of the Church, however, and the father of Peter the 
Great did not like the pretensions of his bishop. But when Peter 
ascended the throne he proposed to have no one the head of the mighty 
National Church but himself. So when he had matured his plans he 
waited for the death of the Russian Patriarch. He died, and the Czar 
appointed an acting director of the Church, whom he called the Exarch. 
When the people had forgotten to miss their Patriarch, the office was form- 
ally abolished, and the affairs of the Church were placed in the hands of 
the Holy Synod, comprised of high ecclesiastics, and forming a grand 
department of the government. The Minister of Public Worship 
is ex officio a member of the Synod. The liturgy of the Greek Church 
is the same as that of Constantinople, but in the State Church it is cele- 
brated in the Slavonic language. As the Czar appoints all the members 
of the Holy Synod, the Russian Church is both imperial and national 
in its character. The Emperor can not modify the dogmas of the Church, 
but the entire org-anization is under his autocratic control. 



& 



IMAGE WORSHIPING. 

In nearly every peasant's house, in a corner of the room facing 
the door, will be seen a representation of the Saviour or Madonna. 
Sometimes the figure is embossed and covered with a metallic sheet, 
the face and hands being painted. On entering the hut orthodox 
Christians bow to the representation, which may be an inch or a foot 
square, and cross themselves. Before and after eating the same cere- 
mony is performed. If the day is a noteworthy one in the Church 
calendar, the icon, as it is called, is honored and illuminated by a special 
lamp placed before it. 

The Czar himself has his icon Icons are scattered from one ex- 
tremity of Russia to the other, whole villages busying themselves in their 



TYPICAL CEREMONIES, 909- 

manufacture. The pretentious icons are ornamented with gold work^. 
pearls and precious stones of great value. 

Besides these simple or symbolic pictures, many of the churches and 
monasteries of the Russian Church have in their possession icons which 
have been pronounced by the Holy Synod to be of divine origin and of 
miraculous properties. They are found in the ground, in caves, in trees, 
and other out-of-the-way places, the priest or peasant who discovered them 
having been guided to the treasure by supernatural agents. These so- 
called divine manifestations are common to the Greek Church and the: 
Roman Catholic, and costly edifices are erected from the offerings which 
pious pilgrims lay at the shrines of the visible objects. As at Lourdes, 
in France, the people flock to the scene of the manifestation, bringing- 
with them their diseases and departing whole; so proclaims the Holy 
Synod for the Russian Church as does the Pope for the Catholic Church. 
Such icons become so famous that the anniversaries of their discovery 
are celebrated by the whole Church, and it becomes almost a matter of 
dispute as to which city or church shall be blessed by their presence- 
One of the most famous of these miracle-workers is the Kazan Madonna. 
It was brought from Kazan, that Tartar stronghold, in the fourteenth 
century, and afterward transferred from Moscow to Peter's new capital. 
It had a cathedral built for it; and now, at any hour of the day, the: 
devout will be found kneeling on the polished marble floor, with their 
foreheads pressed to the cold stone, praying before the mother of the. 
carpenter's son, whose image is decorated with jewels said to be worth 
$75,000. In the center of her crown is a large sapphire. The screen 
around the image as well as the balustrades are said to be of pure silver 
being an offering of the Cossacks of the Don after they had returned 
from their harassing pursuit of the French army. 

TYPICAL CEREMONIALS. 

The burial of a priest of the Greek Church is eminently character- 
estic of its ceremonials. We describe an actual scene. The church, 
was filled to suffocation with perspiring peasants, the heads of most of 
the women being bound with thick shawls. All carried lighted candles. 
In the center of the edifice lay the body of the deceased, clad in his 
ecclesiastical robes and reposing in a white gilded coffin, while the face 
and hands were half buried in white lace. Tall lighted candles draped 
with white crape surrounded the dead priest, and the officiating brothers 
were clad in magnificent robes in which appeared no sombre color. 
Everything was bright or pure white. The head of the deceased was- 
bound with a fillet on which was written "The Thrice Holy," 



9IO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

After many chants had been intoned for the repose of the soul, 
priests, relatives and friends came reverently forward to receive the last 
kiss, some being allowed to kiss the cold clay, others contenting them- 
selves with a pressure of the lips upon the cold coffin. Both forms of 
salutation are thought to be equivalent to the bestowal of a blessing. 
While this affecting ceremony is progressing, a service is being read, 
impressing upon those present the uncertainty of human life, after which 
the absolution is pronounced and a paper is placed in the dead priest's 
hand — "The Prayer, Hope and Confession of a Faithful Christian 
Soul." Then an attendant took away the lighted tapers from the mourners, 
the coffin was removed to the hearse without, which was hung with white 
silk and purple and gilt draperies, a gilt crown surmounting all. Two 
priests, robed in ^^ellow garments, stood upon the bier facing each other 
and watching the dead — who is never left alone while the body is 
unburied — while censer-bearers, singing men and boys and the attendant 
holy brothers completed the procession, which slowly passed along the 
street crowded with figures whose every head was bare. As the mourners 
approached a church, the bells were rung, the procession halted, and did 
not again proceed until the receiving priests had laden the air with 
incense and sent the pageant, blessed, on its way. Thus it was passed 
on, from one holy church and brotherhood to the next, receiving a con- 
tinuous benediction from the spectators on the streets and at windows 
of houses, who crossed themselves and took part in the funeral service 
as the procession moved on its way to the cemetery. 

The baptism of a Russian infant of noble blood is usually a matter 
which is in the hands of his god-parents. The god-father stands with 
the god-mother in front of the baptismal font and presents a small golden 
cross which the baby is expected to thereafter wear. The ceremonies 
comprise a blowing in the infant's face three times, signing its name on 
forehead and breast, immersion, and anointing the various parts of the 
body with the holy unction prepared during Holy Week, within the walls of 
the Kremlin, and consecrated by the Metropolitan. There is considerable 
marching around by the god-parents and an impressive service. The 
concluding act is for the priest to cut off a small portion of the child's 
hair in four different places on the crown of the head, inclose it in a mor- 
sel of wax and throw it into the font. 

NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 

The nobility form a separate body in every province, being gov. 
erned by a marshal of their choosing. They pay no poll tax, but are no 
longer free from conscription. After them comes the clergy, which for 



NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 



911 



twenty years has not been an hereditary class. The sons of clergymen, 
irrespective of their preferences, are not obliged to follow the service of 
the church. The merchants are next in the social scale, and then the 
burghers and peasants. Since the abolition of serfdom in Russia there 
are no castes, and since then social distinctions are less marked than they 
formerly were. A peasant may become a merchant or a noble. He 
may enter the church and all government preferments are open to him. 
The son of a priest may become a peasant or a noble. The fences are 
down, although the fields are still staked out ; but the classes are social 
rather than political. 

The slavery of the Russian peasant was of a double kind. He 
was bound to the soil and to his master. The Tartar composition 
of his blood made him prone to wander, and to wander at pleasure 
meant to rebel. Therefore the slavery of the Russian peasant was, 
primarily, a matter of state policy. The noble was the Czar's police 
of^cer, though unappointed. He was a task-master, and often a hard 
one, and he was also an unofficial preserver of the peace. In a way 
he accomplished his mission ; for the peasantry, as a class, were never 
the Nihilists of Russia. They cultivated the great estates of the nobil- 
ity and were allowed to get a living from a certain piece of land as 
long as they remained rooted to the soil. How the nobles abused their 
position to crush manhood and degrade womanhood has been told in 
whole libraries. The strongest protests, however, came from a numer- 
ous outside class. The Emperor freed the 22,000,000 serfs and gave 
them land to cultivate. He issued the imperial decree two years before 
Lincoln signed the Proclamation of Emancipation, but Alexander of 
Russia only changed one form of slavery into another. That of the 
later days is not quite so grievous, which is the best that can be said 
of it. 

Once the peasant was bound personally to the noble ; now he is 
bound financially to both the Czar and the noble. The government 
assumed, when the serf became a freeman and received the hut and the 
garden patch as his own and was an authorized member of the com- 
mune which holds the villas^e lands, that he was indebted to his former 
master to a certain amount. He had no freedom of choice ; the land 
was thrust into his Jiands, and he was made a financiah slave. The gov- 
ernment advances four-fifths of his debts to the noble, and the remaining 
fifth he still owes to his former master. The government also receives 
its five per cent, interest on the sum it advances, this being paid to it by 
the village or commune of which every peasant is a member. The com- 
mune is the local government, in which every peasant has a voice. To 



912 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

it the government granted lands in common, which are apportioned every 
three years according to the number of laboring men and women which 
the family can muster. The commune is responsible as a whole for the 
government interest, the fifth of the debt due the-nobility and all other 
taxes and duties. In some communes the soil is poor ; in others there 
are too many idlers — sometimes the peasants manage to meet their 
liabilities, and at other times they can not see how Alexander the Czar 
did them so good a turn. Under the old serf system when an estate 
was not profitably cultivated it was customary for the landlord to allow 
his peasants to seek other more profitable employment ; such a course 
of action was designated " for the good of the estate." It is for a simi- 
lar reason that the communes throughout Russia are granting leaves-of- 
absence, by the thousands, to the manufacturing and commercial towns 
of the Empire. The peasant could run away if he had a noble master; 
so now he can flee from his commune : but if he has not made up his 
mind to cut all Russian ties, he is obliged to pay into the treasury of his 
commune a percentage of his extra earnings, as he was when he had a 
noble for a master. In many cases, also, the peasant works for his old 
master, cultivating the smaller estate with his own communal field, and, 
with the aid of a whole family, faithfully striving to lift a galling burden 
of debt which was placed there by imperial hands which were supposed 
to be friendly. He is almost as much a slave to the soil as he was pre- 
vious to 1 86 r, when he was politically a serf. 

It is against such a state of affairs that a large class of educated 
Russians is growing up between the Nihilists and the government. 
Their blood boils at the abuses, but they are not blood-thirsty. There 
are many Count Tolstois in spirit, but few so bold and none so able. 
The Nihilists compose the visible opposition to nobility and royalty, and 
their dark- red organization is one of the wonders of the century. How 
PTeat or how little it is no one knows. But it raises its head in the 

o 

most unexpected quarters. Now a student, now a carpenter, here a 
Jewish peddler, there a noble lady are pounced upon by the secret ser- 
vice. Though the Czar station an official before the doorway of every 
lodging house in St. Petersburg, suspicious persons prowl in and out 
and secret meetings are held. Those whom he trusts as his agents are 
Nihilists themselves. His very lackey may be meditating a bomb. An 
unpopular police official is shot. The woman is tried by jury " for attempt" 
and is acquitted. There must be Nihilists on the jury! Letters are 
mysteriously sent to the Czar and his officials and revolutionary posters ap- 
pear on thewalls of public buildings. The letters are torn up, the posters 
are taken down, extra spies are placed around and in the royal palaces, and 



NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 



913 



keen policemen"patrol the streets night and day. While a spy nods or 
a patrolman turns a corner another letter falls upon the Emperor's pri- 
vate table or an incendiary sheet flares from a blank brick wall. The 
Nihilists compose the visible-invisible opposition to the imperial gov- 
ernment of Russia. 

To resume : The communal land is of three kinds. First is the 
village plat, including the house gardens ; second, the arable land ; and, 
third, the meadow land. The arable land is divided into a number of 
long, narrow strips. " Sometimes it is necessary to divide the field into 
several portions, according to the quality of the soil, and then to sub- 
divide each of these portions into the requisite number of strips. Thus, 




A RUSSIAN VILLAGE. 



in all cases, every household possesses at least one strip in each field ; 
and in those cases where subdivision is necessary, every household pos- 
sesses a strip in each of the portions into which the field is subdivided. 
This complicated process of division and subdivision is accomplished by 
the peasants themselves, with the aid of simple measuring rods, and the 
accuracy of the result is truly marvelous." 

"The meadow, which is reserved for the production of hay, is 
divided into the same number of shares as the arable land. There, how- 
ever, the division and distribution take place annually. Every }'ear, 
on a day fixed by the Assembly, the villagers proceed in a body to this 

58 



9 14 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

part of their property, and divide it into the requisite number of portions. 
Lots are then cast, and each family at once mows the portion allotted 
to it. In some communes the meadow is mown by all the peasants in 
common, and the hay afterward distributed by -lot among the families ; 
but this system is by no means so frequently used." 

"As the whole of the communal land thus resembles, to some 
extent, a big farm, it is necessary to make certain rules concerning 
cultivation. A family may sow what it likes in the land allotted to 
it, but all families must at least conform to the accepted system of rota- 
tion. In like manner a fam.ily can not begin the autumn plowing before 
the appointed time, because it would thereby interfere with the rights of 
the other families who use the fallow field as pasturage." 

IN, A PEASANT VILLAGE. 

A Russian village is as different from a German, Dutch, English or 
American villaore as the Arctic Ocean is from the Mediterranean Sea. 
Some little distance from the road stretch two rows of mud or log huts, 
with not a school-house in sight. There is a gilded church, with a grand 
spire, and a beautiful altar and many rich decorations within. This 
costly church is drawn from the home of the peasant — one-third of his 
earnings go to it. The result is that in summer the hut of the average 
peasant is too close and squalid to be occupied, and whole villages sleep 
in the street or in the balconies of their houses. Few of their homes 
boast the luxury of a bed, and in winter they stow themselves around the 
stove. The stove is of brick and whitewashed, and an enormous shelf is 
often constructed from it to the wall, upon which a portion of the family 
sleep. In very cold weather even some of the members may sleep upon 
it ; for there is no limit either to the heat or the cold which a Russian 
can endure. 

This fact is most evident when the peasant takes his regular vapor 
bath, every Saturday afternoon. With him it has a religious significance, 
symbolic of spiritual purification. Some villages have public or com- 
munal baths, but many peasants take their steamings in the great house- 
hold oven in which the family cooking is done. From a temperature 
which we should hesitate to designate in fio-ures thev rush into the 
extreme of cold and roll in the snow. The houses outside, are some- 
times adorned with bright colored carvings, the cracks between the logs 
being stuffed with moss and lime. 

But the peasant pays two-thirds of his substance to the church and 
to the crown, eats his cabbage soup and drinks his tea and liquor, and 



THE GREAT MIDDLE CLASS. 915 

worships thankfully in the grand church. When the tax collector comes 
around, once a )'ear, he has his money ready and sees it go into the bag 
of the Czar's representative, without a murmur. But the Russian 
peasant is far from cheerful ; he is merely resigned under a despotism. 
The women do not show the attractive weakness of their sex for per- 
sonal adornment. They wear a loose robe, fastened at the neck and 
buttoned down the front, and over this an apron fastened over the 
shoulders by two short braces. Those of the better class wear boots 
reaching to the knee, but the majority of them are barefooted. 

THE GREAT MIDDLE CLASS. 

The merchants belong to the town population, and they have, as 
fellow-citizens, divided into separate guilds, burghers and artisans. Any 
one may engage in mercantile pursuits by joining the guild and paying 
his dues ; strictly speaking, lie will have the standing of a merchant by 
so doing. When he ceases to pay his dues he ceases, officially, to be a 
merchant and returns to the class from which he came. He might have 
been a peasant, or a burgher — which latter is a permanent resident who 
has not joined the guild of artisans or merchants. The peasant often 
joins the trade corporation, although maintaining his connection with 
the commune or the landed corporation of which he is a member. 

The Russian merchant is at the head of the town classes, but he is 
not, as a rule, an educated man. It would be nothing unusual if he 
could not read or write. He is the conservative of the empire, as are 
his brethren in all lands. A disturbance of the existino- order of things 
would be likely to disturb business. He therefore stands midway in the 
scale between imperialism and nihilism — first the Czar, second the 
noble, third the merchant, fourth the bloodless agitator and fifth the 
nihilist. The merchant mounts upon the shoulders of the bankrupt 
noble. He buys his house, or builds a fine one himself as near like it as 
possible. He places in his mansion the same order of great mirrors, grand 
pianos and rich furniture. His floors are marble and his curtains are of 
the most costly material. But with him ever^'thing is merely to have, 
sometimes not even to show. The educated noble entertains royally. He 
is a linguist, a musician, a politician, a traveler, a man of the broad 
world and a fascinating gentleman with all his faults. He gambles, he 
spends his money recklessly, but he throws himself and his establishment 
open to society and revels in publicity and the fruitfulness of his resources. 
Except the merchant has something to gain by it he shuts up the best 
rooms of his mansion and lives in the shabbiest. His life, experiences 



91 6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and reading having been confined, and not wishing to expose any of the 
secrets of his business, conversation is naturally circumscribed. The 
merchant dresses according to his rank, owns and exhibits fast trotters, 
and is proud of the patronage of government officers, but scouts the 
hereditary nobility. He subscribes liberally to churches, monasteries and 
benevolent objects, but the price of his subscription is often a decoration. 

ST. PETERSBURG. 

St. Petersburg is worthy of the vast empire which it represents ; 
its vastness, the width of its streets, the area of its public squares, the 
gigantic dimensions of its palaces, churches and houses are simply 
oppressive. There is a self-conciousness about the city that its architect 
had deliberately set out to build the most magnificent monument to 
kingly ambition in the world. St. Petersburg was raised from the marsh 
on the graves and shoulders of slaves, but it no doubt impresses the 
world as its founder meant that it should. He also wanted a port on 
the Baltic Sea, and he obtained it, although there was not a square rod of 
the site which he had chosen which would support a massive structure. 

The nobles, the criminals, the men, women and children of the 
two Russias all contributed toward the furtherance, of this mammoth 
work. The nobles were obliged to build palaces and the proceeds of 
the sale of lands to them helped erect the government structures. 
Every boat upon Russian waters and every cart on Russian soil fur- 
nished timber, stone or brick. But the city was founded, fairly lifted 
above the mud, within a period of nine years. Succeeding monarchs 
seemed inspired with the determination of Peter the Great, and, though 
the foundations of bridges and buildings might periodically disappear, 
a new set of pilings was driven upon the old and the work of extending 
the city went on. 

Hare Island it is called where Peter laid the first walls of his 
spacious capital. He superintended the building of one of the fortress 
bastions himself, his chief officers taking charge of the other work. "At 
first the fortifications were only built of wood, but three years afterwards 
they were reerected in stone by masons from Novgorod, who were 
assisted by the soldiers. The first fortress was begun May i6, 1703, 
and finished in five months. Wheelbarrows were unknown, and the 
workmen scraped up the dirt with their hands, and carried it to the 
ramparts in their shirts or in bags made of matting. Two thousand 
thieves and other criminals sentenced to Siberia, were ordered to serve 
under the Novgorod workmen. Peter constructed a little brick cottage 



ST. PETERSBURG. 917 

just outside the fortress which he called his palace. Every large vessel 
on the Neva was forced to bring thirty stones, every small one ten, and 
every peasant's cart three, toward the building of the new city." 

St. Petersburg stands but fifty-six feet above the level of the sea, and 
every year when the ice breaks up the lower part of the city is threatened 
with inundation. Warnings of any threatened danger are given from the 
citadel which stands upon an island in the Neva; but even the prompt 
discharge of guns has not always proved effective in giving the citizens 
timely warning. Evidence of this fact is still found in some quarters of 
the city in which red plates are seen affixed to various houses, twelve and 
fourteen feet above the street, and marking the point to which the flood 
reached in 1824, when thousands of persons perished. Little attention 
is given to the firing of the first gun, that indicating merely an inunda- 
tion. At the second gun people bestir themselves in the lower town and 
commence to move the horses from the stables. The third gun produces 
a panic. 

The canals of St. Petersburg, although furnished with broad granite 
quays, are little used for commerce. The primary object was to drain 
the marshes, and that object has been principally kept in view. Immense 
barges, however, pass back and forth, laden with firewood, building stone 
and rubbish, so that the streets are less encumbered with heavy wagons 
and carts than in other large cities. As in Holland, the women of St. 
Petersburg find the canals convenient for washing purposes. Most of the 
produce and merchandise, also, which comes from the interior of the em- 
pire is distributed to the great markets and warehouses by means of the 
canals. Much of the fruit and grain comes up on these barges from the 
Odessa region ; also hay, in great stacks, is piled upon them and floated 
from the interior. The firewood, which is mainly of birch, is cut in 
lengths ready for the stove, and the barges themselves, which are little 
better than rafts, are often broken up for fuel. The felling of trees, the 
construction of barges, and the transportation of flesh, fish and fowl to 
the great Frozen Market occupy much of the peasant's time during the 
winter months. 

The Neva does not connect St. Petersburg directly with the marine 
world, for though broad it is too shallow at its mouth to admit large ves- 
sels. Cronstadt is the port of entry and the great vessels whose hulls 
are built in the city's dock yards are floated to its port to receive masts, 
rigging, cargoes or armament. The harbor of Cronstadt is divided into 
three sections — the outer, or military, for ships of the line ; the middle, 
for repairing vessels, and the inner, used only by merchant vessels. 

The town, built on the island of Kotlin, opposite the mouth of the 



91 8 PANORAMA OF NATIONS, 

Neva, is strongly fortified, being entered by three gates. It contains a 
marine hospital, barracks, cannon foundry, and the small palace in which 
Peter resided, in the gardens of which are several oaks planted by 
his own hand. Between the two canals which intersect the well-built 
town is a naval academy, formerly a palace built by Prince Menchikoff. 
The city of St. Petersburg is divided by the River Neva into two 
great sections, the northern portion being built upon half a dozen islands 
and the southern upon the mainland. The latter is called the Great 
Side, and exhibits most of the grandeur which has rrade this youngest of 
European capitals so famous. 

THE WINTER PALACE. 

Perhaps the most prominent architectural feature of the capital is 
the Winter Palace, standing in a vast open space in the heart of the city. 
On two sides is the great Admiralty Square, on another the river, and 
on an opposite island the massive fortress, while the fourth side over- 
looks the Hermitage, once the favorite residence of Catherine II., with 
which it is connected by covered bridges. This palace, which, in dimen- 
sions, if not in magnificence, leads the world, is 700 feet square, and 
contains numerous great halls, saloons and suites of apartments, lavishly 
adorned with porphyry and marbles, and magnified into a hundred vast 
palaces by the immense mirrors of its lofty rooms. St. George's hall, 
in which are held the chapters of the different orders, is among the most 
brilliant. During the former residence of the Emperor the palace was 
occupied by six thousand people. 

The palace is used principally for ceremonials by the present Czar, 
who is not prepossessed with the great structure which furnishes so 
many opportunities for the Nihilists. About a year before his father 
was assassinated, near the Catherine Canal, an attempt was made upon 
his life at the Winter Palace; so that Alexander the III. prefers the 
palace on the Neva Perspective which he occupied while Crown Prince. 

The Winter Palace is painted a sort of an orange color, while yellow 
and blue are not unusual tints ; the prevailing color, however, is an imi- 
tation of sandstone. The main entrance looks upon the river. It is a 
marble vestibule of stately proportions and from it great stairways, adorned 
with historic figures in marble, lead to the throne room, reception rooms 
and splendid halls above. The hall of St. George, the reception rooms of 
the Empress and scores of other magnificent apartments, thrown open to 
the public, are blazing with golden decorations and oppressive with silks 
and tapestry, but the living rooms of former imperial families are unat- 



THE WINTER PALACE. 919 

tractive in the extreme. This is particularly true of the room in which 
the late Czar died and that which was the scene of Emperor Nicholas' 
death, whose heart is said to have broken over the capture of Sebastopol. 

" It is the smallest, plainest room in the whole building, and was at 
once his library and bedroom. Everything remains just as it was when 
he died, and a sentinel always stands at the door. Before the window 
is a small writing desk, upon which are his portfolio, pens, and paper 
exactly as he left them. The plain furniture is worn and dilapidated. 
The iron bedstead, nothing but a camp cot, on which he slept for years, 
is in the corner of the room, with the great military coat he always used 
as a coverlid lying upon it. His patched slippers are beside the bed, 
and upon nails driven in the wall hang his uniform. In a chest of 
drawers near by is his coarse underclothing, and his cane and sword 
are hanging from a hook, with his hat above them. On the walls are 
portraits of some of his generals, and on his little table at the head of 
his bed, with a candlestick and a prayer book, well used, are the pictures 
of his wife and children. Adjoining the little chamber is an ante-room 
in which his ministers awaited an audience, and they had to sit upon an 
ordinary wooden bench. A spiral staircase leads to the rooms of the 
Empress above, so that he and she could go back and forth without pass- 
ing through any other room, and there was a concealed entrance by 
which he could reach the street and return without being observed by 
any one." 

The candle light which has heretofore flickered and gleamed upon 
the magnificence of the Winter Palace has given place to the electric 
glory. It should be added that the Winter Palace is not alone honored 
with electric lights. Nearly all the places of public resort — theatres, 
hotels, government buildings, gardens — have them, as well as many of 
the splendid palaces along the Neva River and the Perspective. The 
merry ring of the telephone is heard in all the land ; the telegraph wires 
are strung on ornamental brackets along the houses, and the only thing 
that is not modern about St. Petersburcr is her ancient fire tower, with 
its watchman, signal balls and lanterns. 

The Hermitage connected with the Winter Palace contains a gallery 
of paintings, which is noted for its specimens of the Spanish school, and 
has a fine library as well. But the Imperial library exhibits an array of 
over 1,000,000 volumes, and is one of the greatest libraries in Europe, 
as the Winter Palace is among the first of her palaces. Before ceasing 
to wonder at the magnitude of the Czar's former home, it should be 
remembered that the first Winter Palace was destroyed by fire half a 
century ago, and that this one was erected and occupied within two years. 



920 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

PETER'S STATUE. 

From the Neva, this locahty presents a superb appearance. The 
Admiralty Square is a mass of grand buildings — -the Admiralty, with its 
lofty spire ; the ponderous cathedral of St. Izak, with its great bronze 
domes and massive pillars of red granite, and other structures of impres- 
sive size. Adjoining the Admiralty is the Palace Square, in which 
stands the monolith of red granite, erected to the memory of Alexander. 
An equestrian statue of Peter the Great, eighteen feet high, occupies 
Peter's Square. Then there is the Field of Mars, where the Gzar can 
review 50,000 troops at once. This stupenduous architectural array is 
all drawn up in mighty battalions, like the Russian troops massed 
for an attack upon the Turks, or waiting silently for the approval of their 
mighty monarch. 

Upon the enormous mass of granite which forms the pedestal to 
the statue is inscribed "Peter I., Catherine II., 1782." This pedestal 
is said to be the rock upon which Peter stood to witness a naval victory 
over the Swedes. It was brought from Finland, and in surmounting a 
few of the obstacles to get it to the Czar, a swamp was drained, a forest 
cut down and a long road constructed. 

The horse which Peter rides is represented as laboring up a steep 
ascent, horse and rider being one in fire and determination. They have 
nearly reached the top, and the Czar points with his right hand in the 
direction of the citadel which was the nucleus of his capital. He is 
seated upon a bear's skin and is clad in such simple garments that he 
might be either Russian or American The sculptor. Falconet, explains 
that Peter wished himself to abolish the Russian dress and that the skin 
on which he is seated is emblematic of the nation he refined. The artist 
put no sabre into his hand, because he wished to symbolize only the 
better nature of the Czar. He said, however, nothing about the animal 
which the Emperor bestrode ; the horse should represent the people 
striving upward with Peter the Great upon its back, its muscles strained 
and quivering in its endeavors to reach the summit of his ambitions. 

The suggestive figure of Peter looks toward the tombs of the Kings ; 
for within the citadel is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, whose 
lofty, slender spire marks the locality wherein are gathered the remains 
of all the monarchs of 'Russia since his day. A bridge crosses to the 
island. Near the northern entrance to the bridge which leads to the 
fortress is the most ancient church in St. Petersburg, where the Czar 
used to pray. It contains numerous relics, one of its chandeliers being 
turned by his own hand One of the boats which he built is preserved 



O 
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PETER'S STATUE. 92 I 

in his cottage which, in turn, is encased by a larger structure. Here also 
is the gigantic staff which he wielded. Since the death of the great, cruel 
Czar, part of the cottage has been used as a chapel. In his first modest 
palace, as well as in the more imperial buildings of the city, evidences 
are continually given of how, despite his gigantic works, Peter loved to 
labor with his own hands. One of the most elaborate is the sledore in 
which he used to travel thousands of miles, deposited in the Museum of 
Imperial Carriages. 

From the Admiralty spire, where the whole city is seen in a bird's eye 
view, one realizes how perfectly the emperors and empresses of Russia 
have developed Peter's idea to make his capital the prototype of the 
national character. If Berlin stands for Germany much more does St. 
Petersburg — a cold, gray, vast, massive city — stand for the empire of 
the Russias. Opposite our point of view is an island on which are the. 
Bourse, Academy of Sciences and various military establishments ; to 
the north the citadel island and other islands which resemble wardens 
and groves springing from the water for the purpose of sheltering the 
palaces and villas which they can not hide. The Great Side of St. 
Petersburg has the Admiralty spire as its center. The great canals 
which Catherine dug divide this portion of the city into several sec- 
tions, and the three principal streets radiate from the square. The 
Neva Perspective, as it stretches from the center of the city, increases in 
breadth and magnificence. Palaces, churches and splendid business ' 
structures tower above its dense bordering of foliage; for four miles it 
continues its triumphal march, and concludes by taking the first prize 
among the thoroughfares of Europe for unvarying grandeur. There are 
other streets founded upon the same plan but not upon the same scale. 

On the Neva Perspective are the military headquarters and the great 
bazaar in which 10,000 merchants are engaged in business. Greek, Cath- 
olic, Protestant and Armenian churches are strewn along this wonderful 
street, and at its extremity, also marking the city limits, are the convent 
and church of St. Alexander Nevskoi, containing the body of the saint 
in a silver sarcophagus, and the palace of the Metropolitan, a high priest 
of the State Church. The monastery was founded by Peter, to com- 
memorate the victory of Grand Duke Alexander over the Swedes in a 
battle fought upon the very spot. Centuries afterward the duke was 
canonized. 

Aside from the Church of St. I^ak, the only other fine religious edi- 
fice in St. Petersburg is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. The lady 
is believed to have the empire under her particular charge, and the cathe- 
dral was built to enshrine her picture, which is said to have the power of 



922 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



performing miracles. The monarchs of Russia worship at her shrine, 
both before they undertake anything of importance and after it is ac- 
comphshed, and therefore their coming is a portentous sign to the com- 
mon people. 

WINTER SPORTS AND SCENES. 

St. Petersburg is almost deserted, in summer, by the fashion and 
nobility of the city, but in winter it is the gayest of European capitals. 
Not only are there theatres especially fitted up for Italian, French, Ger-' 
man and Russian companies, but the peculiar winter sports which the 
people patronize have made the city like no other during the winter fes- 
tivities. It was then that the Winter Palace was once seen at the height 
of its glory. 

But although the great palace is not thrown open to the gayety of 

the winter season, as of yore, the 
residences of the nobility on the 
river front are flooded by brill- 
iancy. Each proprietor attempts 
to outdo the other in executing 
some original idea to entertain 
his friends and spread abroad the 
magnificence of his hospitality. 
By nature the Russians are hos- 
pitable, but it is foreign to their 
disposition to combine simplicity 
with it. One of the most ambi- 
tious of the hosts of St. Peters- 
burg flooded the lower part of 
his palace ^nd turned it into a 
magnificent skating rink, deco- 
rated with evergreens and lighted 
by thousands of wax candles. 
When the brilliant company of 
ladies and gentlemen, wrapped in rich furs, had skated to their hearts' 
content, they adjourned to the apartments above, removed their wraps 
and appeared in full dress to enjoy an elegant banquet. 

The typical St. Petersburg is out of doors in the winter. The river 
is, in places, a gay race course, over which the wealthy Russian merchants 
and noblemen speed their horses in harness, the sledges used being often 
mere shells not weighing more than fifty pounds. Unless the ice is perfect, 
skating is not so favorite a pastime as racing or coasting on the ice hills. 



/■•> 




A LADY OF FASHION. 



WINTER SPORTS AND SCENES. 923 

There are private hills patronized exclusively by Russian nobles, or by 
the fashionables of France, Germany, England and America. Elegant 
gentlemen and ladies, who live in palaces and to whorn precious stones 
are as common as cut-glass to the majority, keenly enjoy the exhilarating 
sport for hours at a time. There are immeube numbers of public slides 
for the masses, so that no one need pass a winter unsatisfied. Usually 
two slides are nearly opposite each other so that the end of one run is 
near the tower to the summit of which one must ascend in order to be 
prepared for another rush. Ice-boats, also, are competing for public favor, 
but as more skill is required in their management, the sport is not so 
popular as sliding. Skating is getting to be more popular, since long 
stretches of the river have been illuminated by electricity and bands of 
music are engaged to add elegance to the spore. The elderly people 
enter into the current of brisk life by being pushed along on chair sledges, 
cushioned and warm. 

As the winter season draws to a close and many of the visitors have 
departed, the opening of the river becomes a matter of interest and pro- 
lific subject for wagers. "As regards the opening of the river, it is made 
a matter of official ceremony ; and, although there may not be a particle 
of ice visible in the stream, still no boat is allowed to be launched till the 
governor of the citadel has made his official report to the Emperor. He 
carries to His Majesty a cup filled with water from the Neva and announces 
the freedom of the stream. The Emperor, after drinking the contents, 
returns the cup to the governor filled with ducats ; and a gun being 
fired from the citadel, proclaiming the completion of the ceremony, the 
river is almost instantly covered with boats." 

But before the river is formally opened by the Czar and his gov- 
ernor, its waters have to be blessed by the Metropolitan. The ceremony,, 
which is one common to the Greek Church, commemorates the baptism 
of the Saviour, but the State Church gives it a peculiarly Russian char- 
acter by making it a safeguard against the floods of the Neva. A 
temple of ice is erected on the river, and the baptisms take place either 
by sprinkling or immersion, a hole being cut in the ice for that purpose. 
The date of the ceremony is January 6. It may be of interest to know 
that both Peter the Great and his grandson, Peter II., caught the colds 
which caused their deaths attendino^ the ceremonies of the Benediction 
of the Neva. 

Another sight is usually in store for the visitor to St. Petersburg, 
which is almost peculiar to that city and Moscow. When winter sets in, 
from hundreds of miles around, even from the shores of the White Sea, 
sledges by the thousands are converging towards the capital, laden with 



924 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

frozen carcasses of pigs, goats, reindeer, oxen, hares, grouse and cod- 
fish. This army of peasants and huntsmen aim to reach the capital 
before Christmas, for that day inaugurates the Frozen Market, which is 
usually held in a large field at the entrance to the city, or in one of the 
public squares. The immense meat harvest is exposed in great piles, 
but if the weather continues good, deer and oxen, grouse and fish dis- 
appear in the cellars of rich and poor. The meat, which at first can be 
•only chopped and sawed, is thawed for eating by being plunged into 
cold water. Should a thaw set in, however, while the sledges are mak- 
ing their journeys of from a few hundred to a few thousand miles, or 
while the pyramids of grouse and the hillocks of deer are awaiting to be 
leveled by purchasers, the supplies are seized by the sanitary authorities 
and burned as unfit for food. The misfortune cuts like a two-edged 
sword ; for the peasants depend greatly upon their sales to tide them 
over the winter and the consumers suffer greatly for lack of their usual 
meat supply, so necessary to health in this climate. 

MOSCOW. 

If St. Petersburg represents modern Russia, Moscow is the personi- 
fication of ancient Russia. The bulk of the city lies on the north bank 
of the Moskva River, south of it being that portion which is built upon 
a series of small elevations called the Sparrow Hills. The fantastic city 
of spires, domes and minarets is surrounded by an earthen rampart, and 
the most prominent of all its attractions is the Kremlin. It stands forth 
grandly from its high position in the northern section of the city, its 
gigantic walls with their curious towers inclosing a mass of palaces, 
public buildings, monasteries and churches. The streets and lanes of 
Moscow radiate from the Kremlin, around which also run several broad 
boulevards ; the gates, above which rise great towers or spires, are 
among the most sacred localities of the sacred city. Especially is the 
Redeemer gate revered. Above it is a faded picture of the Saviour. 
Once within the Kremlin walls the tower of Ivan the Great is the most 
impressive object, looking down from its height of over 300 feet upon 
the surrounding structures. At the base of the structure is a chapel 
which, perhaps, is more frequented than the great bell. It is dedicated 
to St. Nicholas, and ladies about to be married repair faithfully to the 
shrine of their patron saint and say their prayers with more or less trep- 
idation. If war has been declared or victory perches upon the Rus- 
sian arms, Ivan the Great roars, clashes and thunders over the event 
with his three dozen ponderous bells, the largest of which weighs sixty- 
four tons. Near the foot of the mighty tower, upon a granite pedestal. 



MOSCOW. 925 

Stands Tsar Kolokol, the largest bell in the world. .Its summit is nearly 
twenty-five feet from the ground, and entrance to it is effected through 
an opening which was broken from its side by some heavy timbers which 
fell upon it during a fire. Tsar Kolokol has been converted into a 
sacred chapel, and no true Russian neglects to religiously cross himself 
when approaching it. 

Of the four cathedrals within the Kremlin the most famous is the 
Archangel Micliael, where members of the imperial family were buried 
for four centuries, until Peter the Great transferred his capital to St. 
Petersburg; the most interesting, from its great age, is the Church of 
the Redeemer in the Wood. 

The principal palace is comparatively modern, much of the city, in 
fact, dating from the time of the great fiire preceding Napoleon's dis- 
astrous retreat. Within the palace are magnificent halls in which meet 
the different knightly orders, and near it a treasure house containing 
royal and national arms and relics. The hall of St. George, which here^ 
as in the Winter Palace, is the most magnificent feature of the interior,. 
opens directly from the principal staircase which leads from the grand 
vestibule. Upon its marble walls, in letters of gold are inscribed those 
who have been knighted with the highest of the Russian orders. The 
ancient palace of the Czars is now in ruins. What remains of it after 
the French occupancy consists of two singular looking buildings, of 
Chinese architecture, one of which contains the old coronation hall. 
They are connected with the Great Palace erected by Alexander upon' 
the site of the main body of the old structure. Adjoining the Great 
Palace is the Little Palace, simple in construction and decorations ; here 
the Emperor Nicholas resided previous to his elevation to the throne. In 
one of the rooms is a musket with which the Czar used to exercise and 
put his sons through the drill movements to teach them the rudiments 
of war. 

Near the ancient palace is the Treasury wherein is written in arms,, 
crowns, thrones and other curiosities much of the history of the empire. 
The crowns of Kazan, Astrachan and Georgia speak of the conquest of 
the last of the Tartar kingdoms governed by the Khan of the Golden 
Horde, of the submission of the Mogul State on the Caspian Sea, and of 
the overwhelming of another of those brave, mysterious and beautiful 
races of men and women who have so long held the country near the 
Caucasus that ethnologists are not rare who seek in that region the 
original home of the Aryan race. Though Russia never wrested a 
crown from Siberia there is one in this bewildering collection which is 
made to represent the mastery of her semi-savage tribes. Poland's. 



926 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

bloody crown. is also in the imperial treasury and the book of her con- 
stitution. The litter upon which Charles XII. was borne at the 
battle of Pultowa, where Peter crushed the power of the Swedes, is one 
of the most treasured articles of this collection designed to perpetuate 
the memories of hideous war and the humiliations of defeat and enslave- 
ment. There are globes and sceptres, banners of all nations and the 
arms and equipments of the ancient and the modern army ; the ward- 
robes of all the dead Russian sovereigns from the days of Peter the 
Great ; crown jewels of inestimable value resting upon velvet cushions 
and havincr as a background the throne of the monarch who once wore 
them and everything suggestive of the empire's remorseless grasp for 
power and the instability of individual might. 

In front of the massive arsenal building, which is near the Treasury, 
are many batteries of captured cannon — those taken from the French 
in their retreat, making a large collection — three hundred and sixty-five 
pieces in all. 

OUTSIDE THE KREMLIN. 

East of the Kremlin is the business district, surrounded also by a 
wall and containingr an immense bazaar and market and the exchanges. 
The Romanoff house, where the founder of the present dynasty was 
born, is in this locality. 

Between the boulevard and the Kremlin are the governor's palace, 
schools and academies, public buildings, the famous foundling asylum, 
sometimes having the care of twenty-five thousand children, theatres, 
nunneries and churches. The Temple of the Saviour is a grand church 
in the form of a Greek cross, being both sacred and national in its char- 
acter, the outside being ornamented with bas reliefs of a religious nature 
and commemorative of the campaigns of 1812-15. In front of it is a large 
stone platform from which the Czars once proclaimeci their ukases, and 
the block in the center was the public place of execution. The criminals 
were privileged to say their prayers before the gate of the Redeemer, 
then marched across the Red Place to the block of execution, and when 
they were guillotined their heads were exhibited upon the spiked wall of 
the Kremlin opposite. The church is sometimes called the Cathedral 
of Kazan, because it was built by Ivan over the remains of St. Basil to 
commemorate the taking of Kazan, the center of the Tartar khanate, 
which, for centuries, was a terror to the Russians. 

The Church of St. Basil the Idiot, one of the patron saints of the 
Greek Church, is a series of towers and domes, differing in architecture 
and color, and unlike any other ecclesiastical structure in the world. 



KAZAN. 927 

This was the intention of Ivan the Terrible, who built it. The church 
is outside the Kremlin walls. From the midst of a jumble of chapels a 
tall steeple rises, terminating' in a cross. 'Below the cross is the crescent. 
Every other church in Moscow exhibits the same peculiarity ; or rather, 
it is one of the thousand ways which the empire has of keeping the 
power of its arms before the world, for thus the fact is perpetuated that 
the Mohammedan Turk is no longer master. 

Between the two boulevards of which mention has been made, and 
in the suburbs beyond, are numbers of great public buildings and private 
residences; several immense monasteries, embracing within their walls, 
churches, cloisters and gardens ; the most extensive hospitals and two im- 
perial residences. Without the St. Petersburg gate are the elegant 
summer palace and gardens where Napoleon retired when the flames 
drove him from the Kremlin. 

The schools of Moscow are almost as celebrated as its palaces. It 
not only has a large university, commercial schools, theological semina- 
ries, military academies, theatrical and agricultural colleges, but such 
institutes as those which educate young ladies of noble birth only, or the 
female orphan children of servants of the crown. Museums, libraries, 
scientific societies and art institutes are as numerous as the churches and 
schools, and indicate that the ancient capital of Russia is not lagging 
behind the world. 

Moscow is the commercial center of the empire, and her Frozen 
Market, if anything, rivals that of St. Petersburg. There are many per- 
manent markets in the city, while industrial exhibitions are frequent. 
Moscow is a large manufacturing center, and such exhibitions reveal the 
great variety and excellence of her work. All the fabrics are manufact- 
ured, gold, silver and glassware, paper, leather, beer, brandy, etc., and 
by the most improved machinery. 

KAZAN. 

This city, the old portion of which is Tartary itself, is on the direct 
line of orreatest travel between Russia and Siberia. It was the center of 
the Golden Horde, a Tartar khanate, but since its conquest by Russia 
in the fifteenth century, the old, unattractive part of the town has been 
occupied by the Tartars. The first Kazan was founded by a Tartar 
Khan, about forty miles from the site of the modern city. One of his 
followers, while dipping water from the river with a caldron, in the course 
of preparing a meal for the hungry hunting party, let his vessel slip into 
the stream and it sunk out of sight. This accident made so lasting- an 



928 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

impression upon the chief, especially as he was far from any other cal- 
dron, that he named the river Kazan, or Kazanka ; the word means 
" river of the caldron," When he built a town upon its banks he called 
it Kazan. The town prospered and grew into a considerable city before 
it was captured and completely destroyed by Moscow warriors, sent by 
a Russian grand duke one hundred and forty years after its foundation. 
The inhabitants of Kazan were massacred without mercy. Another 
Tartar prince founded the second Kazan, the present city, which was 
twice captured by the Russians, few of the city's defenders surviving 
the last siege. 

The conquerors have destroyed most of the grand features of the 
Tartar occupancy, the Kremlin, or citadel, having even been greatly 
changed. Many of its former entrances have been closed up, and its 
towers converted into chapels. Over one of the gateways is suspended 
a miraculous image of the Saviour, and near by is, or was, a small, strange- 
looking church which commemorates the capture of Kazan, and is 
reported to have been built by Ivan the Terrible upon the very day that 
he carried the Tartar stronghold. On a considerable eminence near the 
city is the Convent of Our Lady of Kazan, consisting of the building 
proper and a winter and a summer church. 

From the convent there is an annual procession to the Kremlin, 
bearing along a representation of the Madonna, or patroness of the city, 
which is believed to be possessed of miraculous virtues. Adjoining the 
Kremlin is the middle town, with many grand private houses and the 
extensive bazaar. These are evidences of the importance of old Kazan, 
and since it has obtained railway connections with the western govern- 
ments they are again coming into use. The manufactures in which 
Kazan peculiarly excels are those of leather and soap, the Tartars being 
particularly expert in the preparation of Russia leather. The city is 
renowned in the empire for its educational institutes, the university giving 
especial attention to the study of the Eastern languages and of the 
national history. To obtain a precise knowledge of the various steps 
by which the Tartar and Russian elements throughout Russia have been 
consolidated and scattered^ there is no surer way than to delve in the rich 
library of this university, established in a city where race peculiarities 
may be so conveniently compared. 

Kazan is still a Tartar city upon which has been placed a Russian 
stamp. The suburbs are occupied exclusively by the Tartars, their 
dwellings consisting principally of two-story wooden houses, the upper 
portion being occupied by the owner and the lower serving as a barn or 
store-house. The women of the higher classes are secluded as they are 



NOVGOROD THE GREAT. 929 

in Turkey and marry at a very early age. The. men shave their heads, 
trim their beards and periodically are bled by their barbers. They wear 
calico shirts, wide drawers and often leather stockings, generally red or 
yellow in color. The long wide robe which covers all is usually of blue 
cloth and attached to the body by a scarf. 

NOVGOROD THE GREAT. 

The territory through which the railroad passes from St. Petersburg 
to Moscow is the historical nucleus of the Russian empire. The Slavs 
founded the town of Novgorod there, probably in the fifth century, 
and an independent State soon grew around it. It was invaded by a 
tribe of Northmen, whom its inhabitants called the Rus ; this was after 
Novgorod had been a powerful principality for a century or more. 
But troubles at home, with the invasion of these fierce northern warriors, 
induced the Slavs and the Finns to invite Rurik, a prince of the Rus, to 
become their ruler in 862. First he made it the seat of his orovernment, 
but the capital was removed to Kieff, in Southwestern Russia, when his 
son succeeded him. Kieff was also a Slavic town, and disputes with 
Novgorod the honor of being the father of the empire. For a cen- 
tury Novgorod was a dependency of Kieff, ruled by governors, or 
dukes, and the empire of the Rus dynasty extended south to the sea of 
Azov. Gradually, however, Novgorod was granted such great privi- 
leges, commercially and politically, that she became stronger than Kieff 
and finally independent. First she was governed by grand dukes, then 
assumed a republican form of government, so that by the twelfth cent- 
ury her territory extended north a hundred miles beyond the present 
site of St. Petersburg, south to near the limits of the Government of 
Moscow (founded by a prince of Kieff), east to the Ural Mountains and 
west to the Baltic Sea. Therefore it was that a Russian proverb arose 
to express infallibility : " Who can contend against God and the great 
Novgorod?" Novgorod the Great was long the political power of 
Northwestern Russia, and the opulent commercial link connecting 
Europe with the East. Thousands of merchants flocked to the great 
mart and had their particular quarter in the city, the Germans even 
enjoying a separate government. Its bazaar was a town in itself, with 
its lonof, covered o-alleries and accommodations for foreign g^uests. The 
city had its great Kremlin, within whose walls were eighteen churches 
and 150 houses and its inner and outer circle of boulevards. The 
bazaar buildings and galleries exist, but the thousands of visitors do not 
crowd them. The trade of the former commercial power is almost con- 
fined to icons, or sacred pictures of the Holy Trinity, the Saviour or 

59 



930 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Virgin. Within the walls of the Kremlin, rebuilt by Ivan the Great 
who destroyed the liberties of the republic, is a magnificent bell-shaped 
monument, rich with statuary and ornamental work and surmounted by 
an angel and the Greek cross ; it is to commemorate the one thousandth 

anniversary of the 
Russian Empire, and 
was erected in 1862. 
The church of Ste. So- 
phia, a low-domed ca- 
thedral, frescoed and 
gilded, is the burial- 
place of Russian 
saints ; this is also 
within the Kremlin 
v/alls. 

I The princes of 

r 

I ' Novgorod were chosen 

by a popular council 
' called the Veche, which 
could also depose them 
at will. Near the pal- 
ace of the Archbishop, 
] : in a pretty green court- 
I yard, is the tower in 

I I which once hung the 
1:5 Veche bell, which sum- 
'" moned the citizens to 
'J council, and when the 

Grand Princes of 
Russia moved from 
Kief to Vladimir, 
thence to Moscow, the 
Eternal, as the great 
bell was called, was a 
persistent discord to 
their autocratic tastes. 
At last, in the fifteenth 
century, a woman was 



n 



>0 
c/i 

C/) 




'W' 



elected mayoress of Novgorod, and although the princes now claimed 
sovereignty over the republic, she negotiated an alliance with Po- 
land, Russian arms and famine crushed the independence of Nov- 



THE RUSSIAN HUNTER. 93 1 

gorod the Great, and the Eternal was carried in triumph to Mos- 
cow. The KremHn was rebuilt, its first stone being laid on a living 
child. Even with the greatness of Moscow the city of Novgorod was 
able to contend, until Ivan the Terrible, a century after the republic 
was destroyed, discovered that the citizens had again conspired with 
Poland against the reigning dynasty. He shut the inhabitants up in 
their city and slaughtered them without mercy ; some say that 30,000, 
others that 60,000, people were tortured, drowned and butchered, out of 
a population of 400,000. A plague followed, and though the people 
devoured the carcasses, the ravages of man and disease were so great 
that the river was choked and overflowed its banks. From these hor- 
rors Novo-orod never recovered, and when St. Petersburof was built 
her ruin was completed. Below the bridge of Novgorod there is to 
this day a strange disturbance of the waters, so that ice is never formed. 
By the Russians credit for the commotion is given to the spirits of those 
drowned here by Ivan the Terrible, and drivers, peasants and beggars, 
as they approach the chapel which is at the entrance to the bridge, cross 
themselves, and, if possible, leave a penny or a candle for the good of 
the church. 

An offshoot of Novgorod the Great was Nijni-Novgorod, where 
the immense fair is held, so longf considered one of the wonders of 
Russia. It may be called a village of sheds, standing upon a plain 
on the northern bank of the Volga. The fair is approached by dusty or 
muddy roads, and Armenians, Turks, Chinese, Tartars and Muscovites 
are all there, displaying their goods, as they have been pictured ; and the 
Chinese houses are there with their projecting roofs and yellow bells at 
the corners ; but since the railroad came to Russia the race representa- 
tives are getting" to be less picturesque and the fairs and bazaars of either 
St. Petersburg or Moscow have greater attractions. The fair in January 
is held on the river and is for the sale of wood. The horse fair is in 
July, and during August and September occurs the general exhibition. 
The sales sometimes amount to nearly $100,000,000. 

THE RUSSIAN HUNTER. 

The field sports of Russia are no child's play. Hunting in Russia 
means danger and fatigue. No soldier who ever started on an uncertain 
campaign takes life more completely in his hands than the hunter who 
starts out in winter to track and fight the elk, the bear or the wolf. 

The wolf may be ridden down by men on horseback, or he may be 
drawn within gunshot by the sportsmen who drag a bundle behind their 



932 , PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

sledge, inducing a young pig, which they have bound, to send forth the 
most enticing squeals. This is safe enough sport unless a ravenous pack 
should scent the bait, both porcine and human, when the huntsmen are 
apt to think seriously of home. 

The peasants are usually the winter huntsmen after the elk and the 
bear — that is, they find them and acquaint the sportsmen with the local- 
ity of their haunts. While engaged in felling trees they come across the 
tracks of their prey and trace them to cover. If it is a bear they have 
tracked they may start for St. Petersburg, or any other city, a hundred 
miles distant, and sell the information to a party of sportsmen, accom- 
panying them to the spot. The place is then surrounded by peasants 
and hunters and the dogs are loosened. If they can not dislodge the 
sluggish brute, the gunners themselves have to do it ; and this again is 
a dangerous proceeding, especially if the bear is with cub. Occasion- 
ally a hunter of real grit, or considerable recklessness, ventures into the 
woods alone and starts in pursuit of Bruin. One gentleman who had a 
record to make in this line, discovered a bear asleep under the fallen, 
trunk of a tree. In order to approach the beast noiselessly, he took off 
his shoes and stockings, and, walking over the snow, found that its paws 
were so nicely drawn over the head that a decisive shot would be impos- 
sible. So he poked the sleeping animal with his gun and obtaining a 
good exposure, shot it in the head — not a very thrilling hunting adven- 
ture, but one which might have resulted fatally. 

The elk is never asleep, and therefore his capture is considered an- 
honor to the hunter. He is timid, and although awkward shows tre- 
mendous speed. He is both a great runner and a great swimmer, and 
as he frequents swampy places in the woods — for those are his favorite 
haunts — it is extremely difficult to capture him. If shot at all, he must 
be taken on the fly, when dashing across a narrow opening in the woods. 
The elk was formerly used in Russia as a draught animal, but his extra- 
ordinary powers of speed and endurance were taken advantage of by 
criminals when they wished to escape justice or evade suspicion, and his 
employment in this capacity is now prohibited. 

In decided contrast to the lonely, adventurous huntsman is the noble 
of the west of Russia. Many of the large landowners, particularly in 
the German provinces, organize parties among themselves. No one is 
excluded from the forest of another, and for many days the merry sports- 
men range over vast tracts of country on horseback, and in sledges or 
coaches, accompanied by peasants and dogs, and sometimes a band of 
musicians — the latter playing after the regular sports of the day are 
over. Bears and wolves, deer, elk and foxes are all objects of the chase,. 



CRIM TARTARY. " 933 

and the party manage to add romance to the occasion by taking their 
meals in a den, or some haunt which was the scene of a brute's death. 
Many of these noble families are hunters throughout their lives, the boy 
graduating to manhood only after he has shot his first elk or bear, and 
the last beast slain by the old man being considered an event worthy of 
thorough discussion when he dies. 

CRIM TARTARY. 

The Crimea, although subject to the Ottoman Empire for three 
centuries, was a Tartar kingdom for two hundred years ; when in the 
eighteenth century it fell into the jaws of the Russian bear, the last ves- 
tige of the power fell which was felt so heavily from the Ural mountains 
to the Black Sea. The Tartars overran the peninsula in the thirteenth 
century when Genghis Khan laid Southern Russia at his feet, and the 
bulk of the population still represents a fragment of the great Mogul 
Empire. 

The first people of the Crimea were the Cimmerians. The Scyth- 
ians invacied their country and they were driven to the mountains where 
they were called Tauri, Its ancient name was therefore Chersonesus 
Taurica. The Greeks from Miletus came in the sixth century b. c. and 
founded a city which exists in Caffa (Southeastern Crimea), besides 
establishinof other colonies. Mithridates drove the Greeks from the 
peninsula in the second century, making Panticapaeum his capital. The 
site of the old city is occupied by Kertsch, a town on one of the penin- 
sulas between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. A mound in the 
vicinity is said to be the tomb of Rome's barbaric enemy, the great 
Scythian, the King of Pontus. The modern town is chiefly noted as an 
important point for the exporting of salt, which forms an important product 
■of the Crimea. The Genoese and Venetians were expelled by the Tar- 
tars, the Tartars submitted to the Ottoman Turks, although retaining 
their own Khans, and in 1784 the Crimea was- annexed to Russia. 

The northern portion of the peninsula is occupied by nomads with 
their cattle, while the southern and more fertile slopes contain marks of 
the Grecian, Genoese, Tartar and Russian civilization, and the popula- 
tion is accordingly divided. But although a portion of the Russian gov- 
ernment the Crimea is essentially Crim Tartary. The old capital, Bakt- 
chiserai is situated in the southern portion of the peninsula. It is con- 
cealed in a narrow valley, terminating in a narrow gorge. The town 
•consists of a single street built along the side of a rivulet, hemmed in by 
Tock} cliffs, and a number of houses built into the hill sides. There are 



934 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

several mosques, with fountains, standing out from the Hne of shops, 
bazaars and Httle houses. At the extreme end of the street is the former 
palace of the Khans, standing at the side of a neglected court and con- 
sisting of a rambling collection of brightly-painted buildings, with trellis 
work, over which vines are luxuriatingr and lattice windows looking out 
upon pretty gardens ; of structures having wide verandas supported by 
light, decorated pillars, and, above all, a wooden tower of Chinese con- 
struction and decoration. Near by are a mosque, with two minarets, a 
fountain shaded by willows and the mausoleum of the Khans, covered 
with vines ambitious to hide the crumbling- walls. 

The narrow valley which hides the old Tartar capital first contracts 
into a gorge and then opens into a glen, heavily wooded with oak and 
beech trees and heaped with tombstones. This is the burial place of the 
Karaites, a mysterious sect of Jews who are scattered over the Crimea, 
Poland, Turkey and Austria. They hold to the strict letter of the Script- 
ures and reject the Talmud, tracing their descent from Shalmaneser's- 
time. But wherever they go their aim is to have their bones deposited 
in this Valley of Jehoshaphat. A short distance beyond the vale a grand 
old fortress rises so naturally from a rugged height that both seem one. 
This was the Jewish stronghold from the earliest days, and although the 
Tartars occupied it as their first capital, before they removed to Bakt- 
chiserai, the Karaites yet cling to it as their Jerusalem. " There are 
only two entrances to the fortress and the massive gates are locked 
every night, Down a long flight of steps, cut out of the living rock, is 
a well of delicious water which supplies the inhabitants, the situation of 
which would render the impregnable position of the fort utterly valueless 
in time of war." 

When the Russians obtained the Crimea they found on the south- 
western coast a small Tartar village which had so magnificent a harbor, 
naturally, and was in such a favorable locality from which to watch Tur- 
key and Constantinople that they made Sebastopol of it. But though 
their defense was heroic, Sebastopol, with the true Russian, is always 
another name for humiliation, and since the allies destroyed those great 
docks, ship-yards and arsenals the Russian cheek has always flushed at 
mention of the year 1855. Since the war the city and fortresses have been 
rebuilt and it is again to the empire what Cronstadt is on the Baltic 
Sea. 

Simferopol, the capital of the government of Taurida, of which the 
Crimea forms a portion, was built by the Russians upon the site of a Tar- 
tar town, which was the second in importance within the Mongol khan- 
ats. The Russian part of the town is laid out in wide streets and large 



THE HUNGARIANS. 935 

squares ; the Tartar portion is irregular, the houses are huts with parch- 
ment windows, the women occasionally wear loose drawers which fall 
over tiny yellow boots and the men appear sometimes in the turban and 
flowing robe. 

Odessa, west of the Crimea, is modern in every way. It is the 
principal commercial port of Russia, and as a wheat market is noted the 
world over. Wool, tallow and timber are also largely exported. The 
principal promenade is the Boulevard. A French emigrant, Duke de 
Richelieu, whom the Czar appointed governor, was the founder of the 
city's prosperity, and in the center of the Boulevard is a bronze statue 
erected to his memory. He laid out the streets, encouraged the com- 
merce of the port, and, at last, although he might have been a wealthy 
man, he left Odessa with a portmanteau containing his uniform and two 
shirts, having disbursed the greater portion of his income among the 
needy. 

THE HUNGARIANS. 

This much has been settled — that the Hungarians are akin to the 
Finns and the Turks and not to any of the so-called Indo-European races. 
A similarity in some of the customs of the Siberian tribes with their own 
has been already found, and their language is decidedly Tartaric in 
its structure. In their language they are called Magyars, and proudly 
claim descent from the Huns. Though kindred to the Turks they hold 
themselves above them, and have resisted every effort at assimilation. 
The Mao^vars dwelt for a long time near the Caucasus mountains, but 
as they became powerful commenced to migrate toward the west, and 
during the ninth and tenth centuries conquered their present territory. 
During the tenth and eleventh centuries Christianity was introduced 
into Hungary and the country became a nation, the clergy and nobility 
constituting the ruling classes. Still there were national parties which 
uplield the people's rights. But though the Hungarians fought so 
bravely against becoming a dependency of the German Empire and the 
House of Hapsburg, the people were, for many centuries, slaves to the 
ruling powers at home. Some of the kings of Hungary figure as saints 
in the Roman calendar, and the Pope, feeling that he had a certain claim 
upon the country, disputed the right of suzerainty with the Emperor 
himself. In the thirteenth century Hungary was ravaged by the Tar- 
tars. Subsequently she extended her territory, but persecuted the Jews 
and put heavier chains upon the peasantry. Wars followed with the 
Turks, the people repeatedly arose in rebellion and the thrones of 
Poland and Hungary were united. The nobles fought among them- 



936 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

selves, the peasantry rebelled against the nobility, the Turks destroyed 
the Hungarians in battle and the House of Hapsburg and the Sultan 
sat upon the ruins of the kingdom. But though defeated, they were 
not subdued, and through every conflict of arms or civil commotion 
they bore away certain charters of liberty which sanctioned the rights 
of the Protestants and of the kingdom. The fall of the Turks before 
Vienna made the House of Hapsburg the sole object of Hungary's 
opposition. Maria Theresa, for a time, allayed their bitter spirit by 
her able and womanly reign. 

But the real spirit of reform was slowly taking shape and the nobil- 
ity became the champions of the people. The peasants and Jews were 
to be treated as men, and freedom of speech and religious worship guar- 
anteed. Measures looking to these ends were carried at the national 
diets. Counts, barons and citizens kept the agitation alive which cul- 
minated in the revolution and war in which Kossuth appeared as one of 
the heroes of history. The Russians and Austrians together over- 
whelmed the Hungarians, but complications with France and Italy which 
ended with Austria's defeat at Magenta and Solferino, gained the day 
for the patriots after their condition as conquered rebels threatened to 
be more unbearable than ever. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy was 
formed, the constitution of Hungary including the reformatory princi- 
ples for which its best leaders had striven. 

THE BOHEMIANS. 

The proper name of this people (for it is the one they accept them- 
selves) is the Czechs. They claim to be the oldest family of the Slavic 
race, and the word Czech implies tlie beginning. Their language is 
strong, and pronounced by linguists the most completely developed of 
any Slavic tongue and the one of all European languages which can best 
render the Greek and Latin. John Huss' translation of the Bible did 
for it what Luther did for the German ; it established a literary standard 
and orthography, and his disciples, the Hussites, continued to make the 
Czech so Qrreat a lang-uagre that at one time it threatened to become the 
general Slavic tongue. That of Prague was the first of the German 
universities to be founded, and numbered, during the latter part of the 
fourteenth century, 30,000 students. This great educational institute 
was a power in spreading the knowledge of the national tongue, until in 
the seventeenth century the Bohemians rebelled against the ruling 
powers and their literature and language were abolished. Books by the 
thousands and libraries by the hundreds were burned by the government 



THE BOHEMIANS. 



937 



and by the Jesuits, until it seemed as if the work of John Huss and his 
followers would be annihilated. Men were destroyed with the books. 
The Bohemian heretics were banished from the country. The Swedes 
•who were expelled carried off with them many treasures of the Czech 
literature, which are now in the Stockholm library, and books in the 
native tongue were printed in Germany and Holland, indicating that the 
Bohemian language was not born to die. The result of the Thirty 
Years' War, the efforts of native scholars for the past century and the 
liberal attitude of the central government, first fixed by Maria Theresa, 
have revived the former vitality of the Czech nationality. The univer- 
sity of Prague is mostly attended by Czech students and its rector is a 
member of the Diet ; the Diet elects delegates to the Austrian Reichsrath. 
So that this institution represents, in a way, the Bohemian race, politi- 
cally and intellectually. Not only is the Czech literature a feature of 
the Bohemian University, but since the year of American independence 
it has had a chair in the University of Vienna, 

But the national Slavic spirit can not be allayed, even with fair 
treatment, and the political lines are determined by German and Czech 
blood. The contests between the two nationalities o^row, if anythino-, 
more and more intense. As early as the tenth century, to protect 
themselves against the Hungarians the Bohemians sought to be incor- 
porated into the German empire, but have never given up their hope of 
some time establishing a great Slavic empire in Austria. They are to- 
day the most intelligent and industrious of the Slavic tribes. They are 
the manufacturers of Austria, their glassware being noted the world 
over, while their cotton, linen and woolen goods are of a very superior 
■quality. Their iron works and paper factories are famous. They are 
snot only manufacturers and agriculturists, but musicians and poets of 
no mean order. The Bohemians even claim a share in the invention of 
printing, on the ground that Gutenberg was originally from their coun- 
try, and that the press was freely developed in it without the aid of the 
Germans. So that, considering the Bohemians as Slavs, they must be 
placed in the lead of the tribes of that race. 

The earliest occupants of their land are supposed to have the Boii, 
a Celtic tribe, who were driven away by the Germans, who in turn pre- 
ceded the Czechs. Thus from the first historical times we see certain 
races opposed instinctively to each other, like dogs and cats, being gov- 
erned by inherited prejudices which centuries of war have kept alive, 
and which may have originated in a single bitter quarrel between two 
rival, primitive animals ; and this conflict between the Celtic Boii, who 
gave Bohemia its name, and the Germanic Marcomani, reminds one how 



93« 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Celts and Goths — Celts and Anglo-Saxons — could never live at peace 
together. One or the other must give way, and if an ocean bars the 
avenue of escape, so bitter is the feud that the weaker are forced to 
seek a home beyond the sea. To further iilustrate this fact we shall 
cross the German ocean to the islands, which form its western shores^ 
and to which the Celts were driven by the Goths. 




THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

OMMENCING with Herodotus, down a long line of ancient 
historians, modern English writers have industriously collected 
the evidence which goes to prove that the Kimmerians, or Kelts, 
from whom the ancient Britons were descended, about the sev- 
enteenth century before Christ, were driven out of Asia into 
Europe by vast hordes of Scythians, from whojn in turn have 
been traced the Goths, the Germans and the ancient Saxons. 
The Kelts, once in Europe, dashed again and again against 
Greece and Rome. Shadowy records of these mighty conflicts 
are found in the ancient traditions of Wales and in the songs 
of her bards which have come down to us. In Caesar's time they had 
almost ceased to exist on the continent, but had crossed from France 
into England and had obtained much power. Their old enemies, the 
Scythians, or (as they became generally known in Europe) the Goths, 
came pouring after them, and followed in their footsteps of warring; 
against Rome. 

BASIS OF THE ENGLISHMAN. 




One of the tribes farthest removed from the scene of bloodshed 
were the Saxons. They dwelt on the sea coast from the mouths of the 
Rhine to the Baltic Sea, and soon became a terror to all the maritime: 
tribes and colonies. The Saxons were at the head of a confederation 
which was finally formed for protection against Rome, and the brave 
Jutes and Angles were their neighbors. The Jutes were those who were 
first called to England by the Britons to drive back the wild tribes who 
were threateniuQf them from the north. One race of Kelts, the Hiofhland 
Scotchmen, were about to pour down upon the southern tribes, the 
Britons ; and now came over a tribe of their ancient enemies, the 
descendants of those Scythians who had driven them out of Asia, to save 
Kelt from Kelt. Thus prodigious are the cycles of history. 

Angles and Saxons followed, and Danes also. These are the tribes 
which are the foundation of the great island kingdom. Every school- 
boy knows it. But what manner of people were these who came to the: 

939 



940 BASIS OF THE ENGLISHMAN. 

island, partly by invitation and partly by invasion? Taine, the English 
historian, thus tells us: "As you coast the North Sea from the Scheldt 
to Jutland, you will mark in the first place that the characteristic feature 
is the want of slope, marsh, waste, shoal ; the rivers hardly drag them- 
selves along, swollen and sluggish, with long black-looking waves; the 
flooding stream oozes over the banks and appears further on in stagnant 
pools. In Holland the soil is but a sediment of mud; here and there 
only does the earth cover it with a crust, shallow and brittle, the mere 
alluvium of the river, which the river seems ever about to destroy. Thick 
clouds hover above, being fed by ceaseless exhalations. They lazily turn 
their violet flanks, grow black, suddenly descend in heavy showers ; the 
A^apor, like a furnace smoke, crawls forever on the horizon. Thus 
watered, plants multiply ; in the angle between Jutland and the Conti- 
nent, in a fat, muddy soil, the verdure is as fresh as that of England. 
Immense forests covered the land even after the eleventh century. The 
sap of this humid country, thick and potent, circulates in man as in the 
plants. Man's respiration, nutrition, sensation and habits affect also his 
faculties and his frame." 

" Over the sea, flat on his face, lies the monstrous, terrible north 
wind, sighing and sinking his voice as in secret, like an old grumbler. 
Rain, wind and surge leave room for naught but gloomy and melancholy 
thoughts. The very joy of the billows has in it an inexplicable restless- 
ness and harshness. From Holland to Jutland, a string of small, deluged 
islands bears witness to their ravages. In winter a breastplate of ice 
covers the streams; the sea drives back the frozen masses as they de- 
scend ; they pile themselves with a crash upon the sand banks and sway 
to and fro ; now and then you may see a vessel, seized as in a vise, split 
in two beneath their violence. Picture in this foggy clime, amid hoar- 
frost and storm, in these marshes and forests, half naked savages, a kind 
of wild beasts, fishers and hunters, but especially hunters of men ; these 
are they, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians; later on, Danes, who during 
the fifth and ninth centuries, with their swords and battle-axes took and 
kept the island of Britain. A rude and foggy land like their own, except 
in the depth of its sea and the safety of its coasts, which one day will 
call up real fleets and mighty vessels; green England — the word rises to 
the lips and expresses all." 

When the Norman brought his softer ways to Great Britain he 
found the Anglo-Saxon "a magnificent animal," broad-shouldered, deep- 
chested, a tremendous eater; hardy, independent, even stubborn; a 
native with a splendid physique and a hard head ; a lover of his snug 
kingdom and his adopted home. The Anglo-Saxon was broadened in 



THE LESS RULING THE GREATER. 94 1 

his ideas by the new comer, without being ahenated from his countr)^ 
He commenced to look beyond Great Britain, and the spirit of adventure 
and conquest which he had as an Angle, as a Saxon and as a Dane, 
took possession of him and has never left him, A healthy brain in a 
healthy body has pushed his name and power around the globe. 

THE LESS RULING THE GREATER. 

Great Britain presents one of the most remarkable, instances of 
intellectual achievement, in the matter of conquest, which the world has 
ever known. The Russian Empire is great, but the Russians are in the 
majority, at least three to one. The Empire of Great Britain is greater 
in square miles, its population is nearly three times as great, and yet the 
people of the dependencies outnumber the inhabitants of the parent 
country at least in the ratio of five to one. 

Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America have seen the fleets- 
of England, and been colonized or conquered by people from her shores. 
The Engrlishman is the universal traveler, and there is not a desert in 
Africa or a forest in Australia, or a field of ice in the Arctics, where man 
has gone, that his feet have not trod; and in this connection we mean 
not only the Englishman of Great Britain, but that other great repre- 
sentative of the race, the American of the United States. The telegraph- 
and the railroad have done for Great Britain what could not otherwise 
have been accomplished if every Englishman had been a walking arsenal. 
Submarine cables and trans-continental telegraphs and railroads not only 
bind her distant dominions to herself, but make each a unit in itself. 

EXPLORING THE THAMES. 

Englishmen are the greatest though not the most unbiased travelers- 
in the world. They will penetrate Africa and Australia, but one of their 
number makes the confession that few have ever attempted to explore 
the Thames to its source. Those who have are almost as much in doubt- 
whether they have found it as the African explorers were regarding the 
source of the Nile. Two screams rise in the Cotswold Hills, in Glou- 
cester, and the one which has been called the Thames runs more in the 
general direction of the river, but its source is not as distant from the 
mouth as the rivulet which is called the Churn. But they forget their 
differences, like sensible streams, and join for the good of the common 
river. A few miles further on two other tributaries are received and 
the Severn's waters also flow into the Thames through a wonderful 
little canal which pierces the Cotswold Hills by means of a tunnel. The 



942 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

river here commences to earn its title of the Broad Water, running 
through a pleasant, hilly country, with the dignity of a young man who 
has cast his first vote. Its course is toward Oxford by way of the village 
of Shifford, where King Alfred once held his parliament. Near by is a 
substantial bridge thrown across the Thames six hundred years ago. It 
is named the New Bridge and is the oldest one on the river. Numerous 
locks and weirs, with a tow path on either side, show the former impor- 
tance of the river as a navigable stream, but the line of smoke and steam 
which is frequently drawn across the neighboring landscape and the 
triumphant whiz of a train of cars are sufificient explanations.of the almost 
deserted appearance of the river. 

It is peculiarly appropriate to approach the calm, stately and vener- 
able Oxford, by way of the slowly-moving Thames. The spires of its 
churches and the great university buildings give the impression, from a 
■distance, that one is approaching a large city. But the university is all. 
The streets are narrow and crooked, but the noble colleges and churches 
Avhich go to make up the university, and the quaint old houses form a 
striking scene. The distracting hum of machinery and the vexatious 
smoke of manufactories do not disturb its serenity ; but against the 
coming of the railroad, and its necessary stir, the authorities of the 
university could not plant their English feet and set their square English 
chins firmly enough. 

OXFORD. 

Before there was any England there was an Oxford. When the 
kings of the Heptarchy were fighting like crows, the university of Oxford 
was a collection of monasteries, religious and secular schools. The teach- 
ers formed an association that might settle questions of general interest, 
and the university was conceived. Alfred the Great liked to reside in 
•Oxford and visit her schools, and by the ninth century the Church itself 
recognized it as a seat of learning. Bloody Queen Mary acknowledged 
its importance, also, in the persecutions which she waged against the 
Protestant lights of both Cambridge and Oxford universities. Cranmer, 
Ridley and Latimer, all fellows of Cambridge University and high in 
favor with Henry VIII., were brought to trial by the Catholic Queen 
and burned, opposite Baliol College. As long as the Church of England 
stands, to say the least, the message of brave old Latimer, Bishop of 
Worcester, will be quoted to posterity. Turning to Ridley, his fellow 
martyr, he exclaimed in homely style : " Be of good comfort. Master 
Ridley, and play the man , we shall this day light such a candle, by God's 
grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." Master Ridley, 



FROM OXFORD TO WINDSOR. Q43 

the Bishop of Rochester, was as brave as he, and Archbishop Cranmer 
of Canterbury died a penitent that his mortal fears had swerved him 
from the faith he professed. The Martyrs' Memorial, which marks the 
place of execution, is a monument both to personal bravery and the 
■Church of England. 

Of the twenty colleges which compose the university of Oxford, Ba- 
liol is the most democratic, refusing to admit anyone who claims any 
privilege on account of rank or wealth. Christ Church is the most mag- 
nificent and supports the greatest number of students; it is a cathedral 
as well as a college, and was founded by Henry VIII. The oldest insti- 
tution is University College, founded in the thirteenth century upon a 
school which is said to have been established by Alfred the Great. 

The governing bodies of the University are the House of Congre- 
gation, consisting of heads of colleges and halls, masters of schools, 
professors, deans, etc., etc., which grants the ordinary degrees ; the 
House of Convocation, composed of regents, which confers honorary 
degrees and fills the university offices ; the Congregation of the Univer- 
sity, including the chancellor, heads of colleges and halls, the canons of 
Christ Church College, a portion of the members of the Convocation, 
etc., etc., which body acts as a sort of Upper House to discuss and 
amend the statutes proposed by the Hebdomadal Council ; the Heb- 
domadal Council has as its members the chancellor, vice-chancellor, 
proctors, and a certain number elected from the heads of colleges and 
halls and from the House of Convocation. The chancellor, who is the 
head of the corporate body of the University, is elected for life by the 
House of Convocation, the honor being conferred upon noblemen. All 
matters of legislation originate in the Hebdomadal Council, pass to the 
Congregation of the University, and are adopted or rejected by the 
House of Convocation. 

FROM OXFORD TO WINDSOR. 

Between the counties of Oxford and Berks the river makes a bold 
bend, and at the southern point of the loop meets the Thames, a stream 
from the west. In controllino^ the course of the Tnames this was con- 
sidered quite a strategic point by the old warriors of England, and con- 
sequently they erected earthworks at this point which are still visible. 
This is the neighborhood, also, of Roman camps, the head-waters of the 
river flowing from the region of quite a system of Roman roads ; but 
south of Oxford the spots of history commence to touch more closely 
the modern times. Among the most interesting localities is Chalgrove 



944 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Field, where Hampden was slain. Soon, however, the beauties of the 
landscape draw one's mind from brave men and their brave ends. The 
little islands covered with trees or reeds, the wooded or grassy banks^ 
with picturesque cottages and inns creeping down to the very edge of 
the sunny waters ; the mill-dams over which the bright waters foam, the 
horses and plowmen in the fields, and the absorbed angler on the shore, 
make the English landscape the restful and yet animating influence 
which it is. 

It was in this school that many of the English poets were educated,, 
and even so bad-humored a wit and man as Pope could not resist the 
temptation to retire to the lovely banks of the Upper Thames, hide 
himself in a mellow old castle, forget his deformities and write transla- 
tions and pretty verses. Before your boat reaches Reading you will 
also pass a pleasant village to which Warren Hastings retired while 
Burke was thundering at him for his doings in the East. At Reading 
the Kennet flows in from the south, and upon its banks the courtly, 
scholarly and earnest Falkland fell in battle, fighting for his King 
against the people. His home was a few miles from Oxford and he 
died not far from it. 

The waters above Reading in the estimation of Young England are 
as historical as any in the world, for here were rowed many of those 
famous university matches, the results of which are flashed over the 
Western world. It is unaccountable how those university students for 
so many years could have shot by the beauties lying along Henley 
Reach, looking only straight ahead to the stake boat. Above the old 
university course for a dozen miles the scenery is even more lovely, the 
chalky cliffs bearing upon their seamed sides thick groves of beech trees,, 
the swelling hills clothed in rich verdure meeting them half way ; or 
from the low banks of either shore great trees, tangled shrubbery and 
matted reeds all bend gracefully forward in continual salutation. 

FROM WINDSOR TO LONDON. 

As the cliffs and hills and cool shadows of this charmed stretch of the 
Thames are left behind, the towers of Windsor Castle appear over the 
trees. The castle, forest and grounds form one of the most magnificent 
royal domains in the world. The buildings, which cover twelve acres, 
overlook the Thames, and from the tower twelve counties pass under the 
eye. The great park is nearly three square miles in area and the forest 
west of it is fifty-six miles in circuit. The Saxon kings loved the beauties 
of this locality. William the Conqueror built the castle, which has been 
repeatedly enlarged and several times almost rebuilt. King John dwelt at 



FROM WINDSOR TO LONDON. 945 

Windsor while the barons were preparing Magna Charta at Runnymede, 
and James of Scotland was a prisoner here. In the vaults of St. George's 
chapel lie the bodies of kings, queens and dukes. Prince Albert is 
buried in the beautiful park of Windsor where Queen Victoria passed 
many hours with him during their wedded life. 

On the other side of the river, standing somewhat back from its 
borders, is Eton College, a substantial-looking building which from a 
distance resembles a combined fortress, monastery and church. It was 
founded by Henry VI. four centuries and a half ago, who established 
King's College, Cambridge, at the same time. The royal plan of making 
Eton a preparatory school to King's has been followed to this day and 
provision is also made at Oxford for two of the graduates who are not 
elected for admission to Cambridge. 

A little nearer London and the Council Meadow, Runnymede is' 
reached. Opposite is Magna Charta Island, where King John signed the 
instrument which was the basis of the English constitution. The barons 
and their followers camped upon the meadow within plain sight of the 
King, and a delegation carried the paper for him to sign. King John 
was aware that this meant sign or resign, and when the charter was laid 
upon a stone for his action he did not long hesitate, A rock, which is 
said to be the historic one, is preserved in the little cottage to which many 
curiosity seekers repair. 

A bend in the river between Middlesex and Surrey, as one descends 
the stream toward Kingston, is called Coway Stakes. On arriving at 
the south bank, Julius Csesar found that the Britons were drawn up on 
the opposite shore, which they had fortified by a palisade of sharpened 
stakes. There was^a similar fortification in the bed of the river. But 
Caesar's legions dashed, into the water, which was up to their necks, and 
surmounting all obstacles, put the enemy to flight. The Roman was 
invading the territory of the British general, Cassivelaunus, and this 
was the only point where the Thames could be crossed on foot. Past 
the house in which Garrick once resided, the palace and gardens of 
Hampton Court, past villas and villages, the river sweeps which was 
never destined to be the pride of a Southern race ; past Kingston, 
where the Saxon monarchs were crowned, the Thames washes the 
estate which Pope adorned with temple and grotto and made so 
famous that kings, statesmen and noble ladies sought him there. The 
villa is gone, A few fragments of the grotto remain. The sensitive, 
diseased poet and wit is gone, and the mother whom he cherished as 
the only one on earth he could love without reserve. The Thames 

flows by them all, and the church at Twickenham, which contains 

60 



946 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

his tomb, may cast a shadow over its margin. The inscription on 
his monument proclaims that he " would not be buried in Westminster 
Abbey." 

At this point the Thames brings us near the suburban parks of 
London and the outlying villages. Having left the gracious parks around 
the pretty suburbs of Richmond and Brentford, the distant stir of the 
mighty city is almost felt in the air. 

LONDON AND "LONDON CITY." 

By entering London from the west the mighty metropolis is 
approached from its most favorable direction ; few Londoners would 
agree, however, as to the limits of their city, for the pcstoffice, the par- 
liamentary, the police and the Metropolitan Board of Works districts 
are all different. London City, officially, lies partly within the limits of 
the old Roman walls, which have disappeared. Gates were subsequently 
added to the walls, and, for many years. Temple Bar was regarded as 
the site of the ancient town's western gate, being the official boundary 
between the fashionable and magnificent West End and the city. This 
supposition has been dispelled, but the boundary remains. Memories of 
the old times are kept green by retaining such names as Newgate for 
the oldest London prison, and London Wall for a street in the northern 
part of the city. From the east the walls commenced at the Tower of 
London, which has the credit, with some, of being built by Julius Csesar, 
and they were afterwards extended along the Thames, the western point 
being Ludgate, which has long since disappeared, but Ludgate Hill 
still stands. There were seven gates when the wall was carried around 
the northern districts of the city, as is supposed, by Constantine the 
Great. 

London City is governed by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation, 
its extreme eastern and western limits being the Tower and the City of 
Westmmster, with the River Thames as its southern base. Its area is 
less than a square mile, of which 370 acres are "within the walls." 
Within this area the metropolitan police and commissioners of public 
works have no control, the city sustaining its own departments and being 
accountable to Parliament. This independent corporation, the wealthiest 
in the world, has authority for its existence in charters which were 
granted by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings and by 
Henry I. in 1 100. The chief magistrate received the official title of Lord 
Mayor in 1 191. 

But when the registrar obtains his figures for the population of 



THE FASHIONABLE WEST END. 947 

London he does not rest satisfied with the city and its 80,000 people, 
but, as stated, includes the territory subject to the Board of Works. 
This comprises the city of Westminster and Southwark, a borough south 
of the River Thames; the Tower Hamlets and Greenwich, to the east; 
and a dozen northern and western suburbs, among which may be men- 
tioned Marylebone, Kensington and Chelsea. There are many popu- 
lous parishes in the center of London but west of the City. This is the 
London which contains 5,000,000 people and is the largest and most 
opulent city in the Avorld. 

, THE FASHIONABLE WEST END. 

In the West End are the fine squares and club-houses for which 
London is noted, and here also is the brilliant Piccadilly street in which 
so much of the wealth and fashion of Enorland is congres^ated. Reg-ent 
street, the handsomest perhaps in London, where the ladies shop and 
which promenaders of both sexes greatly frequent, crosses Piccadilly. 
Belgravia, the southern portion of the West End, is a mass of great 
squares, in which grow beautiful trees, and which are surrounded by 
mansions of nobles and merchant princes. The northern division of the 
West End is known as Tyburnia, professional men, artists, and the less 
wealthy class of merchants having their residences here. 

The outer districts of the West End are beautified, also, by the 
g-randest of London's royal parks, and in pleasant weather Regent's and 
Hyde Parks, and Kensington Gardens, with their museums, palaces, 
lakes and wide drives, collect more high breeding, princely men and 
women, gorgeous and elegant equipages and costumes than can be 
shown elsewhere in the world within a like space. On the site of the 
Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, is the splendid memorial to Prince 
Albert. He is represented as seated under a canopy, the richly-carved 
and minaret-like roof terminating in a cross. The main exposures of 
the monument present a multitude of marble portraits of illustrious 
Englishmen, while at the four corners of the inclosure Europe, Asia, 
Africa and America are symbolized in stone. The Albert Hall is oppo- 
site the Memorial, and the Kensington Museum buildings near by. In 
Reagent's Park are the laro-e botanical and zoological gardens. East of 
Kensincrton Palace, one of the Oueen's town residences and where she 
was born, are the unrivalled gardens. A bridge over a charming arti- 
ficial body of water, called the Serpentine, connects Kensington Gardens 
with those other royal grounds, Hyde Park. East of Hyde Park is 
Green Park, entered beneath a triumphal arch surmounted by an eques- 



948 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



trian statue of Wellington, Upon the road connecting Hyde Park with 
St. James Park is Buckingham Palace, with a magnificent ball-room and 
throne-room, but an architectural eye-sore to most of the English mon- 
archs. The Queen seldom visits it. The royal receptions are usually 
held in St. James Palace, fronting the park by that name. The palace 
is at the end of Pall Mall, in which club-house thoroughfare is Marlbor- 
ough House, the residence of the Prince of Wales. 

THE CITY. 



Trafalgar Square, within easy walking distance of Charing Cross 
(the official headquarters of the cab service) the Houses of Parliament, 

art galleries, club 
rooms, etc., besides the 
imposing statue to Nel- 
son and other works of 
art, is a favorite resort 
for pleasure seekers, 
politicians and mer- 
chants passing back 
and forth between the 
West End and the 
City. The Houses of 
Parliament consist of 
a vast structure lying 
between the Thames 
and Westminster 
Abbey and having a 
river front of 900 feet. 
Its central spire and 
its belfry are each 30a 
feet in height. West- 
minster hall, over 100 
feet in height, with an 
area in proportion, occupies the hall of the old royal palace where some of 
the first parliaments were held. The House of Lords is finely propor- 
tioned and gorgeously finished, containing the Queen's throne, the Prince's 
chair, the Lord Chancellor's wool-sack (a chair cushioned with wool), and 
statues of the barons who brought the charter to King John at Runny- 
mede and compelled him to sign it. If the Queen is to arrive, two 
hours before her coming the cellars underneath the House are carefully 







l:r:. 



i-fv 



■4i, 



h- 



r \' 



X2. 



\ 



NOTED PICTURE OF LOT'S WIFE. 



THE CITY. 



949 



examined in fear of another gunpowder plot. The House of Commons 
is comparatively plain. Of the other vast government buildings, Somer- 
set House is perhaps the most noticeable, it being a quadrangular struct- 
ure with a river frontage of 600 feet. 

Soon after leaving Parliament street Westminster Abbey comes 
into view, with its square towers and majestic stretch of buttresses and 



'^^•:'::'i^'^^<''^<^<^::-:rf^:?<^:>'/if.'^^^ 



^ 




PIECE OF STATUARY. 



pinnacles. Here the monarchs of England were crowned for centuries, 
and many of them buried. Clustered around the east end of the Abbey 
are several chapels, those of Henry VH. and Edward the Confessor 
being the most noticeable. Edward was the first monarch crowned in 
Westminster, and his shrine appears in the middle of his chapel. Queen 
Elizabeth and Mary Stuart have their monuments in Henry's chapel. 



950 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

while within calHng distance are the mortal parts of those souls whom 
England delisjhts to honor, 

St. Paul's Cathedral stands upon the highest ground in the city, on 
Ludgate Hill. The old church was burned in the great London fire,, 
the present cathedral being built in 1675-1 710 by Sir Christopher Wren 
one of the world's great architects. It would not, in fact, be honoring 
him too much to call him the builder of modern London, for no one 
else accomplished so much to restore it after the disastrous conflagra- 
tion of 1666 ; not only was he the architect of St. Paul's, where he is 
buried, but of fifty other churches, of the Royal Exchange, the Custom 
House, the monument near the foot of London bridge commemorative 
of the fire, the Greenwich Observatory, and hospitals, colleges and pal- 
aces, which make a list fit for a directory. St. Paul's is built after St. 
Peter's, and besides being a monument to genius itself, contains memorials 
of Nelson, Dr. Johnson, Wellington, Napier and John Howard, and the 
tombs of such illustrious persons as the artists Turner and Reynolds. 

At the foot of Ludgate Hill is Fleet street, which is the Newspaper 
Row of London, and the London Times, with its foundries and tele- 
graph system, its army of employes and military precision, is printed 
not far away in Water lane. The western bounds of the Hill are at 
Temple Bar, and beyond is Lincoln's Inn Fields, a great square and 
resort for the legal profession. 

The British Museum dates from the latter part of the eighteenth 
century and the great solid building, with its columned porticoes, from: 
the commencement of the nineteenth. The noble dome, which covers the 
reading room of the library is larger than St. Peter's and only a few feet 
smaller than the Pantheon. Among the other features of the library 
which has made it almost unrivalled — the national library at Paris being 
its competitor — are the collection of manuscripts and the department of 
Hebrew literature. Of greatest value in the department of antiquities 
of the Museum are, perhaps, the Egyptian and Assyrian collections. 
The collection of natural history is remarkably complete, having an only- 
rival in that of the Museum of Paris, which institution, as a whole, is the 
only one in the world which compares with the British Museum. 

The centers of the city's vast political, commercial and financial 
activity are around the Bank of England, Threadneedle street, the 
Royal Exchange, the Mansion House and the Custom House. Thames, 
Cornhill, Cheapside, Fenchurch, Leadenhall and Victoria streets are 
solidly packed with pedestrians and vehicles for nine hours of the day. 
The Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor, is connected 
with Blackfriars Bridge by Victoria street. Perhaps the most continu- 



THE CTTV, 



951 



ous, the densest traffic, is between the Bank of England and the Man- 
sion House. It is said to average 60,000 persons in a day of nine 
hours. A street from Cheapside, in the heart of the city, leads to the 
Guildhall, where many of the societies of tradesmen meet. They are 
the organized voters of London, and as such are intimately connected 
with the Corporation. The organiza- 
tion of some of the guilds dates back 
a thousand years, many of them be- 
ing very wealthy and owning beauti- 
ful halls, where they give lavish en- 
tertainments. The Guildhall is used 
by those who have not their own 
place of assembly, and is the cen- 
ter of as much political life as 
the Mansion House of the Lord 
Mayor. 

The traffic over the brido^es of 
the Thames, particularly over Lon- 
don Brido;e. is tremendous. The 
river is tunneled, but the pressure of 
travel is so great that it is hardly 
relieved. The south side of the 
Thames is bordered by a magnifi- 
cent embankment called the Al- 
bert ; across the river is the Vic- 
toria. The Albert embankment is 
lined with stately residences and 
other buildings, but terminates 
among the manufactories of Lam- 
beth. 

The great streets of London 
generally follow the Thames, and 
the embankments, of comparatively 
recent construction, are broad 
quays along the river banks sim- 
ilar to those of Paris. The Vic- 
toria embankment runs from Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge, 
with Waterloo between. The latter is over 1,200 feet in length, 
one of the finest structures of the kind in existence, and was 
opened to the public upon the second anniversary of the battle 
of Waterloo. 




952 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

LONDON TOWER AND THE DOCKS. 



One of the most interesting of the many excursions which may be 
taken from London City in all directions, is that which terminates at the 

London and India 
docks by way of 
Tower Hill. The 
Tower Hamlets, 
east of London, and 
other suburbs in 
the vicinity, are to 
the poorer classes 
what the West End 
to the aristoc- 



m IS 

racy ; the two ex- 
tremes of London 
life may be studied 
in the t^wo ex- 
tremes of London. 
Within sight 
of much of the pov- 
erty of London are 
the forests of masts 
and the huge bod- 
ies of steamers, 
representing her 
ceaseless trade 
with every quarter 
of the globe. Be- 
t w e e n the great 
bridsfes are a score 

<_> 

of steamboat piers 
for the accommo- 
dation of river pas- 
sengers. Just be- 
low London Bridge 
is the Pool where 
the coal ships or 
ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, HOLBORN- collicrs most Con- 

gregate. Between the Pool and Blackwell is the Port of London, 
occupied by ships of greater burden, and for the convenience of these 




LONDON TOWER AND THE DOCKS. 953 

giants have been constructed extensive docks and massi\'e warehouses. 
Extensions are constantly progressing and tunnels being built to connect 
the docks on the northern bank of the Thames with those on the south- 
ern, so that eventually they will form one vast system. Below the Tower 
are St. Katharine's docks, and also on the northern shore, the London 
docks, with their extensive wine vaults, the Limestone docks, the West 
India docks, the East India docks, and the Victoria docks; on the 
:southern shore the grand Surrey and Commercial docks are devoted to 
the timber and corn trades. The East India docks are at Blackwell, and 
as the shores are flat on either side of the river the greatest of English 
merchant ships which lie there appear more gigantic than they are. 

London Tower overlooks the most cosmopolitan, if not the busiest 
section of the River Thames. This historical fortress and prison is an 
inharmonious mass of towers, forts, ramparts, batteries, barracks, armories 
and other structures, covering an area of nearly 900 feet square. North 
west of the Tower is the hill upon which the scaffold stood. Each of the 
towers included in the Tower has its particular recollections. Lady Jane 
Grey, Pvaleigh, Sidney, Russell, the young sons of Edward IV., and 
other ghosts, haunt them. One tower was built by William the Con- 
queror, and on one side of it is a large structure occupied as barracks 
and erected by the Duke of Wellington, who was once Constable of the 
Tower. 

Of late years the authorities have made strenuous efforts to provide 
parks, or "lungs," for the working people of the east and northeast of 
London. Victoria Park, 300 acres in extent, is one of the greatest of 
these blessings. 

We have hardly touched upon the attractions of London. If one 
should say but a dozen words about each of the 2,000 churches he would 
have written a chapter. He would commence by saying: Opposite St. 
Bartholomew's, bloody Queen Mary burned her victims at the stake ; in St. 
Saviour's, Southwark, are buried Gower, Beaumont, Fletcher and Mas- 
singer ; Temple Church, near the Bar, contains the body of poor Oliver 
Goldsmith; the Duke of Wellington attended the fashionable St. 
George's Church, Hanover Square ; Whitfield's Chapel is where he first 
preached to a large indoor congregation ; Spurgeon's Tabernacle, Christ's 
Church (Rev. Newman Hall), and the picturesque St. Andrew's, must be 
lightly passed ; the ancient St. Giles, Cripplegate, is where the majestic 
Milton is buried, etc.,. etc. 

This also would be the very unsatisfactory way in which one would 
be obliged to treat the great charities and benefactors, past and present; 
the hospitals for men, women and children, for the insane, the lame, the 



954 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

epileptic and confirmed invalids ; the universities, colleges, ragged 
schools and select schools, medical and surgical schools, libraries, 
museums, fine art galleries and underground railways. In one word, and 
finally, there is no civilization in any part of the world of which a trace 
can not be found in London. 

WHERE PETER WORKED. 

On the south side of the river, opposite the dock district, are 
Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich. At Deptford was formerly the 
great royal ship-yard, in which Peter the Great worked at his trade. 
This is now removed to Chatham, thirty miles southeast of London. 
Adjoining the deserted yard at Deptford are the victualing establish- 
ments of the royal navy, consisting of cattle pens, slaughter houses, 
bakeries, a brewery, etc., etc., and which partially cover the former 
grounds of the mansion in which Peter resided while working for his. 
empire. 

WOOLWICH AND GREENWICH. 

Woolwich really lies on both sides of the River Thames, but the 
arsenal and grounds where the ordnance of the army and navy is proved 
are on the south side. Until twenty years ago the royal dock-yard was- 
located here, where it had been established for three centuries. The 
foundries and magazines, with other buildings connected with the 
arsenal, cover over one hundred acres of ground, and the famous range 
where ordnance and new guns are tried is three miles in length. Con- 
veniently situated to get the advantage of every experiment and a 
thorough, practical education is the military academy for artillery 
officers and engineers. At North Woolwich are turned out hundreds of 
miles of telegraph cables. 

Greenwich is five miles from St. Paul's, and three from London 
bridge. Since the seventeenth century the Greenwich observatory has 
been fixing the longitude for a great portion of the world. Greenwich 
time is also standard throughout England. It is a manufacturing town, 
having large yards for the building of iron steamboats ; but Greenwich 
has another attraction besides its observatory, of which there is no pro- 
totype in Great Britain. The hospital for seamen is a large, quadrangu- 
lar building, containing libraries and a hall adorned with portraits of 
naval heroes and representations of naval victories, besides the regular 
offices and apartments. This institution supports thousands of British 
seamen, many of those who were formerly inmates, but not seriously 



CANTERBURY AND THOMAS A BECKET. 955 

incapacitated being now allowed a choice of residence. At present it con- 
tains a few hundred bed-ridden pensioners, but the bulk of the hospital is 
reserved for use in case of war. The site of the building was at one 
time occupied by the royal palace in which Queen Elizabeth, Queen 
Mary and Henry VIII. were born. 

Gravesend is the limit of the port of London, It has ship-yards and a 
church where Pocahontas is buried. Ships leaving port get their outfits, 
provisions and clothing at Gravesend, and the Custom House officers 
examine vessels when they are about to enter. 

Chatham, where the royal ship-)^ards are, is beyond Gravesend, 
toward the sea, and Canterbury is still east of Chatham. It is a good 
point from which to sweep the whole of England, south of the Thames. 

CANTERBURY AND THOMAS A BECKET. 

From the time of St. Augustine, who received Ethelbert and his 
whole kingdom of Kent into the Church, Canterbury has been the seat 
of the highest ecclesiastic of England. From the rising to the setting 
of a single sun, ten thousand Saxons were baptized in the river Stour, 
which flows through Canterbury. This was the first formal acknowledg- 
ment of the power of the Christian religion in Great Britain, and it was 
upon this occasion that the old Saxon priest smote the images of his 
gods to see if there was really any virtue in them. He had served them 
long, he said; they had brought nothing but misery to him, and he was 
a willinor convert to the new faith. Thouofh the great cathedral at Can- 
terbury has suffered several times by fire, and has been beautified during 
the present century, it is in substantially the same condition as it was 
when completed in the twelfth century. Henry IV. and the Black Prince 
have monuments in the cathedral. The city contains other interesting 
memorials of the introduction of Christianity into England. The immense 
Augustinian monastery, so long used as a brewery, is now a missionary 
college, having been restored to something of its former appearance. 

It was before the hiofh altar of the magfnificent cathedral at Canter- 
bury, that Thomas a Becket, the Primate of England, was murdered 
because he pronounced the Church greater than the King ; for which deed 
King Henry II. did penance by allowing the monks to lay the lashes upon 
his own bare back, besides erecting several castles throughout the king- 
dom and doing other useless things. Now, beyond Dover, near the coast, 
is a little old town, with middle-century churches and houses. Once it 
was an important sea-port and furnished the king with many a vessel for 
defense of England. There is now quite a tract of land between it and 



95^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the sea. Hythe was, furthermore, a smugglers' port, and one of their 
picturesque lighthouses, with a blunt, square tower, rises innocently from 
the middle of the town, a legitimate store underneath, and an honest 
family of Kent for inmates. It was about a mile from this town that the 
Knights met who stabbed Thomas a Becket before the high altar of 
Canterbury, Saltwood Castle, where the conspirators agreed upon their 
villainy, was claimed as Church property by Thomas a Becket. Only a 
portion of the structure, looking from such a romantic situation 
upon the Channel and the coast of France, is left to tell of its 
former strength and magnificence. Its deep windows, groined roofs 
and rich carvings are built into a farm house, some of its large 
•Upper room being occupied by laborers. 

DOVER AND HASTINGS. 

The road from Chatham to Canterbury is delightful, and passes on 
to a pleasant little town, which once had a good harbor, and was, with 
Hythe, one of the powerful so called'" Cinque Ports," or those lying 
opposite France which were accorded particular privileges in return for 
which they furnished whole fleets of ships to humble the people just 
across the way. Sandwich's harbor, however, commenced to fill up 
with sand and in an unlucky day a vessel sunk at its entrance and com- 
pleted the blockade. 

Dover is the next Cinque Port, going down the coast, and it still 
enjoys that distinction, it being only twenty miles from France and 
the most convenient port of landing from the continent. Both Normans 
and French have laid violent hands upon it, and Caesar would have 
landed his invaders there, but the shore was too abrupt, and he entered 
England from a point a little further west. The Saxons looked upon it 
as the key to Kent and the Englishmen as the key to the kingdom. 
The Castle of Dover, posted upon a great chalk cliff guarding the town, 
contains a Roman watchtower, which is one of the most ancient pieces 
of military work in Great Britain, and exhibits also both Saxon and 
Norman styles of architecture. 

Upon the borders of what was then a forest, not far from Dover, 
another adventurer in arms landed from the French coast, nearly a 
thousand years from Caesar's time. The battle which gave England to 
the Normans, however, was not fought at Hastings, but six miles west 
of the port. Two years afterwards William the Conqueror founded 
Battle Abbey, which yet stands, a rugged stone structure with four 
central towers and two unequal wings. 



THE CHALKY CLIFFS AND OLD FORESTS. 957' 

THE CHALKY CLIFFS AND OLD FORESTS. 

The physical peculiarity of these extreme southeastern districts 
of the country is the chalky formation of the land, which throws it into 
two pleasing series of undulations called the North and the South 
Downs, which extend to the coast, the former beyond Canterbury to 
North Foreland (the extremity of Southeastern England) and the latter 
to Beachy Head, the grandest of the southern chalk cliffs. The Downs 
inclose the Weald, a rough plain from which geologists have drawn val- 
uable specimens of sea monsters, amphibians and ferns. Ironstone was 
also found, and Briton^ Roman and Saxon are believed to have worked 
in it. In the middle ages iron manufacturing prospered in the Weald, 
or forest, and the Sussex iron works were called upon not only b)r 
neighboring hamlets and villas, but by London itself. Cinder Hill, 
Furnace Place, Hammer Ponds, with the forest gone and the manufac- 
tories transferred to such coal districts as Birmingham, tell of past 
industry and the cause of its decadence. A ridge runs through the 
center of the Weald, from which its fertile and flowery surface, roughly 
broken and with a fir tree left here and there, may be viewed as far as 
the Downs on either side. In a little town on the northern edge of the 
Weald, Richard Cobden, the free-trader, was born, and Sir Charles 
Lyell, the geologist, passed his early days there. Farther west is Leith 
Hill, the highest point of land in Southeastern England, from whose 
summit can be indistinctly traced a varied and charming landscape 200 
miles in extent. A ramble through the Surrey hills would be well 
repaid by the charming country residences which peep out so unexpect- 
edly from groves of beech and oak trees. Then there are cool dales, 
bright hills, and pleasant lanes and villages to enjoy. If a ridge or an 
elevation has such a queer name as the Hog's Back it must be walked, 
for such brands were placed there by the early Saxons, and their homely- 
words are stamped upon many hills and vales of this region. 

EPSOM SALTS AND RACES. 

The Weald and Surrey hills also bring one within about twenty 
miles of London, and upon the northern edge of this varied landscape 
is a representative town of England — old and yet new; for although 
the Epsom salts were known two centuries ago, the race-course is less 
than half of that age. Epsom is on the edge of the North Downs and 
it is on the Downs themselves that the great race-course is located. The 
races for the Derby stakes are the most exciting which take place in 
England. Epsom seemed once destined to become a famous health 



958 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

resort, the salts vvhich were obtained from evaporating the waters of her 
mineral springs becoming so famous that the name Epsom salt is now 
applied to a like mineral obtained from the sea, from quarries in France, 
the Mammoth Cave in this country, and many other localities. But 
the races overshadowed the salts and during the week succeeding 
Whitsuntide a hundred thousand people pour out of London and gather 
from the surrounding country to see the famous English runners. 

THE FOREST OF DEATH. 

Just beyond the South Downs is the New Forest, in whose dense 
shades a few timid deer still wander, and wild ponies and swine find their 
homes there. It is the largest and most picturesque tract of wooded 
land in England, the noblest vantage ground being a knoll upon which 
is a country house marking thesiteof the keep from which the Red King 
went forth to hunt for the last time ; from this point cool avenues stretch 
over vast reaches of the forest, and open to view the refreshing waters 
of the Channel and the distant Isle of Wight. The spot where Rufus 
was found pierced with arrows is marked by a stone appropriately 
inscribed and protected by an iron casing. Beeches and oak predomi- 
nate among the monarchs of the forest, and in the oldest portion of it 
two of the " twelve apostles" — gigantic trees — still stand. In the very 
center of this primeval scene is a little town, from which man)^ excursions 
are made. Groves whose gnarled sentries and massive groups make 
one dream of the Druids and their sacrifices are separated by fertile strips 
and great farms. Elegant mansions and pretty villages are both scat- 
tered through the Forest and stand around its edges as if enjoying its 
great repose and varied aspects. 

The New Forest was one of the sixty-eight royal domains enjoyed 
by William the Conqueror and his court, and when he burned the peo- 
ple's churches and drove the worshipers away, the country was well set- 
tled. The persecuted peasants and foresters looked grimly on while 
one son was gored to death by a royal stag ; another son, the Red King, 
mysteriously met his fate, and a grandson was accidentally shot to death 
by an arrow 

THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 

The tourist can not do better, if he comes to England to see 
inspiring sights and breathe invigorating air, than to follow one of those 
avenues through the New Forest which lead toward Southampton 
Water and the Enorlish Channel. It is a short sail to the shores of the 
Isle of Wight, with its bold cliffs of chalk, its dark sea caves, its beauti- 



TO EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. 959 

ful waves of land, its sheltered vales and soft inland breezes, and the 
resort of literary men with temperaments ranging from Tennyson to 
Hugo. The yachts are more apt to frequent the Solent, the strait 
between the forest and the island. The Palace of Osborne rises serenely 
from a gradual elevation, a graceful stretch of wooded land coming down 
to the water's edge, like the royal deer themselves whose sleek forms adorn 
the grassy slopes. Thousands of British subjects hover around the beau- 
tiful place as around the memory of Prince Albert. In the vicinity of Os- 
borne House, at East Cowles, Dr. Arnold of Rugby was born, and this 
might beaquestion hard toanswer : Do more Englishmen worshipatthe 
shrine of the late Prince Consort than at the shrine of Dr. Arnold of Rugby ? 

A stroll through the interior of the island develops many localities of 
interest. In the downs have been found subterranean burial passages 
and regular Saxon grounds. Near Newport is a ruined fortress called 
Carisbrooke castle, where Charles I. was imprisoned after his flight from 
Hampton Court, and near the castle is a Roman villa and the remains 
of a costly pavement. The children of the king were also imprisoned 
there, the Princess Elizabeth dying in the castle and being buried at 
Newport church. 

The chalk downs which make the backbone of the Isle of Wight 
extend from Culver Cliffs in the east to the Needles in the west. Culver 
Cliffs terminate in a stupendous headland of chalk called the White 
Dove, while the Needles might have once been as massive, but are now 
worn away, so that they appear as pillars of chalk. A second and a higher 
range of chalk hills is formed in the southern part of the island and ex- 
pands into a broad promontory, whose scarred, furrowed and stern face 
is the Undercliff. For several miles it is evident that immense slides of 
land once fell at the base of the exposed cliff, having been loosened by 
the many springs ; these gradually subsided into a series of terraces, 
which now appear as a long rock garden, in which grow clumps of trees 
and a profusion of wild flowers, and whose coast line is sometimes broken 
by sunny bays and valleys. This district of the island is a favorite resort 
for invalids, and notwithstanding that many go there in the last stages 
of consumption the figures of the registrar-general prove that its death rate 
is actually the lowest in the kingdom. Railway communication has been 
opened between the various health resorts, Newton, the capital, and other 
towns. 

TO EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. 

In skirting along the sea shore, from opposite the Isle of Wight, the 
first point of interest is old Portsmouth, with a great royal dock-yard 



960 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

and fortifications. Even as early as Alfred's time vessels sailed from: 
this port to defeat the Sea Kings. Then we visit Exeter, the ancient 
capital of the West Saxons, and once strongly fortified, but taken by 
Dane and Norman. Before the Saxons came it is believed to have been 
a Briton town. Northeast of the city, on a hill, is the castle in which 
ihe West Saxon kings resided, and within it are large squares, a Nor- 
man cathedral of rich and massive appearance, and numerous educational 
institutes. The city is on the River Exe, a few miles from the Channel. 
And beyond is Plymouth, thriving and handsome, with a naval dock- 
yard, arsenal and productive fisheries, receiving its water supply from 
the moor of the River Dart, thirty miles distant. That dreary tract of 
swamps and rocks, and granite hills, and Druidical altars, should be 
approached from the north in order to thoroughly saturate the traveler 
with gloom, and a detour will therefore be made from the Channel by 
way of Bristol. 

A few miles south of the entrance to Plymouth Sound is the Eddy- 
stone lighthouse, on a reef, which has been photographed and described 
more often than any other similar structure in the world ; but that we 
may entertain, like the father who tells the same story time and time 
again to an ever-attentive audience, we will remark that the building of the 
last Eddystone lighthouse might form material for a romance, and that 
the waves of the channel have several times broken the thick plate-glass 
m its lantern, nearly seventy feet above the average sea level. 

FROM THE NEW FOREST, INLAND. 

One of the most remarkable remains of antiquity in the world are 
those imperfect circles of huge monoliths, but still traceable, which for 
many years have drawn thousands of antiquarians to Stonehenge, in 
Salisbury Plain, Southern Wiltshire, north of the New Forest. Even 
though the temple has been restored beyond reasonable doubt, it is still 
uncertain whether it was erected by the Druids, was a Temple of the Sun 
or a monument in honor of the dead. One legend ascribes it to the last 
of the British kings, who, with the assistance of the magician Merlin, 
built it in memory of 460 Britons who were murdered by Hengist the 
Saxon. 

Northwest of the New Forest, in the same count}/ of Wilts, is 
Savernake Forest, said to be the only one in England belonging to a 
subject. " It is especially remarkable for its avenues of trees. One, of 
magnificent beeches, is nearly four miles in length, and is intersected at 
one point of its course by three separate walks, or forest vistas, placed 



ALONG BRISTOL CHANNEL. 96 1 

at such angles as, with the avenue itself, to command eight points of 
the compass. The effect is unique and beautiful, the artificial character 
of the arrangement being amply compensated by the exceeding luxuri- 
ance of thickset trees and the soft loveliness of the verdant flowery 
glades which they inclose. The smooth, bright foliage of the beech is 
interspersed with the darker shade of the fir, while towering elms and 
wide-spreading oaks diversify the line of view in endless, beautiful 
variety. At one point a clump of trees will be reached — the veterans 
of the forest, with moss-clad trunks and gnarled, half-leafless branches — 
the chief being known as the King Oak, but sometimes called the 
Duke's, from the Lord Protector Somerset, with whom this tree was a 
favorite." 

ALONG BRISTOL CHANNEL. 

Bath and Bristol are in our way beyond the forests of Wiltshire, but 
it is the orderly way to first visit the picturesque spots in Somersetshire, 
which command Bristol Channel and the south of Wales, and which 
gradually merge into the vast moors of Devonshire, the wilds of Corn- 
wall, the adamant cliffs of Land's End, and finally the very prom- 
ontory itself, which lies prone at their feet, defying the incessant shock 
of two seas. The little village of Cheddar is not far from Bristol, and in 
its neighborhood is much of the most striking of that transition scenery 
which connects the southern and the southwestern sections of Eneland. 
The Mendips is a fantastic ridge of rocks, massive at the base and broken 
into graceful shapes above, the scant soil which it bears giving life to 
every creeping thing (in the vegetable world), and to radiant wild roses 
and other flowers. The caves are numerous and mysterious, some of 
the passages extending for long distances underground. We are now 
in the region of John Locke's birthplace and of the philanthropic labors 
of Mrs. Hannah More, while farther to the southwest is the marshy, 
woody country where King Alfred bided his time to drive the Danes 
from the land. The site of the neatherd's cottage, where the King let 
the cakes burn, while sorrowing and scheming, is approximated by a 
small stone pillar. 

KING ARTHUR'S LAND. 

On the shores of Cornwall and from Channel to Channel the legends 
of good King Arthur are thick as the great rocks which stand out to sea. 
The slaty and granite cliffs oppose themselves to the growing fury of the 
sea and form a fitting bulwark to the country which constituted the last 
stronghold of the Celts of England. In Cornwall, tradition places the 

61 



962 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

last great battle in wnich he fought, which also represents him as being 
borne from the battle-field mortally wounded and being buried at Glas- 
tonbury. It is further reported that by order of Henry II. his tomb was 
opened and the bones and good sword of the monarch were found. 
Arthur's Court is placed on the River Usk, in Southern Wales, where he 
lived with his beautiful wife. The scenes of his doubtful conflicts cover 
England from Lancaster, Bath and Portsmouth almost to Land's End. 

South of the Mendip Hills, on the River Brue, is Glastonbury Abbey 
reputed to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathaea, and the scene of 
the labors of St. Patrick and St. Augustine. Of the great church and its 
five chapels there yet remain three large crypts where Arthur, the early 
kings of England and founders of the English Church, were buried. A 
little westward from the ruin stands the beautiful chapel of St. Joseph 
of Arimathaea. Glastonbury was the reputed scene of St. Dunstan's 
conflict with the Devil, in which the Evil One, who came to tempt him 
from his forge and his cell, was seized by the nose with a pair of red-hot 
pincers. 

A LITERARY LAND. 

In the charming Ouantock Hills, not far away, are treasured mem- 
ories of the home life of Sidney Smith, Coleridge and Wordsworth, 
Toward the west and Bristol Channel, stretch a greater range than the 
Ouantocks, and if one ascends their heights the Welsh mountains may 
be dimly seen across the waters, while the land view is as majestic as any 
in the west of England. Famous watering places along this coast are a 
continual invitation to rest and not to make sight-seeing so tiresome a 
business. There are also many modest ones, not the less charming for 
being so. "Westward Ho !" is one of the bold kind, receiving its name 
from one of Charles Kingsley's novels — the one which Humboldt admired 
for its sublime description of South American forests which he had seen 
but Kingsley had not. A few miles of an appetizing walk finds one before 
a quaint village, buried in a wooded hillside — just throwing out a 
hesitating stone pier into a small bay, to let the world know that it is 
there. This is Clovelly, Kingsley's early home, and his first and last love. 
A little farther on is Hartland Point, a small grassy head of land, a few 
feet across, which is said to have an exact counterpart on the Welsh 
coast directly opposite. 

DREARY DARTMOOR. 

A direct and depressing contrast to the hills and downs of Southern 
England and the Isle of Wight, to diversified wealds and forests, are 



ROCKS AND FLOWERS. 963 

the dreary, grim moors of Southern Devonshire. The mossy, soggy 
moors are broken into many jagged outhnes by great masses of granite, 
and numerous streams descend from the heights to the River Dart, 
which flows into the Channel. In its upper regions Dartmoor is so deso- 
late that when ore first enters its solitudes his imagination might well 
delude him into the belief that some unfriendly power had placed him in 
some of the rocky deserts of Southwestern Africa, hundreds of miles 
from the coasts ; but as he follows a stream through the moor, and down 
its sloping borders toward the lowlands and the valley of the Dart, the 
sweet woods and dales and sunlit villages which greet his tired eyes, 
refresh his nature and bring back the bright side of life. 

ROCKS AND FLOWERS. 

The change from Devon to Cornwall may be over a great railway 
viaduct which spans the River Tamar. A more impressive approach is 
from the sea by way of Plymouth Sound. Here the Tamar presents a 
majestic appearance, and it is dii^cult to believe that it has its rise only 
sixty miles away. But whether you enter Cornwall by rail, on foot or 
by water, a great difference is at once noticed in the character of the 
country from that of Devon. With the exception of the moor country 
Devonshire is a softly outlined, fertile region, but suddenly as England 
gets ready for a final contest with the Western seas, she throws off her 
pleasing drapery and opposes to the elements a stern front — mostly 
ponderous granite and steely slate. The trees so nearly disappear 
that the natives of Devon say that the Cornish people have not enough 
timber to make a coffin. On some of the steep hills are a few stunted 
oaks, but, to draw a parallel in order to save a geological explanation, 
Cornwall is where Enorland's backbone of hills runs down into the tail 
and therefore the appendage was not clad in rich moldy soil, or the flesh 
of the land. The valleys which lie between the black heights of Corn- 
wall are, however, clothed with as green a verdure as can be found in 
England, and the orchards, gardens and farms thus sheltered seem, from 
their surroundings, more beautiful and more fruitful than they really 
are. " In various parts of the country, but always near the sea shore, 
we are astonished at finding in the front gardens of the houses ornamen- 
tal plants, which remain out of doors all the year and do not belong at 
all to the general flora of England. Myrtles, laurels, fuchsias and pom- 
egranates attain a remarkable size, flourish bravely in the open air and 
form hedges, clumps and fragrant screens which elegantly adorn the 
-windows and walls." 



964 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The effect of the Gulf Stream upon the western coasts of Cornwall 
is to make the seasons in this extremity of the island more forward than 
in any other locality. So that while frost is king in other parts of Eng- 
land, at the holiday season, the warmed and sheltered spots of Cornwall 
are bringing forth flowers, vegetables, bees and birds. Vegetation has 
been found more advanced in Southwestern Cornwall than in Northern 
Italy, so that this locality has been called the winter kitchen garden of 
London. Many of the early vegetables which reach the markets of the 
Metropolis come from Cornwall, and in nearly every town there is a cot- 
tage gardening society for the encouragement of this branch of agricul- 
ture. 

HOUSES AND MINES. 

Returning again to the stern side of Cornwall (and that, after all, 
is the one which is forced upon the world — it has to look for the 
flowers; the architecture of the old towns is massive and rugged. Cot- 
tages and even pig pens are built of blocks of granite, of which a castle 
might be proud. Often the stone is left in the rough, so that the beau- 
tiful colors and sparkling crystals make a diversified and striking picture. 
Frequently, however, their picturesqueness is spoiled by common coats 
of whitewash. The interior of one of these cottages is described thus : 
"A single ground-floor room serves at once as kitchen, dining and draw- 
ing-room. A wide open chimney, without a grate, proves that it was not 
originally intended to burn coals. The combustible formerly in use was 
roots, prickly furze and dried turf, which when raised in slabs forms a 
species of peat. A wooden or stone bench placed in the interior of the 
chimney serves as the family seat during the cold winter evenings. 
The laborers frequently obtain from the farmer their supply of gorse 
and dry grass, on condition of returning him the ashes. A deal table 
without a cloth, but carefully scrubbed, receives, the coarse and substan- 
tial dishes which have been cooked in front of the fire on a hot plate of 
iron. The whole family sit around this table on massive benches gen- 
erally fastened to the wall." Other cottages are more comfortably fur- 
nished and, even in secluded places near the tin and copper mines, will 
sometimes be seen quite elaborate stone structures, or houses of modest 
proportions, supplied with all the interior decorations which prosperous 
proprietors could wish to enjoy. 

The mines are not radically different from those worked in this 
country, except that the machinery is often more crude and there are 
many chambers which run under the sea. The most famous subterra- 
nean mine is the Botallack, some of its galleries running more than half a 



HOUSES AND MINES. 965 

mile under the stormy waves and at places approaching so near the bed 
of the sea that the heavy rocks can be heard rolling and grinding above. 
Near Penzance a mine was worked for many years whose mouth was not 
in the dark cliffs or moors of the coast, but in a deep ocean bay. The 
upper part of the shaft was a caisson, which rose a dozen feet above the 
level of the sea, and the water which trickled from the ocean into the 
mine was pumped out by an engine which stood on the shore over 700 
feet away. Pipes which were carried along a platform connected the 
mine with the engine, but the connection was severed by a storm-driven 
vessel, and, on account of the heavy expense already incurred, the bold 
enterprise was abandoned. 

The mines of Cornwall are, some of them, located amid green 
valleys and farms ; others have bare hills and moors for their surround- 
ings, and great rocks, in mysterious forms, lie near them. If there is 
any specially remarkable or weird formation, there are two explanations 
open — the wonder may be attributed to the Druids, to the Devil, or to 
the Archangel Michael, who (the latter) is the patron of the coast. The 
headquarters of the Archangel is supposed to be the rocky St. Michael's 
Mount, which lies adjacent to the Land's End district, and, like its mate 
off the coast of Normandy, is peninsula or island, according to the tide. 
It is well worth climbing for the mas^nificent view of sea and land, 
obtained from its sum.mit. Historically, it is supposed to be one of the 
islands to which the ancient Britons bore the tin in their boats, at high 
water, and in their chariots, at low water, the Phoenician ships carry- 
ing the precious metal to Tyre and Sidon, from whence it may have 
gone into the bronzes of Assyria and Egypt. On the mainland tin 
mines have been discovered, which are little more than burrows — 
those presumably worked by the Britons. 

Nearly midway between the eastern bounds of Cornwall and Land's 
End is one of the most remarkable districts of England for the quarry- 
ing of the kaolin, or fine clay, from which the wonderful porcelain ware 
of the country is made. The deposits result from the decomposition of 
feldspar, thus giving the clay a peculiarly pure and white appearance. In 
some cases the substance has to be dug out and disintegrated by the 
action of running water. Then by being received into a series of tanks 
the finer particles are at length deposited. After the water has evapor- 
ated or been drawn off, the pure white deposit soon hardens so that it 
can be cut with a spade into cakes and carried off to sheds, or the sur- 
rounding hills to further harden. This is often the work of women who 
appear in white costumes, bonnets, wide sleeves and aprons, and bear 
away the gleaming porcelain substance which is white as snow. There 



966 



I'AiNORAMA OF NATIONS. 



are harder deposits of kaolin which are blasted like stone, the bulk of 
the product being conveyed in carts to the nearest port and shipped to 
Staffordshire, which is in Central England and also the center of the 
pottery manufactures. 

AMONG MINERS AND FISHERMEN. 

A miner seldom appears to notice either the beauty or the barren- 
ness of his surroundings. The life is essentially a sad and an anxious 
one, the world over, and the Cornish native seems naturally of a more 
sombre, but not desponding disposition, than any other nationality ; the 
Cornish giant who works in the mines is intelligent and proud, but not 




FISH SALE IN CORNWALL. 

boorish. When at home he cultivates his flowers and vegetables in 
summer and, if he lives on the coast, ventures out upon the sea to catch 
his winter supply of fish with as much confidence as though the water^ 
not the land, were his element. 

Although girls and Avomen are not employed in the mines as 
frequently as in former years the practice is still common in Cornwall. 
Their work is to break and prepare the mineral, and although their 
labors have a tendency to make them far too masculine, their figures are 
often perfectly developed and they are noble specimens of womanhood 



A DEAD LANGUAGE. 967 

and girlhood. Both they and the daughters of the sea are fond of rib- 
bons, pretty veils and lockets, and although the granite Cornish men 
protest, they know in their rough hearts that they love to see the bright 
flowers among the rocks. On Sunday the flowers appear particularly 
fresh. 

Yet Sunday in Cornwall is as John Wesley would wish it to be. Old 
and young are dressed in their cleanest, and their best includes silks and 
laces. But whether by miners or fishermen, Sunday is observed as a 
holy day, and some of them will exhibit, as an evidence that they had 
need to reform, various circles and groups of stones which were once 
ball-playing men and dancing girls. Traces of the first Methodist revi- 
val which Wesley led among the manufacturing and mining districts of 
England are yet observed in Cornwall, where he met with the greatest 
success. Thousands of the Cornish miners were both converted and re- 
formed. The work did not end there, but to this day, the Wesleyans 
and the Methodists are the strong sects of the country. 

The actual toilers of the sea are seen in their most characteristic at- 
tires when the boats have returned to port laden with their precious 
freio-hts. The wives are there to meet their husbands and usually several 
hawkers are on hand, as soon as anybody, to purchase for the markets. 
One of their most common vehicles is a truck, to which is fastened an 
immense basket. If the place is a considerable village there is a long 
line of trucks along the beach, and the buyers stand on rocks or jetties, 
with whips in hand, examine the contents of the boats, which are drawn 
up along the pier, and, in a stentorian voice, shout out their "highest 
fio-ure." "Women with bent backs loaded with a dorser called a cowl, 
doubtless because some resemblance was found between it and a monk's 
cowl, bear the enormous loads of fish from the boats to the beach. All 
the people push and elbow each other, with an immense quantity of talk- 
ing, performed in that singing voice peculiar to Cornwall." 

A DEAD LANGUAGE. 

The voice is peculiar, and some of the long faces, black hair and 
large noses and mouths are not English ; the language, however, is get- 
ting to be almost identical with the English, although the majority of 
the Cornish people were once Celts. Until the close of the seventeenth 
century they spoke their primitive language, those who lived nearest 
Land's End clineine to the dear old dialect with tbe grimmest determina- 
tion. There is something almost as pathetic in the struggle of a people 
to keep their native language in the world as of a dying race to struggle 



968 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

against extermination. A Cornish clergyman who taught the Word not 
more than fifty miles from Land's End preached the last sermon in Cel- 
tic at about 1687. As a spoken language the Cornish may be considered 
devoured by the English. Many rocks and promontories retain their 
ancient names, and a phrase or a few words will occasionally crop out 
in familiar discourse between Cornish miners and fishermen ; but as the 
English have so crowded their way into Cornwall that there is little pure 
Celtic blood, so it is likely that the Celtic dialect of Cornwall is dead 
beyond resurrection. The most important written remains of the tongue 
are deposited in the Cottonian library of the British Museum. Sir 
Robert Cotton, an English antiquarian, made a valuable collection of 
ancient manuscripts during the early portion of the seventeenth century, 
obtaining among other curiosities a vocabulary of the Cornish-Celtic 
which is still preserved. 

Returning toward Bristol and Bath by way of the northern coast of 
Southwestern England, the formations of the cliffs are generally of a 
slaty texture. After leaving these two cities, up the River Severn 
we pass into an imaginary division of the empire called Educational 
and Ecclesiastical Enorland. The Thames bounds it on the south 

CD 

and Shakespeare's Avon, extended to the North Sea, is its northern 
boundary. 

BRISTOL AND BATH. 

These were Roman stations on the great military road from London 
to Wales. Both cities were towns of the Britons before the Romans 
invaded the island. At Bath coins, vases and baths, and remains of a 
temple have been found, but within modern tiijies the hot springs have 
made it famous. Bristol, on the contrary, at the head of the Channel by 
that name, stood next to London for many years. But the metropolis 
built the West India docks, and drew the monoply of the trade from 
Bristol, and Liverpool, from its position nearer the best coal and iron 
fields, usurped her supremacy as one of the most important manufactur- 
ing centers of England. Yet Bristol remains a great city. 

SHAKESPEARE'S AVON. 

Bristol and Bath are on the Avon, but it is not Shakespeare's 
stream. That river branches off at Tewkesbury, where the party of the 
Red Roses triumphed over the White, and flows gently toward the cas- 
tle of the gigantic Earl of Warwick, who fell in battle a few weeks 
previous to the final defeat of his army. 

The River Avon is a branch of the Severn, and where it first enters 



SHAKESPEARE'S AVON. 969 

"Warwickshire, the quiet country town of Stratford rests upon its banks. 
The house where Shakespeare was born is a two-story stone building, with 
antique-looking gables fronting the street. In the room where he is said 
to have been born is one of the many portraits of the poet, and the walls 
and window panes bear traces of Scott's and Wordsworth's admiration, 
whil^ the visitors' book, which has been removed from the house, is filled 
with sentiments and autographs of statesmen, poets and novelists. Back 
of the house is a garden once crowded with old English flowers. About a 
mile away is the cottage of Anne Hathav/ay; a long, straggling, simple 
cottage, with an irregular roof and rough doors and windows. Man and 
wife, genius and common clay, are buried in the Gothic church approached 
through such" a majestic avenue of limes. The Avon runs but a short 
distance from the walls. Up the river a few miles are Kenilworth and 
Warwick castles. Kenilworth Castle is a grand ruin, covered with ivy 
and banked in foliage. Tradition connects it with the romances of 
King Arthur, and history with the gallantries of the Earl of Leicester to 
Queen Elizabeth, his sovereign having presented the castle to him. For 
seventeen days tilts and tournaments, dramatic representations, ban- 
quets, songs and dances succeeded each other, during the most famous 
of his entertainments in honor of the Queen. But now the walls are 
broken and little birds flit and chirp among the weeds, vines and rocks 
wiinin the grand banqueting hall. 

Warwick Castle, on the contrary, is well preserved. for an old country 
seat. It is the principal residence of the Earls of Warwick, situated on 
the banks of the Avon. The approach is a winding road cut through 
the solid rock, and the castle itself is on a rocky elevation forty feet 
high. The pictures, specimens of armor, tapestries, inlaid furniture, and 
interior decorations are interesting and elegant, and the gardens without 
are magnificent. The trees are of most stately proportions, some of 
them being from Lebanon. The visitor who comes to the castle will be 
expected to receive — at least with an open mind — all the stories about the 
mighty Guy, Earl of Warwick, who slew so many people that he retired 
with the blues to a dismal cave. There he lived for thirty years, and 
Guy's Cliff can be shown to prove it ! The giant's porridge pot, which 
holds 120 gallons, is on exhibition at the castle, as well as the rib of a 
mighty cow which the Earl killed on Dunsmore Heath. 

While speaking of celebrated localities, it should be remembered 
that Rugby Grammar School is fifteen miles above Warwick Castle, on 
the Avon. Foot-ball and cricket are still being played, and the same 
manly discipline is maintained as when thousands of American youth 
were devouring " School Days at Rugby." The chapel of the school con- 



970 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

tains a monument to Dr. Arnold, the revered head-master. But we 
must hurry eastward, beyond the Avon. 

A SECOND HOLLAND. 

Much of the country which Hes between Cambridge and the Wash — 
the arm of the North Sea which comes over the great hump of South- 
eastern England — was once aland of swamps. Most of the land has been 
reclaimed and drained, but it is still a drearv reof-ion covered with rank 
grass and reeds, intersected with ditches, canals and streams, and boast- 
ing, in places, a farm house or struggling village. Game is still abun- 
dant, despite the disappearance of so much favorite water, and between 
sportsmen in summer and merry skaters in winter the land is the most 
dreary looking of the two elements. In the days when the flat grass 
and reed lands were the bottoms of lakes and marshes and the elevated 
points, the islands, great abbeys were built upon these beautiful, secluded 
spots. Their ruins of walls, towers and gigantic arches are the most 
interesting features of the country. Some of them go back to early 
Saxon times, the Crowland Abbey having been devastated by the Danes 
and nearly all the inmates massacred. 

"All the islands in the great inland sea appear to have been settled 
by recluses. They had nothing to look out upon but ' a sea in winter 
without waves, and in summer a dreary mud swamp.' Each island had 
its duck decoys and the wild fowl abounded to such an extent that 3,000- 
ducks, have been taken by one of these in a day. [An English duck 
story.] Stilts were used by the inhabitants of the Fens, as they are: 
now in the low lands of Brittany and Normandy, to spy out game ; and 
the Fenlanders were, as might be expected, subject to all kinds of low 
fevers and ague. Chatteris, Soham, St. Ives and other places that are 
now considerable country towns, appear as little islands in the sea where 
all now is rich farming land." 

The former extent of this old inland sea, or marsh, was about twO' 
thousand square miles. The Romans had attempted to save the country, 
and their dikes along the sea coast, or the Wash, are traceable in some 
sections. The early English tried to drain the country and finally 
called in the aid of the Dutch. James I. employed Sir Cornelius Ver- 
muyden, who brought Dutch workmen with him, and his countrymen 
did most of the work. The channels of the rivers which flowed through 
the country were deepened and their mouths cleared so that there 
would be a free passage and a good current to the sea. When the 
English Admiral Blake defeated the Dutch, some of the prisoners were 



CATHEDRAL CITIES. . 97 1 

set to work draininof the fens. Other Hollanders continued in the 
same course, and some of them became settlers. The result is that 
many words and faces which are found in the Fen country are unmistak- 
ably Dutch. 

CATHEDRAL CITIES. 

The old religious edifices are not all in ruins, however. On the 
reclaimed sea, called Bedford Level, is the old city of Ely with a very 
ancient cathedral. The cathedral at Peterborough was founded by the 
King of Mercia in the seventh century and grandly combines the Normart 
and the early English in its architecture ; for the first church was des- 
troyed by the Danes. Catharine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII., is 
buried here ; and so once was Mary, Queen of Scots, but her bones were 
removed to Westminster Abbey. Lincoln is also a town hoary with 
ao;e but ali^'e with manufactories and contains one of the finest cathedrals 
in the kino;-dom, with three towers and that hearty old bell, the Great- 
Tom of Lincoln. There is furthermore the splendid structure at Norwich 
which was founded in the eleventh century. The town flourished in the 
time of Edward the Confessor. Fragments of its ancient wall still sur- 
round it. Norwich gave the language also a common noun. The 
Flemings who early settled in it used to send to the village of Worsted, 
a few miles distant, for a kind of yarn spun from long wool. These 
manufacturers of Norwich called it worsted. Harriet Martineau was 
born in Norwich, her parents being French refugees. 

CAMBRIDGE. 

Cambridge is also in the reclaimed country of Southeastern England. 
It was a famous seat of learning as early as Oxford, but, if anything, has 
shown a greater leaning towards aristocracy. The students are at the 
present time divided into classes according to their social rank and the 
amount of tuition they pay. The noblemen pay ^50 caution money, 
and are the highest, while the poorest class of students, the sizars, con- 
tribute but ;^io. Formerly the position of the sizars was humiliating, 
but of late years there has been a great reform in this particular. No 
one who is not a member of the Church of England can take the degree 
of B. A. The most famous of the colleges which form the university is 
Trinity, with which the names of Newton and Milton are intimately- 
associated. The library contains manuscripts in both the handwritings 
of these diverse geniuses. Connected with the university are botanical 
gardens and museums, and a fine observatory. Every institution has a 
superb building, the appliances being on a scale which could direct the 



■972 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



minds of such scholars as Chaucer, Bacon, Harvey, Spenser, Milton, 
Dryden, Newton and Pitt. Of the architectural poems the Gothic 
chapel of King's College is the grandest and most beautiful. Of the 
buildincrs Queen's College is the most venerable in appearance, as it has 
not been rebuilt within modern times. In its principal court may still 
be seen the sun-dial made by Isaac Newton. 

The town has a much more ancient appearance than Oxford, the 
houses having queer gables and antiquated chimneys, while the very 
ivacrons and farmers, appearing on market day, seem to belong to the 
middle ages. The Cam, a stream which passes through the college 




^■»i^ll!» 



OLD ENGLISH DOORWAY. 



•grounds, often bears along, almost under the windows of some of the 
university buildings, the coal, wood and grain destined for neighboring 
towns. It carries one through the fenny district to Ely, to which point 
many of the nobles fled to escape the cruelty of William the Conqueror 
after the battle of Hastings An authentic picture has been drawn of 
■earls and knights capturing wild duck, eels and pike, and feasting with 
the monks of Ely, their lances standing against the wall ready for use 
should the Normans seek and find them in their marshy stronghold 
William finally found these flowers of Saxon knighthood, and, to crush 
them, built a road twelve miles o"."er the marsh to Ely. But the road 
"was poorly constructed and sunk many ambitious Normans to their slimy 



BUN VAN, COWPER, AND YERULAM. 973, 

graves. The next attempt made would have been successful, had not 
the leader of the Saxon force disguised himself as one of the army of 
laborers which was collecting brushwood for a solid roadway and set fire 
to the enormous pile before it could be used. But the King confiscated 
the lands of the abbey, and one clay, when the Saxons were away looking 
for provisions, the monks paid the Norman King a certain sum to get 
back their property besides giving the foreign soldiers entrance to the 
stronghold. Both Danes and Normans ravaged the Fen country. 

BUNYAN. COWPER AND VERULAM. 

Before leaving this portion of the kingdom for the country north of 
the Avon, there are two shires above Middlesex, in which London is 
situated, which deserve more than a brief notice. The Ouse, a stream 
which meanders through them, waters the home ground of Cowper and 
Bunyan. The author of Pilgrim's Progress was born near the town 
of Bedford and was wont to visit the locality where, in prison, he spent 
twelve years of his life. The monument to the great and conscientious 
man which is erected in Bedford represents him as a preacher. 

In Hertfordshire was born the insanely sensitive poet. The rectory 
of Great Berkhamstead where he first saw the uncertain light still stands, 
and the house at Olney where he enjoyed, so many years, the friend- 
ship of Mrs. Unwin. Although Cowper's father w.as a royal chaplain, 
the son is buried in a church in Dereham, Norfolk, while the son of the 
tinker died and was buried in London. Due east of Cowper's birthplace 
is St. Albans, that famous borough near which two great battles were 
fought in the War of the Roses. It is near the site of an ancient town 
called Verulam. From this circumstance Lord Bacon's royal title was 
of a double nature — Baron Verulam and Viscount of St. Albans — and 
there is a monument to the great thinker in the borough, 

YARMOUTH FLATS. 

Any admirer of England's most genial, if not her greatest novelist 
will not fail to travel a little nearer the North Sea — in fact, to reach its 
very coasts and stroll around the quaint, flat Yarmouth, with its ship- 
yards and great quays and smell of herrings. It is in just such a place 
as one would expect to find Peggotty, and Em'ly, and Uncle Dan, and 
Mrs. Gummido-e, and all the others. Yarmouth was not reclaimed from 
the river until the eleventh century, and although its mouth has been 
diverted several miles to the south, the Flats still seem a fair invitation 
to the sea to come in and cover them, as of old. 

And althoup-h we have left London, the mind can not but revert to 



974 PAxVORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the old-fashioned, comfortable home of the handsome, impulsive, im^ 
pressible and not altogether unlovable Steerforth, in Highgate, within 
sight of the city. The few glimpses which Dickens has given of the 
stately Mrs. Steerforth are indescribably tender. The picture of her 
dignified figure bending and her hair whitening under the weight of her 
son's disgrace, and that other scene of stony and passionate grief after 




AN OLD ENGLISH LADY. 



the body of Em'ly's unprincipled lover had been cast by that fearful sea 
upon Yarmouth flats, are both associated with this portion of the Eng- 
lish coast. In years to come we imagine some such face as that above. 

A FAMOUS BATTLE-FIELD. 

Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln and York form a compact 
group of shires, in which may be found matters of absorbing interest, 



BACK TO NOTTINGHAM. 975 

especially to Americans ; but, boy-like, we reserve the best for the last. 
Leicestershire is famous in English history as the scene of the final battle 
between the Red and White Roses, where Richard III. was slain 
and the line of the Plantagenets disappeared from history. Henry, Earl 
of Richmond, came from France to try conclusions with him, only a 
few weeks previous, collecting an army as he advanced from Wales 
straight across country to Leicester. Among other places he stopped 
over night at Shrewsbury — separated by one shire from Bosworth 
Field — and the house at which he slept is still perfect, being at the 
present time occupied by two shops. Another one of the Earl's sleep- 
ing places, after he had heard that Richard was at Leicester, was the 
inn of the Three Tuns, at which man and beast may still be enter- 
tained. In the meantime Richard III. had been advancing from Nottino^- 
ham. This was one of his favorite court residences, the view from his 
castle being grand indeed. He marshaled his forces in the market-place 
and lead them toward Leicester, following the first column of his troops 
on a white horse and wearing the imperial crown. The King rested at 
the "Blue Boar Inn," which has been pulled down, and on the fourth day 
thereafter the armies came in sight of each other on an uneven marshy 
field, in the western part of Leicestershire. The immortal Bard of Avon 
is considered the most precise historian of the battle which rung out the 
Plantagenets and rung in the Tudors. Richard's crown, Avhich was found 
near a hawthorn bush, after the fight, was j^laced upon the Earl's head, 
and therefore upon King Henr}''s monument at Westminster Abbey 
there appears a crown in a bush. The center of Bosworth Field is 
marked by a spring, over which is a small stone structure of pyramidal 
shape. Even the well shares the ignominy of the fallen king ; it has 
never been called King Richard's well, but King Dick's well. From the 
field have been dug artistic crossbows, and spurs of steel, and gigantic 
spear heads, some of which are deposited in the Bosworth church and 
in the Liverpool Museum; that bloody ground placed a red seal upon a 
thirty years' civil war and the slaughter of one hundred thousand Eng- 
lishmen. 

BACK TO NOTTINGHAM. 

From Bosworth Field to Nottingham, with quaint country inns all 
along the way, is suggestive of Richard's triumphal march in the other 
direction. Though these interior hostelries retain their picturesque and 
antiquated appearance and their homely names, as a rule they furnish 
good fare and comfortable beds and keep pace with the times. In 
England, as in this country, however, the tourist or summer guest has a 



97^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

few complaints to make about that magician, the commercial traveler,, 
who always gets the very best the inns afford. A stop at Leicester 
should not be neglected, for its castle, of which a few traces only remain,, 
was once a royal residence, and in the Abbey of St. Mary Pre, also in 
ruins, died the princely and too ambitious Cardinal Wolsey. 

Nottingham is getting to be quite a modern town, with a great 
market-place surrounded by lofty buildings, and numerous manufactories 
are in brisk operation. Richard's old castle has long ago given place to 
the present structure — but perhaps young and old would like to be 
acquainted with the fact that Nottingham is noted for being near 
Gotham, where originated the story of the Seven Wise Men who went 
to sea in a bowl. 

The inhabitants were Saxons, and so hated King John that they 
felled trees across the road which he was to take, to make a visit of state 
to the town. This so enraged him that he sent a sheriff to cut off their 
noses. But the citizens had deliberated, and when the officer returned 
he bore word to the King that they were all a set of fools and not 
accountable for their actions. From that day until the true story came 
out, the Wise Men of Gotham was said in derision. 

BYRON AND ROBIN HOOD. 

It is a short ride by rail to Mansfield, and a walk from that venera- 
ble town leads one to Newstead Abbey, a most picturesque ruin founded 
by the Henry through whose thoughtlessness, at least, Thomas a Becket 
was murdered. Itwas built as a propitiatory offering and became the home 
of Lord Byron. The rooms of the poet, it is said, remain as he left 
them ; his bedstead, with gilded coronets, his pictures, portraits of 
friends, writing table and all. The abbey forms a portion of the old 
forest of Sherwood, the haunt of Robin Hood and his band. The 
new growth of the forest is fine and the ferns are seemingly exhaustless; 
but the old oaks are the most interesting. Parliament oak boasts of 
a green old age, for, although it still bears leaves, one of the kings held 
his parliament under it in the thirteenth century. Another veteran is 
pointed out which is supposed to be seven hundred years old. These 
pioneers of the forest are twisted, and gnarled, and rifted, and most of 
them have local tales attached to them as. well as timber braces and 
crutches, to keep them from caving in or falling to the ground. There 
is the same pride shown in keeping them above ground as if they 
were very aged people who had passed through many memorable 
scenes. 



A CASTLE AND COUNTRY INNS. 

A CASTLE AND COUNTRY INNS. 



977 



The still noble ruins of Ashby Castle are reached by taking a 
short trip from Leicester northwest to near the border line of Derby- 
shire. This was in Richard's time upon the grand estate of the unfor- 
tunate Lord Hastings, murdered by that king through the executioner. 
Around the castle, which was one of the grandest in England, was a 
stately park five square miles in extent. Oliver Cromwell besieged 
it, reduced it and imprisoned several noble dukes and earls in it, who . 
supported the royal cause. Afterwards, when the army of the Lord 
Protector triumphed throughout England, a committee of Parliament de- 
termined what castles should stand 
and which be destroyed. Ashby 
was too dangerous to be passed 
over and it was accordingly un- 
dermined and brought to its pres- 
ent condition. 

In the town of Ashby the 
same quaint old inns appear — 
the Queen's Head, the Bull's. 
Head, etc., etc. These inns ex- 
hibit their noble proclivities ini 
A DERBYSHIRE INN. various ways, the latter flying 

the Hastings coat of arms as a sign and symbol. Throughout Derby, 
also, it is inn upon inn, and every one is an added charm to the beau- 
tiful country. 

AMERICA IN ENGLAND. 

East of Nottinghamshire, beyond the River Trent, there is a con- 
tinuation of the Fen country, whose general features have been already 
described. In its midst, near the sea, at the mouth of a river, is Boston, 
England, the parent of Boston, U. S. A. Rev. John Cotton, one of our 
Boston's first clergymen, preached there for many years. From him 
have descended such families as Everett, Grant, Hale, Jackson, Froth- 
ingham, Lee, Mather, Thayer, Tracy, Whiting, etc. Residents of 
the United States have erected a chapel to his memory near St. 
Botolph's church, in which he preached for twenty years, the Latin 
inscription being by the Hon. Edward Everett. This beautiful church, 
with its tower nearly 300 feet in height, is 580 years old, and retains the 
original name from which Boston was corrupted. " St. Botolph was a 

Saxon saint who lived in the seventh century, and was almost contem- 

62 




978 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

poraneous with the more celebrated St. Cuthbert. The common pro- 
nunciation in the eastern countries is St. Bottle; so the transition from 
Bottlestown to Boston is comprehensible." Boston is like a Dutch town 

— her warehouses, wharfs, vessels and buildings remind one of Holland 

— and in the matter of contests with the sea she had the experience of 
her neighbors on the other shore of the North Sea. In the days of 
King John, Boston merchants were taxed according to their wealth. 
London yielded ;^836 to the King and Boston was second with ^780. 
Her population may now be 20,000. At about the time her great church 
was built she was of such power and wealth that her vessels comprised 
the bulk of the navy which carried the troops of Edward to the battle 
of Crecy, France. Cromwell made Boston his headquarters for a time. 

Improvements in the channel of the river are restoring its trade to 
some extent, but the chief interest attaching to it is its connection with 
American history ; for Cotton's friends named new Boston. From 
Hartford another English clergyman went to America to found a church, 
and gave the American city a name. In fact, the Fen country of East- 
ern and Southeastern England became the stronghold of the English 
Puritans as it was that of the Saxons ag-ainst the Normans, and much of 
the best blood of New England flowed from that marshy, foggy, plague- 
stricken and unattractive country. The county of Lincoln, in which is 
Boston, was the native place of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, 

Yorkshire adjoins Lincolnshire on the north and from this land of 
moors and wolds came forth such families as Washington, Penn and 
Winthrop. The Washington family fled from Cromwell because it was 
a champion of Charles II. and the Stuart dynasty. John Washington 
and his brother Lawrence escaped to America. 

A few miles from the railway which runs between Hull and York is 
a massive structure, surrounded by a pleasant park in which elms pre- 
dominate. In a corner of the park is a venerable little church. " Of 
course, a private path leads into the chancel where the family pews are. 
There is a fine collection of paintings here, one of President Washing- 
ton, on which a great value is set. The little church has the dignity of 
being a parish one, and possessing a rector, and here the parish records 
are kept. Unhappily, they are very imperfect ; those relating to Wash- 
ington's great-grandfather, John Washington, are not to be found and 
there are others of later dates which are very puzzling." 

THE ENGLISH YORK. 

Both the city of York and the county of York are among the most 
interesting and picturesque districts of England. The capital is near 



THE ENGLISH YORK. 979 

the center of Great Britain, and by Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes and 
Normcvis was considered the key to a successful invasion from the north. 
From the earHest times it was a chief town of the Northern Britons. 
Then it was a Roman station and the chief city of the imperial power in 
the north. Fortresses, temples and palaces arose, ruins of which exist, 
and late excavations, which have been made near the railway station, 
have unearthed rich jewels of silver and gold, delicate jars and lamps of 
glass, cameos and statuettes of bronze and ivory, great squares of intri- 
cate pavements of Mosaic work and other evidences of the magnificence 
which reigned when the Emperors Hadrian and Severus lived in York. 
Here Severus died, as well as the father of Constantine the Great, and 
many believe that Constantine himself was born in York. At the time 
of his fathers death Constantine was in the city, and in York the Sixth 
Legion proclaimed him Emperor. 

Britons and Picts fought for the possession of the great northern 
capital, and the savage tribes from beyond Hadrian's wall overran and 
destroyed it. The Saxons re-established its importance and it became 
the capital of the powerful kingdom of Northumbria, out of which York 
was finally carved. The first King of all England held his Witenage- 
mot, or popular parliament, in York ; and three weeks before the battle 
of Hastings, Harold, the last of the Saxon monarchs, defeated a united 
force of Danes and Norwegians only a few miles from the capital. The 
Danes captured the city, after it had fallen into the hands of the Nor- 
mans, and put the garrison to the sword, and then the Normans laid 
waste the country for miles around and butchered one hundred thousand 
people. 

The first English parliament was held at York, and for five cen- 
turies thereafter it met there, occasionally. The highest courts of the 
kingdom even had their seasons of sitting at York. But when Plantag- 
enet went down at Bosworth Field, York declined and fell. It became 
one of the greatest ecclesiastical centers of England. The first metro- 
politan church was built there. In the eighth century the magnificent 
Anglo-Saxon church was built which was enlarged into York Minster. 
This ranks as one of the largest and finest specimens of Gothic architec- 
ture in the world, being longer than St. Paul's Cathedral. Some portions 
of St. Mary's Abbey, completed in the Conqueror's time for the Bene- 
dictine monks, stand in the midst of stately gardens shaded by a belt of 
elms, wonderfully graceful in their old age. 

Within these gardens is also the " King's Manor House," built from 
the walls of St. Mary's Abbey and the residence of the Stuarts. It is a rough 
stone building, two stories in height, with many gables and chimneys 



98o 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



and covered with vines from its foundation to the peaks of its dormer 
windows. The arms of the Earl of Strafford are emblazoned over the 
door, for when he was made Lord President of the North he took up his 
residence in King's Manor. The building is now occupied by the York- 
shire School for the Blind, dedicated to William Wilberforce. 

But York lies mostly in the past. It is the most ancient-looking 

city in England. The 
streets are narrow, 
the houses are high, 
with very pointed 
roofs, and on market 
day when the farmers 
appear with their 
broad-wheeled carts, 
their gaily-decorated 
blouses and their 
broad Yorkshire dia- 
lect, modern times 
are forgotten. Some 
of the houses are 
massive piles, with 
only a few windows 
in front, the upper 
two stories not only 
bulging out over the 
lower, but the third 
beingr hig-herthan the 
second and project- 
ing farther over the 
street. In one of the 
most ancient streets 
are the remains of 
the parliament house, 
and near by the 
coach-house, which is at least four hundred years old. 

The many Jewish faces seen in York remind one of poor Isaac and 
his Rebecca, in Ivanhoe. Until comparatively of recent date the 
principal quarters of that people were called Jubbargate and Jewbury. 
When York was great, they were as powerful as Scott represented 
•them, and in the royal city they were often attacked by armed mobs 
and sometimes murdered. It was their custom, at one time, to keep a 




OLD ENGLISH GATEWAY. 



MANCHESTER. 



981 



record of their loans in the York Minster, but they discontinued the 
practice after the populace had broken into the cathedral and burned the 
documents. 

MANCHESTER. 

It is the county of Lancaster, York's old rival, which is now at the 
height of prosperity ; and we need merely mention Manchester and Liv- 
erpool to make the contrast forcible. Manchester is only about twenty 
miles west of the romantic Peak District, which will be hereafter noticed. 
It is the most important manufacturing city of Great Britain, its cotton 
works leading the world. The city has been noted for the excellence of 
this line for centuries. It is the center of a great canal system, and 
many canals intersect its streets. It was the home of many famous 
inventors, but has acquired the most prominence, perhaps, as being the 
rallying point of the free-traders of England. Cobden and Bright and 
the " Manchester School " are known wherever industrial questions are 
discussed. Statues of these leaders, with their convert Sir Robert Peel, 
and the inventor Watt, adorn the public parks. The present free-trade 
hall, erected on the site of the old one, is unattractive but holds five 
thousand people, and is already marked as an historical building. 

LIVERPOOL. 

Liverpool from its long dealings with this country, as the greatest 
cotton market of the world and one of the largest grain centers, has 
imbibed the true American spirit of pluck, perseverance and push. 
Nearly all the emigrants who leave Great Britain and one half her 
exports pass through Liverpool. She is rapidly capturing the wool 
trade of Australia, and with all her strides in cosmopolitan trade the city 
has found time to improve her appearance and consider the health of her 
citizens. The sewerage system is being extended and improved, and 
the water supply perfected, so that, although the m.ost densely populated 
city in England, she is rapidly leaving behind her former record of being 
one of the most unhealthy. Liverpool has thirty miles of dockage, the 
yards within the city and the ones which the Corporation owns in Bir- 
kenhead having a world-wide fame for their massive character. The 
shipping in the docks is protected by a sea wall five miles in length, and 
forty feet in height, entrance being effected through numerous gates, 
some of which open a passage 100 feet wide. Liverpool is almost as 
great a railway center as London. The first line in England run from 
Liverpool to Manchester and was opened eight years before the London 
railway. 



982 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

The center of commercial activity in Liverpool is the town square, 
the hall being upon one side, and the American and Liverpool chambers 
of commerce, cotton sales rooms, and mercantile offices upon the 
remaining three sides. 

GLADSTONE AND HIS ESTATE. 

It is appropriate that Gladstone should have been born in Liver- 
pool, not far from free-trade Manchester. His father was first a wealthy 
merchant in the West India trade and afterwards a baronet. Gladstone 
is manly Manchester and liberal Liverpool in himself, just as the more 
meteoric Disraeli was, in one, radical and conservative London, where he 
enjoyed his triumphs of literature and politics. 

The peninsula upon which Birkenhead is situated divides the Mer- 
sey from the River Dee. On the left bank of the latter stream runs a 
good highway overlooking a beautiful country and the estuaries of both 
the rivers. A few minutes' walk from the main road brings one to the 
country town of Hawarden, and fronting on the main street are the 
gates of the castle which lie in the broad Gladstone estate. The village 
also runs along the walls of the park for a long distance, so that when 
the Prime Minister retires to his estate to chop trees and superintend 
improvements — to rest by plunging into another grade of work — he 
may be in the world and yet not of it. The estate has descended to 
Mr. Gladstone's wife from William I., through a long line of nobles and 
Sergeant Glynne of Cromwell's army. Mrs, Gladstone's maiden name 
was Glynne. Before reaching her from William it twice reverted to 
the Crown. The original castle in bare outline has been uncovered, and 
from its lofty tower the beautiful Hawarden park and the rich features 
of the surrounding country, which are spread out like a feast, cause the 
wonder to increase more and more that the venerable statesman can 
ever tear himself away and return to the turmoil of public life. 

MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL ENGLAND. 

From the Cheshire hills, which are further inland than Hawarden, 
the view of rivers, villages, castles, parks and gladsome stretches of 
landscape can not be surpassed. There are scores of old towns in this 
region worth visiting, but in the midst of everything romantic, historical, 
picturesque and charming, figuratively speaking, one stumbles into the 
greatest salt mines of England. The center of the district is the old 
tpwn of Northwich on the River Weaver, which comes from the Mer- 
sey. Along the entire valley of the' stream, huge deposits of rock salt 



PEVERIL OF THE TEAK. 983 

are found and quarried, and such is the recklessness of the money-makers 
in the old town itself that its foundations are being carried away, and its 
buildings are sinking so that they incline to every degree of the circle. 
And thus it is from Central to Northern Eno^land — from Birming-ham to 
Newcastle-on-Tyne — the English delve and reap, with history and 
poetry scattered in the hills around them and worked into nearly every 
village and hamlet throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
Verily the Englishman is insular, and well he may be with so much to 
bind him to the soil. 

The manufacturing towns of Central and Northern England, the iron 
and coal districts naturally are where the inventors flourished. There was 
Watt, a Scotchman, but he manufactured his improved steam engines 
near Birmingham. He also first invented steam apparatus for heating 
houses. 

Then, later, came George Stephenson, the Northumberland collier, 
who became engineer of a mine, and made such ingenious inventions as 
constructing inclines by which loaded wagons descending to the vessels 
drew up the empty ones. When he was thirty-three he constructed the 
first smooth-wheeled locomotive ever built, and the next year invented a 
miner's lamp which is still used in the collieries. Ten years afterwards 
he established a manufactory for locomotives at Newcastle-on-Tyne and 
was appointed the engineer of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. 
Upon this line he placed the Rocket and seven other locomotives, not- 
withstanding that wise engineers recommended the use of stationary 
engines which should drag the trains by ropes. It is from Birmingham 
to Newcastle, principally on either side of the Pennine chain of hills and 
mountains, which runs down into Cornwall as the backbone of England, 
that the mineral and manufacturing districts lie. 

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK. 

Between Sheffield and Birmingham is the Peak District of Derby- 
shire and Staffordshire, a tract of country made up of sandstone and 
limestone hills, glens, waterfalls, and streams, where Walton and Cotton 
often fished together. Impartially distributed through such a romantic 
region, which Sir Walter Scott has especially favored in the " Peveril of 
the Peak," are the great manufacturing centers of Leeds, Sheffield and 
Birmingham. You should buy your clothing at Leeds, your cutlery at 
Sheffield, and anything in the world which comes in metal at Birming- 
ham. Manufacturing cities are of a stamp, everywhere, the peculiarity 
of those of Great Britain being that the surrounding country is incom- 
parable. 



't> 



984 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



Near Castleton in the upper portion of the Peak Region is Peveril's 
Castle and The Peak. The former is, of course, a sombre ruin. But 
Chatsworth, or the Palace of the Peak, arises, stately and beautiful, 
with a solid background of rocks and dense foliage. The grand conser- 
vatory, three hun- 
dred feet in length, 
and extensive Qrar- 
dens are among- 
the most famous in 
England. The es- 
tate has descended 
from William the 
Conqueror, who 
gave it to Will- 
iam Peveril, his 
natural son. The 
principal building 
was nearly com- 
pleted in the sev- 
enteenth century, 
being nearly i8o 
feet square. Draw- 
ings and paintings 
by Titian, Rem- 
brandt, Murillo 
and Landseer and 
pieces of sculpture 
by Thorwaldsen, 
Canova and other 
masters make the 
-if^s^^ i„ji.r-^^ .' ' rooms of state val- 

ENGLisH POTTERY. uable storehouscs 

of art as well as intrinsically beautiful. Mary Stuart was a prisoner 
at Chatsworth for thirteen years. 

THE POTTERY SHIRE. 

Litchfield is a few miles east of the southern portion of the district, 
in the county of Stafford. It is an old manufacturing town, with a cathe- 
dral which sends up three great spires, whose foundations were laid 
seven centuries ago. Litchfield was made an Episcopal see in the 
seventh century, but visitors go to the handsome old town to see the 




THE BORDER LAND. 985 

liouse where gruff, practical, uncouth Dr. Johnson was born ; that rugged 
thinker who went to one root of things and could not understand how 
idealists even could find any other. The house is there on one side of 
the market square, and not far away are statues erected to his memory 
and that of Garrick and Lady Montagu. 

The pottery manufactories which have made Staffordshire the cen- 
ter of the industry in England lie in this region, along the River Trent. 
The manufacture was brought from Delft, Holland, which had been 
supplying Northern Europe for many years with its famous household 
ware. Two centuries ago several brothers came from the Netherlands 
and established a pottery in Staffordshire, but it was not until seventy 
years thereafter that the Wedgwood family introduced not only new 
and superb decorations for old pottery, but several new kinds of ware, 
the best known being, perhaps, Queen's ware. "Wedgewood was imi- 
tated and copied throughout Europe. He employed good artists to 
make designs and moulds for his works, among whom Flaxman was 
•conspicuous; he borrowed antique gems in immense number {ox fac- 
simile reproduction, and his taste and skill were exercised in supplying 
thousands of varieties of artistic productions. The art advanced rapidly 
in England and numerous potteries became famous. One immediate 
result of Wedgwood's discoveries was the introduction of new pastes, 
■called stonewares, which occupy a position between pottery and porce- 
lain, and for which English potteries have become especially known. 
The division of porcelain into two classes, soft and hard paste, becomes, 
in examining English wares, impracticable, since the pastes are but dif- 
ferent classes of pottery, running up from soft pottery to hard porcelain 
in one direction and to opaque glass in another. The most important 
modern addition to these pastes is one the invention of which is claimed 
l)y two great houses, Minton and Copeland, known as Parian biscuit." 

THE BORDER LAND. 

Above Lancashire, pressed in between the Pennine chain and the 
Irish Sea and extending to Solway Firth, is the Lake Region of England, 
and there are few more restful, serene and inspiring havens on earth. It 
is not Switzerland. It is not the poetry of Byron, but of Wordsworth. 
He was the foremost of the school of " lake poets." Both Southey and 
Wordsworth lived by the lakes and were buried there. Scott, also, was 
drawn to the beautiful region, and with Wordsworth ascended many a 
peak and breathed in the beauties of sky, lake, mountain, valley, sunrise 
and sunset. 



986 PANORASDfOF NATIONS. 

It is here that we approach the borderland of Scotland, where the 
conflict between Northern and Southern Celt ragged with such stubborn- 
ness. The course of Hadrian's wall, built by Rome to keep back the 
Celts of the north, is from Carlisle to near Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 
opposite coast. The scenery along the line is magnificent, but the north 
and northwest of England so teem with picturesqueness that the chief 
interest should be centered in the still perfect nature of these military 
remains. There is the wall proper, consisting of a ditch, a stone rampart, 
a space between this and the earthworks for the military road, and three 
earthen ramparts. Every few miles there are fortified encampments, 
and, nearer still, castles and watch-towers. " Moreover there are roads 
and bridges, traces of villas, gardens and burial places, making almost 
every inch from sea to sea classic ground. A stranger might suppose 
that after the lapse of long centuries, all these works, granting their ex- 
istence once, must have disappeared. It is not so ; save in the western 
portion there is scarely an acre without distinct traces ; in many places 
all the lines sweep on together, parts in wondrous preservation, while 
many of the recent excavations present structures several feet high, giv- 
ing one the idea of works in progress, so fresh that we are tempted to 
think of the builders as away for an hour, perhaps to the noonday meal." 

Carlisle had a part in all the wars between the Romans and Britons 
and the Saxons, Picts and Scots. It was a Roman station in the early 
days of Christianity, being the more ancient seat of the kings of Cam- 
bria. Around Carlisle lie both Druidical and Roman remains. At Pen- 
rith the Druid temple, formed of sixty-seven immense stones, is known as 
Long Meg and her Daughters. The Druids early established their altars 
in this region, and after the Romans defeated the Britons multitudes of 
the priests and priestesses gathered on the Isle of Man. The Romans 
followed them, and put to the sword, without mercy, the long-haired 
priests and the torch-bearing priestesses. 

Newcastle-on-Tyne is yet a thriving city which contains car and 
locomotive works ; a great establishment for the manufacture of the 
Armstrong gun, iron bridges and ship armor, as well as other important 
manufactories. The bridge across the river, built by Stephenson, has 
both a carriageway and a railway viaduct, the latter being 1 18 feet from 
the water. 

The Cheviot hills mark the boundary between England and Scot- 
land, being the natural wall between the two countries. Upon Flodden,, 
the last of the hills in Northumberland, England, the great battle was 
fought between James, the Scottish King, and the Earl of Surrey, in 
which the Scotch were slain to a man, the royal leader falling within a 



THE SCOTCH. 987 

few feet of the noble. The flower of Scotland, nobiHty, gentry and 
clergy, was crushed on Flodden Field, and to this day it is her greatest 
national grief. It was well that her greatest romancist and heroic poets, 
should immortalize it. The battle was fought but a few miles from the 
Tweed, which is so associated with Scott and his beloved Abbotsford, 

THE SCOTCH. 

The Highland Scotch, those who live in the mountainous reofions 
of the north, are of the same Celtic stock as the Irish. Their lan^uaee 
is nearly identical, although the Lowland Scotch could no more make 
themselves understood by the primitive native of the Isle than the 
typical Londoner could enter into conversation with the Irish farmer. 
The division between the Highland and the Lowland Scotch is becom- 
ing less distinct, however, year by year, and the former are discarding to 
some extent their plaids and petticoats for the dress of the Lowlanders, 
or the English. Their clans and chiefs have disappeared, except in the 
records of the family Bibles, but their former prowess is still upheld by 
the record which their regiments have made in the history of the Eng- 
lish army. The Lowlanders were as brave, but more intellectual, and 
defended their liberty with all the military ardor of the Highlanders and 
the firmness of the Anglo-Saxons. 

The Picts were both Lowland and Highland Scotchmen. It was 
ao-ainst the Picts that the Romans erected the wall in Eno^land and also 
one in Southern Scotland between the friths of Forth and Clyde. After 
they left the country to attend to troubles at home a strong Pictisli 
kingdom was formed between the two walls, by the consolidation of a 
number of tribes. The Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, invaded and 
held the western coasts during the early part of the sixth century, the 
Saxons having preceded them about fifty years on the eastern coasts, 
where they had seized the lowlands from the Picts and founded Edin- 
burgh. The Pictish kingdom had a shadowy existence for nearly four 
centuries, but it was gradually absorbed by the stronger Scots as well as 
the Saxon tribes of the east. The whole country at length took the 
name of the dominant race. The Danes could make no headway against 
them, and the Scottish kingdom grew in territory and power, even snatch- 
ing away some of England's northern districts. 

The Malcolms and the Alexanders are specially noted among the 
early kings of Scotland, but the difficulties, with England commenced, 
seriously when a Malcolm, who had married the sister of the legitimate 
Saxon King, ravaged the north of the country in retaliation for the bat- 
tle of Hastings. The kings of England interfered in the disputes. 



988 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

between claimants to the Scottish throne. Wallace and Bruce arose, 
and the battle of Bannockburn established the independence of Scotland 
notwithstanding Flodden Field, long afterwards. During the same cen- 
tury the first of the House of Stuart sat upon the throne, he being the 
son of the royah steward. For a century the great earls of Douglas 
■defied the kings, though one was stabbed by the royal hand and the 
whole house was finally driven into exile. After the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, James VI., of Scotland whone great-grandmother was Mar- 
garet Tudor, the daughter of Henry VH., ascended the throne of Eng- 
land, thus uniting the two kingdoms. This fortunate circumstance, in 
connection with their stubborn resistance to English oppression, raised 
the Scotch to an equality with their more numerous and opulent neigh- 
ibors and assured them political independence. 

When James became King of England he attempted to force the 
Established Church upon Scotland, but the Covenanters bound them- 
selves to uphold Presbyterianism, and even hoped to extend their relig- 
ious discipline over England and Ireland, They united with the Eng- 
lish Puritans, and the result was that Cromwell bound them in chains, 
and the Presbyterian Church did not become established as a State 
institution until during Queen Anne's reign, when England and Scotland 
were formally united into one kingdom. The name most prominent in the 
incipient stages of these fierce religious conflicts, is that of John Knox, 
who imbibed the spirit of the Reformation at Geneva, and his History 
of the Scottish Reformation is, perhaps, the first great prose work which 
the country produced. It is an earnest, rugged piece of English, and 
speaks forth the national character. His native town was Edinburgh, 
and in that kingly city, "throned on crags," his house stands, a grotesque 
building -with a gallery reached by a flight of stairs, and having two 
small, gabled chambers on its roof. 



&' 



EDINBURGH. 

The city, which was formerly a single parish under the pastorate of 
Knox, is principally built on three parallel ridges, the old town running 
along the central one and terminating on the west in the great rock or hill 
upon which is Edinburgh Castle. At the eastern extremity is Holyrood, 
the palace of Mary Queen of Scots. Upon the sides of this ridge are 
the most ancient houses many stories in height. The different parts of 
the city are connected by bridges, hundreds of paths winding through the 
valleys and over the ridges. Parks and gardens, monuments and great 
public structures are pitched upon the rocks or almost buried in deep 
ravines. The architecture of the city is noble in the extreme. 



EDINBURGH. 989 

The great castle, which stands upon a rock three hundred feet high„ 
approachable from the city from only one side, is Scotland symbolizecL 
In it is a small room, once a portion of the apartments of Mary Queen 
of Scots, where James was born. Scotland's national regalia — the crown,, 
sceptre, sword of state and lord treasurer's rod — is in the crown-roorrt 
of the castle. Within its walls Robert Bruce held the parliament which 
ratified the treaty acknowledging the independence of Scotland, and 
James made his preparations here for the disastrous field of Flodden. 
Along High street, which leads through the most interesting parts of 
this ancient Saxon city, also marched Cromwell's invincible Ironsides. 
Descending from Castle Hill one passes into Grassmarket where many 
of the Covenanters became martyrs, and in an old churchyard, near by„ 
they have a monument erected to them. 

Queen Mary's palace is a short distance from Calton HtO, from 
which the most imposing view of Edinburgh and the country around is; 
obtained. Part of the palace was burned down in Cromwell's time, and 
what remains is a plain, sombre structure of stone, flanked by towers. 
The room is shown in which Rizzio, Mary's Italian favorite, was stabbed 
to death by Douglas, and the very stain of his life blood is pointed out; 
upon the floor. The palace contains a picture gallery of legendary and 
historical kings, and back of it are the ruins of an abbey in which are the. 
tombs of several Scottish monarchs. 

The University of Edinburgh is a stately building of modem con- 
struction, and a renowned institution of learning, especially as, to its 
medical departments. Crossing a bridge from the University,, one finds, 
himself in a metropolitan street, with great buildings and Scott's mag- 
nificent monument on one side and beautiful gardens spread ©vera deep 
ravine on the other. Across the ravine is the massive Bank of England. 
And so the bewildering contrast goes on, man weakly struggling to over- 
take the sublimity of nature. It is strange not that so many of the great 
men of Scotland have been drawn to Edinburgh, but that so many have 
escaped her. To this day the literary activity and vigor of the Scotch 
find their only effective outlet in Edinburgh, her periodicals taking rank 
with the best English journals. 

On High street, one of the noble thoroughfares of the old city, is 
Parliament Square, in one angle of which is the House with its, magnifi- 
cent hall arched with dark oak. The gloomy jail, known as the " Heart 
of Midlothian," stood in one corner of the square, but was taken down 
the year previous to the publication of Scott's novel. "The only memo- 
rial of its position is a figure of a heart let into the pavement ; but its 
massive door and huge padlock are preserved, with many other relics of 
old days, at Abbotsford." 



990 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

MELROSE AND ABBOTSFORD. 

Beyond the Cheviot hills, from England, is Roxburghshire. A fair 
chain of hills passes through the county, and between them and the 
Tweed are Melrose and the ruins of its abbey. There are only a few 
fragments of the cloister, but the carved, sculptured and lavishly decor- 
ated church is almost entire ; the figures of which, from the hardness of 
the stone, are remarkably clear in outline. But Scottish poets have 
laid their choicest colors upon Melrose Abbey, both without and within ; 
told also of the kingly tombs therein, and of Bruce's heart which is sup- 
posed to be mouldering in somesecret place within its walls. The Tweed 
runs musically through a meadow and wooded country to Abbotsford, 
and a few miles away is Yarrow Water, upon whose banks Wordsworth 
and Scott walked together a few days before the mighty Scotchman 
sought the gentle climes of Italy as a shield against death. But he 
returned to Abbotsford, for which he had worn out his life, and after 
being wheeled about his beautiful garden he was taken to his library, 
being placed where he could look upon the Tweed. He died, a few 
days thereafter, with his children around him, that gentle stream mur- 
muring in his ears which flows past his tomb at Dryburgh Abbey. 

BURNS AND THE AYR. 

The ancient town of Ayr, near the sea, is across Scotland from Ab- 
botsford. It is a bright place, the capital of the county, and is on the 
peninsula between the Rivers Ayr and Doon. There are castles near 
by and locky precipices, but the poet found his muse with the birds, 
among the trees and fields, along the pretty banks and " among the 
braes o' Ballochmyle." Ballochmyle is one of the most beautiful por- 
tions of the river, and Burns has not lavished his fragrant genius upon 
an unworthy subject. In the village are the " Twa Brigs" ; the old one 
is said to have been built six centuries ago by two maiden ladies, whose 
effigies were carved on one of the parapets. It is but a step from 
the modest country of the Ayr to the literary Edinburgh, which then, 
as now, was the center of Scotland's best thought. From gloom and 
despair the rustic passed to fame. Scott himself, then an Edinburgh 
boy, looked upon the lion and trembled. There is a monument erected 
to Burns' memory at Dumfries, the shire town of the first county over the 
English border. Here he died and, long after, Jean Armour, his wife, 
breathed her last under the same roof. The house was purchased by 
one of his sons, a colonel in the English army, and with the garden was 



THE CLYDE AND GLASGOW. 99 I 

deeded to the local educational society, for school purposes, the agree- 
ment being that the premises should be always kept in repair. 

In the most dreary spot of this most dreary shire of bleak hills and 
black morasses Thomas Carlyle welded and polished those splendid 
specimens of thought and rhetoric which made him the foremost essayist 
of Great Britain. 

THE CLYDE AND GLASGOW. 

The Clyde rises in the same chain of uplands from which the Ayr 
flows, but further southeast. " Gathering strength from romantic burns 
and musical rivulets, the river flows in long curves, splashing over boul- 
ders, singing merrily to quiet hamlets, lending genial influence to 
meadows and cornfields, and taking into its clear waters many a picture 
of bosky hill and hazel-clad bank. Augmented in bulk by the Douglas, 
it sweeps onward to the cliffs and ledges which break it into a rapid, 
foaming torrent." During the upper portion of its course it rushes 
through chasms and between rocky precipices and breaks into thundering 
cascades. Falls and bridges there are, closely associated with the strug- 
gles of the Scotch for political and civil liberty. A tower rises near the 
Falls of Clyde, dedicated to Wallace. Below is a castle, without a roof, 
overlooking the river from a steep bank. It is Bothwell Castle, one of 
the strongholds of the Earl of Bothwell, in Queen Mary's time the most 
powerful noble of Southern Scotland and (by the historic murder of 
Lord Darnley and the divorce from his own wife) the husband of the 
Scottish monarch. Near by is Bothwell bridge, where, a century after 
the disgraced Earl's estates had been confiscated to the crown, a bloodv 
battle was fouo;ht between the Scotch Covenanters and the Enolisli, in 
which the former met with a crushing defeat. On the opposite bank of 
the river, upon a rock nearly hidden by trees, stand the ruins of a priory 
which overlooked David Livingstone's native village. 

As it approaches Glasgow the river becomes dark and turbid and 
the great ship-yards of the city give forth their unpoetic din ; yet this is 
the native soil of Thomas Campbell, his home being upon the banks of 
the Cart, a small stream which falls into the Clyde. 

GLASGOW. 

Glasgow is the metropolis of Scotland, and second to London in 
wealth and population. It presents a strong contrast to Edinburgh, for 
its site is level, lying on both sides of the river, and its streets are broad 
and regular. Finely ornamented parks, with imposing statues, theatres, 



99-2 ' PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

museums and libraries, with immense manufacturing establishments of 
different cloths, iron and chemical works, tell the story of present pros- 
perity and future greatness. The cathedral of the Scotch Church is the 
finest Gothic edifice in the country, and overlooks the city from the 
northeast. For more than four centuries and a half the University of 
Glasgow has had an existence, and is among the leading colleges in Great 
Britain. The city's wonderful growth, however, comes from her com- 
merce and manufactures, which had their origin in natural surroundings,, 
Glasgow lying in the midst of a rich coal and iron country. Her yards 
for the building of iron ships are famous the world over. Her chemical 
works (the St. Rollox) are the most extensive in the world, covering over 
sixteen acres, and having a chimney more than 450 feet in height. 

The magnificent city grew around the church founded by St. Mungo,, 
or St. Kentigern, in the sixth century. It is said he was born of royal 
blood on the Firth of Forth, but removed to Western Scotland and 
established a monastery on a hill sloping toward the River Clyde. He 
was driven into Wales by a hostile Scottish king, but was recalled and 
renewed his Christian labors. St. Kentigern was visited in his beautiful 
resort by St. Columba, another noted Christian missionary who was 
laboringr amontj the savages of the north and west. The ravages of the 
Danes swept away the church, but the old bishopric reappeared after five 
centuries, a chaplain to one of the Scottish kings was installed in it,, 
and the ruined Cathedral was repaired and beautified. Many other 
changes followed. The see became an archbishopric. Scottish reformers 
were burned near the orrand cathedral. The blood of the Reformation was 
kindled, the Papal Archbishop fled to France and the Presbyterians are 
in possession of the stately Gothic edifice, whose combined tower and 
spire rises from the center of a lofty roof. 

To reach the University one traverses streets, lined with royal 
buildings, and passes through squares adorned with statues and monu- 
ments of great beauty. Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Lord Clyde and 
Sir John Moore (whose memorial we have noticed at Corufia, Spain), all 
have monuments in George's Square. Sir John was a native of Glasgow.. 
John Knox, Nelson, William of Orange and the Duke of Wellington 
appear in stone and indicate the breadth of the Scotch admiration. To 
the western suburb of the city the walk is charming, the street being 
adorned with stately terraces and residences, green lawns and bright 
gardens and parks. Beyond the last park, over a pleasant stream, is 
Gilmore Hill, from which rises the University. 

Returning to the Clyde, from the university, we still pursue a north- 
ward course toward the Firth, passing churches, villages and picturesque 



THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 993 

Stretches of lawn and meadow, and a striking range of hills — the Kil- 
patrick. They mark the western extremity of the Roman wall, built 
across Scotland, and a little village at their base is pointed out as the 
birthplace of St. Patrick. 

Nearer the North Channel and the sea, as we move toward the 
more open water of the Firth of Clyde, is the old Castle of Dumbarton — 
the prison of the fated Wallace, the point where Mary Stuart em- 
barked for France, and the fortress of both the soldiers of Bruce and 
Cromwell. As one gets more and more into the open sea the rugged 
highlands of Argyle and the gentler lines of the Isle of Bute — the orig- 
inal home of the Stuart family — merge into a single tract of land which 
combines them both — the island of Arran. Rugged mountain peaks 
and shadowy glens strike the pilgrim with profoundest awe in one direc- 
tion, while in another sunny bays and gentle beaches, fertile slopes of 
green and quiet, level moors produce a pleasant and soothing influence 
on the spirit. Within the compass of a few hours' walk the wanderer 
may see, in swift succession, the "hoar and dizzy cliff, and the fiercely- 
dashing cataract, the wave-lashed headland and the far-sounding shore, 
the dark mountain tarn, which ever seems to frown, and the merry, wind- 
ing streamlet that ceaseth not to play." From the highest mountain of 
the island, which terminates in a granite pyramid, this diversity of beauty 
is spread out as in a romantic picture, with cattle and sheep, neat cot- 
tages and hamlets scattered over the face of nature ; far beyond, 
stretch the rugged coasts of Argyle, with their rocky islands, while in 
the other direction, if the weather is friendly, the coasts of the Emerald 
Isle struggle dimly into view. 

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 

The strip of country between Edinburgh and Glasgow, or, more 
strictly speaking, between the Firths of Forth and Clyde is the border 
land between the Scottish hio-hlands and lowlands. From the Firth of 
Forth to Moray Firth, far to the north, there are many level tracts, so 
that many Scotchmen prefer to draw a more careful line from Moray 
Firth, through the central part of Northern Scotland to Dumbarton, on 
the Clyde, and call the country west of it, including the Hebrides Islands, 
the Highlands. A few words, now, regarding the debatable land east of 
this imaginary line beyond which, until within a comparatively recent 
day, were buttressed the purest specimens of the Celtic race in Scotland. 

Within this strip of country between the eastern and the western 
Firths, through which the first of the old Roman walls was built, there are 

63 



994 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

two specially interesting localities. Sixteen miles west of Edinburgh is 
an old town down in a hollow, which contains among its other buildings 
a beautiful Gothic church and the magnificent remains of a palace. In 
the church it is said that James IV. was warned by an apparition not to 
march to Flodden Field, and in one of the royal apartments, whose ruins 
are grand indeed, was born Mary Stuart. Sterling Castle, rising from a 
majestic rock is further west, including another kingly palace, from which, 
within the glorious range of scenery there obtained, the Gillies Hills are 
seen which shut out a sio^ht of the battle-field of Bannockburn. On the 
south are steep, wooded hills ; on the east, beyond the town and several 
abbey ruins, the Forth wanders and curves through a glorious country 
of verdure to romantic Edinburo-h. On the northeast are orrand hills 
again. " But on the north, northwest and west who shall describe what 
lies unfolded to the eye; the vales of the Allan, the Teath and the Upper 
Forth leading away through expanses of the most ornate loveliness to 
such scenery as that of the Trosachs and to the combinedly grandest and 
most graceful forms of highland landscape? All the foreground and 
the middle view are of surpassing loveliness ; and all the background 
towers aloft at a great distance in peaks which are clad in snow or 
wreathed in clouds and which rest like a vast blue rampart against the 
sky." There is not a square mile of land between Stirling Castle and 
Moray Firth in which the traveler would not grow subdued at the view 
and enthusiastic in the description. There is a mass of shattered towers 
and walls, near the entrance to the Firth of Forth, which for centuries 
was held against the King and the people by the proud house of Doug- 
las. In " Marmion " is a powerful description of it — ^Tantallon Castle, 
hanging over the margin of the deep. In front of it is a gigantic boulder, 
rising from the water. It is a mile in circumference, and is believed to 
have once been the dwelling place of a disciple of St. Kentigern who 
watched and waited for a favorable opportunity to reach the mainland 
and preach the gospel. 

The promontories which here jut out into the ocean before you 
come to Edinburgh have more than one ruined castle to make them the 
more portentous, and more than one rugged spot where the English 
troops spilled good Scotch blood upon the rocks. Across the Firth are 
enticinor scenes of highland and lowland character, and in a beautiful in- 
land sheet of water, diversified with mysterious islands, there is found a 
fair reason for loiterino^. On one of the islands is a castle in which 
Mary was imprisoned by her lords, the same piece of land, not more 
than two acres in extent, having once been a military station of an early 
Pictish king. Nearer the coast again is St. Andrew's, a town placed 



THE ACTUAL HIGHLANDS. 995 

upon a rocky shelf which hangs above a wide bay, but whose history 
goes back into tradition. Perhaps St. Andrew's bones are here, as the 
people say, and that a pious monk brought them from Greece, converted 
the Pictish king who held the land and built a stone chapel and tower, 
which are still solidly upon their foundations. The town is the seat of a 
university in which Thomas Chalmers was educated, and after he had 
made a name he returned to it as a professor. 

The scenery toward Perth and far into the country is among the 
most beautiful in Scotland. From Loch Katrine in the south, whose 
waters are beautified, if possible, by the "Lady of the Lake," to the 
masses of the Grampian hills all is romance ; with dark mountains 
towering around bright lakes and streams and waterfalls dashing down 
gorges, whose rocks and trees strive for the mastery. Then upon the 
plain of the Tay is Perth, a fair city founded by the Romans, after they 
had returned from the Grampian hills and their victorious campaign 
against the savage tribes of Caledonia. When they retired from the 
island, Perth became the principal capital of the Pictish kings, and, under 
Bruce was the center of the Scottish Government. 

But we must pass the highlands of Perthshire, with their lordly 
castles and dark passes in which Highlanders and Lowlanders met in bat- 
tle ; just nod to busy Dundee, once the residence of some of Scotland's 
noblest families; leave the bold masses of the Grampian hills behind and 
approach the wild coast of the German Ocean which lies below Aberdeen. 
The immense mountain of ruins upon a precipitous rock which stands 
so boldly out to sea are the remains of a castle where nearly two hun 
dred Covenanters were imprisoned in a muddy vault, some of them tor- 
tured and most of them abused. The granite city of Aberdeen is a fit- 
ting incident of the country, and a road toward splendid views of the 
Grampians, along the banks of the River Dee, leads to the magnificent 
seclusion of Balmoral Castle. Byron's bold genius has soared over the 
wild and majestic mountains and crags of this region, Aberdeen being 
his early home. 

THE ACTUAL HIGHLANDS. 

Much of the country between Aberdeen and Moray Firth is hilly 
and bleak — a corn, grass and cattle district — it being a prelude to the 
actual highlands' of Northern and Western Scotland. Inverness is the 
very gate to the highlands, it being encompassed by gardens, woods and 
hills, while in the distance are their large brothers, gigantic mountains. 
Six miles away, upon a desolate moor, are several green mounds and a 
rude stone monument. They mark the battle-field of Culloden, where 



99^ PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

the royal troops crushed the Highland army and buried the hopes of the 
Stuart family. 

Inverness is not only the gateway to the highlands, but is the north- 
ern extremity of the Caledonian Canal, which is a number of lochs arti- 
ficially connected, stretching from Moray Firth, southwest, to the oppo- 
site coast of Scotland. "It may be generally described as along, narrow 
gallery, having the water for its floor, the mountain for its walls and the 
sky for its roof." The western entrance to the canal is guarded by a fort 
built in Cromwell's time, and over fort, valley, loch and hill towers Ben 
Nevis, Britain's highest rrountain. In fact, the glories of highland and 
lowland, from ocean to ocean, lie before one from the summit of His 
Majesty. The route along the Caledonian Canal is furthermore blessed 
by the Fall of Foyers, on Loch Ness, which lies near Inverness. It is 
shut in by savage cliffs and precipices and pronounced by many the most 
magnificent cataract in Britain. 

From Inverness around the opposite shore of the Firth an unbroken 
line of precipices runs to a narrow bay which stretches quite a distance 
toward the seemingly endless chains and masses of hills and mountains. 
At the bay the solid rampart is broken. A tongue of land projects into 
it, and on the other side the promontories continue their stately course 
as far as the eye can trace it. The town of Cromarty is built upon this 
peninsula — Hugh Miller's native place. A noble river which flows through 
the mountainous region, through gorges and over ledges of rocks, en- 
tering gloomy lochs and receiving tributaries on its way, also passes the 
scene of Miller's labors as a stone mason. Within walking distance 
for one as vigorous as he, were also interesting forts and castles, as well 
as mystic mounds and circles of stones whose construction is attributed 
to the Druids. 

The shires of Sutherland and Caithness, with their dark forests and 
hills, lead toward the Orkney and Shetland islands. Those wild, rocky, 
mountainous remains of the ocean's fury are, many of them, uninhabita- 
ble. What few people subsist from the stormy sea, and their scant 
patches of land, on which they raise cattle and ponies, are of the old 
Scandinavian stock. This country of the vikings is not included among 
the highlands of Scotland, as the people are not of the Celtic race. 

The Hebrides Islands, on the contrary, which is the name given to 
the various groups lying along the entire western coast of Scotland, 
were originally settled by Norwegians, and held by them until the mid- 
dle of the fourteenth century, when the chief of the Macdonalds con- 
quered them, becoming the first Lord of the Isles. The Scandinavian 
element has almost disappeared, Gaelic being the language generally 



THE WELSH AND SNOWDON. 



997 



spoken. As a rule, the condition of the people is miserable, agriculture 
being followed with some success, however, in the islands of the Firth of 
Clyde. The raising of Kyloes, or black cattle, is followed to some 
extent; but cattle, horses and sheep are small, almost diminutive, the 
latter not weighing more than twenty pounds. The scenery of the Heb- 
rides is of a most unusual character. Off the coast of Mull, an island 
forming a portion of the shire of Argyle, is the smallest of the Heb- 
rides. It is merely a dot on the map. But Fingal's Cave, Nature's 
wonderful marine temple, is one of the most picturesque works in the 
world and a portion of that island. 

The next isle south of Staffa is almost as small, but is one of the 
hallowed spots of the world. On it landed St. Columba, the missionary 
descended from an Irish king and a Scottish princess, having, with 
twelve disciples come over from the Emerald Isle in a wicker boat. 
The island had been presented to him by a British king, but, as it 
was the chief seat of the Druidical worship, his landing was opposed by 
the priests, who pretended to be Christian monks in rightful posses- 
sion of the land. But a foothold was obtained, a monastery founded, 
and Christianity introduced to the savage Picts and Scots. In the 
thirteenth century Rome drove out the primitive forms of worship, the 
islands having previously suffered from the piratical Danes. From the 
earliest days lona was considered a sacred isle, and in an old cemetery, 
near a Norwegian chapel, are the tombs of Scandinavian, Irish and 
Scotch kings ; the last of the royal bodies deposited is said to have 
been that of the historic Macbeth. 

The islands and mainland of Argyleshire present some of the most 
impressive of the highland scenery, and it is hard to realize that the 
dark, columned caves, the granite mountains, the cool, bright lochs, the 
deep, green valleys, and the broad moors are the property of half a 
dozen great nobles of Scotland. One of the largest of the land owners, 
who are removing their tenants that their sheep may have more room, 
is the Duke of Argyle, whose eldest son is the Marquis of Lome, Queen 
Victoria's son-in-law. 

THE WELSH AND SNOWDON. 

The natives of Wales do not accept the term Welsh as applied to 
themselves. They speak of themselves as the Cymri and their language 
as Cymraeg. The Cymri separate it, with great positiveness", from the 
branch of the Celtic tongue spoken in Ireland, the Isle of Man and the 
Scottish highlands. 

This brave and hardy people who take such pride in the antiquity 



998 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of their race are undoubtedly the purest of the Celts. The original 
three tribes, which also occupied the Isles of Man and Anglesea, received 
the Britons in their mountain homes, as they were driven from the 
wooded and fertile tracts of England by both Romans and Saxons. 
They are not given to emigration, and even when they settle in demo- 
cratic America prefer to intermarry among themselves. The Welsh 
possess one of the most copious languages in the world. It contains at 
least eighty thousand words, among which are many derived from the 
Sanskrit. By means of comparative philology some of their scholars 
have traced the home of the Cymri — at least to their own satisfac- 
tion — to Southern Hindustan. At all events, the Welsh are as jealous 
of the purity of their blood as the proudest royal family, and their clan- 
nishness is an excusable weakness. 

Their earliest literature goes back to the first years of the Christian 
era and arose from the bards of the Druids. Three was a mystic num- 
ber with this religious sect whose human sacrifices, fire worship, knowl- 
edge of the heavenly bodies, astrology, and divination from the flight of 
birds and the entrails of animals, bespeak for them an Eastern origin. 
They are said to have come into Europe with the Cimmerians, or Celts, 
and their bards, who composed one of the three classes into which they 
were divided, pretended to pass down from one generation to another 
songs commemorative of their struggles with Rome. From Gaul they 
probably passed with the Celts to England, Wales, the Isle of Man, 
Scotland and Ireland. Their religion was conveyed to the people 
orally, and to the depths of the great oak forests of England and the 
solitudes of the Welsh mountains the youth resorted to the priests to be 
instructed in their lore. The most that we know of their dark rites and 
the principles of their religion and morality, which were often of the 
most elevated stamp, is gleaned from the Welsh triads, a species of 
verse, in three limbs, dwelling upon some historical or spiritual fact, and 
sung by native bards until the printing press snatched the verses from 
their lips. The best historical account which we have of them is from the 
pen of Julius Caesar. Ele and his successors saw that the Druids had 
bound the Celts in chains of steel ; for the priests were not only their 
religious teachers, but were their judges. The Romans, therefore, as a 
long step toward conquering Britain, entered into a campaign of exter- 
mination aa^ainst the Druids. The last strong^hold of the ancient wor- 
ship was the island of Anglesea, on the northwest coast of Wales, in the 
Irish Sea. The strait which separates it from the mainland is spanned 
by two fine bridges, a suspension and a railway tubular bridge. Over 
these triumphs of modern science the traveler passes to the island 



THE WELSH AND SXOWDON. 



999 



which contains the remains of an arch-druid's palace, surrounded by the 
college buildings of his subordinates. 

The Romans drove out the Druid priests and overran Wales, but 
did not conquer the people. Neither did they devote themselves en- 
tirely to war ; for both in the northwestern and the southeastern districts 
of the country are galleries running into the mountains and remains 
of aqueducts, employed in the digging and washing of gold. Beau- 
tiful ornaments fashioned from the precious metal have also been 
found. 

Wales is rich in nearly all of the minerals. The immense coal fields 
are in the south, some of the measures being estimated to be two miles 
thick. There are copper, lead, iron, zinc and silver in the north; also 
immense quarries of slate and limestone. Welshmen are miners, colliers, 
quarrymen and iron workers, almost to a man. Snowdon, the grandest 
and loftiest mass in Southern Britain, is being yearly undermined for 
roofing slates. 

Snowdon is a mountainous region, the highest point of which, 
Y Wyddfa, is 4,000 feet above the sea. The English called the district 
Snowdon from its appearance in winter, but the Britons spoke of it as Eryri 
because it was a great eyrie, or breeding place for eagles. Its lakes, 
groves and cataracts have witnessed Eng^lish armies marchine aorainst 
the irregular bands of Wales and marching away again before Welsh 
arrows, cold, rain, sleet and starvation. Arthur and the Knights of the 
Round Table, Merlin and other lesrendarv characters are associated with 
Snowdon ; and it was the stronghold of the patriotic Llewellyn, the last 
native Prince of Wales who stood bravely for his country's independ- 
ence. The son of the Edward to whom he owed his death was born in . 
Carnarvon Castle, a orrand old structure which fronts the Isle of Ano-lesea. 
When an infant, it is said, the King "induced the Welsh chieftains to ac- 
cept him as their prince without seeing, by saying that the per- 
son whom he proposed to be their sovereign was one who was not 
only born in Wales but could not speak a word of the English 
lano-uao-e." 

The Wyddfa, the pinnacle of Snowdon, is the embodiment of Wales, 
as Ben Nevis is of Scotland. It is about thirty feet in diameter and sur- 
rounded on three sides by a low wall. On three sides are dizzy 
precipices. In the hottest of weather the atmosphere is cold and brac- 
ing and the spirits are joyously carried over much of the mountainous 
land of Cambria, across an arm of the Irish Sea to the Lake Region of 
Northwestern England and in the opposite direction to faint outlines on 
the horizon — the hills of Ireland. 



lOOO PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

THE IRISH. 

The Irish, notwithstanding their misfortunes and oppressions, are 
among the greatest races of antiquity. Since Cromwell's time, when the 
English first really established their supremacy in arms over them, they 
have fought for the establishment of their independence bravely, though 
not always cautiously and wisely. Their line of kings goes back into 
the dim ages when many of the Celtic tribes were being driven out of 
Asia by the Scythians — the future Goths and Englishmen. The resi- 
dence of these almost mythological monarchs was a spot called the 
Hall of Tara, at Teamor, County Meath, in the eastern part of the 
island. Here the chief priests and bards met triennially to form the laws 
which were to govern the five principalities, afterwards consolidated into 
one kingdom. The kings of Ireland married into the royal families of 
their race in Gaul, and were connected by ties of blood with the great 
chiefs of the Picts across the water. Schools of astronomy, philosophy, 
poetry and history were founded by the Druids and protected by the 
kings. Tara continued the center of the educational and military life of 
the island, and from, the four districts into which the kingdom was 
divided a province was formed, which surrounded the national capital. 
Later the warlike monarchs of Ireland not only joined the Picts in their 
wars against the Romans, but penetrated into Gaul, one of their kings 
being killed on the banks of the Loire and another, the last of the pagan 
rulers, at the foot of the Alps. 

In the second century a. d. the central portions of Ireland were 
inhabited by the Scoti. There is a tradition among the Irish that they 
emigrated from Spain under a great warrior named Mileagh. At all 
events, when the Irish were at the height of their military power this 
tribe and the descendants of the hero predominated in power, the in- 
habitants were called Scoto-Milesians and for many centuries the 
kingdom was called Scotland. When the Scots conquered the Picts 
and gave a name to the other land the island was called Ir, Eri or Erin. 
The Greek geographers spoke of it in ancient times as lerne and the 
Romans as Hibernia, 

It was during one of their incursions into Gaul,- in the fifth century 
— so runs the tradition — that the Irish warriors carried off as a captive 
a youth named Patrlcius, or Patrick. After living a few years in Ire- 
land as a shepherd he escaped to France, was educated for the Church, 
and his glorious work as St, Patrick is a stupendous fact, well authenti- 
cated by history. Through him and his zeal, his adopted country 
became the Isle of the Saints, and from this land, which should ever be 



IRISH CITIES AND SCENERY. lOOI 

revered by Christians, went forth St. Columba, a century later, to carry 
the simple faith of the primitive Church to the pagans of Great Britain. 

Ireland escaped the Romans, but was invaded by the Anglo-Saxons 
and the Scandinavians, who, previous to the beginning of the eleventh 
century, had done all in their power, by burning churches, schools and 
books and killing the natives, to stamp out Christianity. After the ex- 
pulsion of the Danes, the five old kingdoms, which in war had been 
united, fell to fighting each other. They were disciplined by Rome, and 
the whole country, which had been so proud of independence, acknowl- 
edged the Papal supremacy. It is from this period that the religion of 
Ireland ceases to be revered by Protestants ; in fact, the successors of St. 
Patrick and St. Columba, in Scotland, suffered the most grievous per- 
secutions by the Church of Rome. 

The quarrels of the petty kings of Ireland encouraged the invasion 
of some Norman adventurers, and their successes gave the English king 
an excuse to recall them, as persons exceeding their authority, and to 
establish his protectorate over the country. From this time on the his- 
tory is one of Ireland's wrongs; the story is the old tale of a cold, 
cautious, strong people, of poised mind and abundant resources, obtain- 
ing the unenviable mastery over an impatient, brilliant, patriotic race. 
But with the rise of Gladstonian sympathizers in England, and of Par- 
nellite leaders in Ireland, the future days of the Emerald Isle have each 
a brighter sunrise. 

IRISH CITIES AND SCENERY. 

Dublin, the successor of Tara, as the capital of the coufttry, is 
somewhat shorn of its importance since the Bank of Ireland has occu- 
pied the former House of Parliament. But its public buildings are 
grand, its streets wide and its squares very imposing. The city is 
surrounded by a delightful boulevard, nine miles in length. Within 
these bounds, perhaps the most imposing locality is Trinity College, 
standing in the midst of an elegant park and several squares, which 
cover forty acres of ground. Clinging to this stately seat of learning is 
so much of the irresistible eloquence, delicious humor, keen wit and 
searching sarcasm, in which the Irish nature glories, that Trinity Col- 
lege, or the University of Dublin, is the embodiment of the genius of the 
land ; Burke, Grattan Goldsmith, Sheridan and Swift form a galaxy 
of stars, or rather a five-pointed star, which ever gleams over Dublin 
and Trinity. 

That picturesque city, in the center of the valley of the Lee, with its 
old red sandstone houses, approached through one of the noblest har- 



I002 



PANORAMA OF NATIOI^jS. 



bors in the world, past great batteries, fertile islands and splendid villas 
alono^ the river's bank — this is Cork, so close to the heart of the true 
Irishman. Then there are Limerick, on the Shannon, and, in the north, 
the great city and port of Belfast, which is the Liverpool of Ireland — a 
rushing and bustling, a commercial and manufacturing city of which 
Great Britain is proud. 

It is outside of the cities of Ireland that the hard struggle for physical 
and national life is progressing. From the western and northern coasts, 
which are of Scandinavian wildness, to the flat, sandy coasts of the east, 
one-half the surface is bog, water, rock and poor soil. The richest 
farming country is the broad belt from west to east included between 
Galway and Limerick. Nearly one-seventh of Ireland is covered with 
peat. The equable and mild climate of the country is, to some extent, 




IN THE EMERALD ISLE. 



an offset to the generally unfavorable character of the soil. The temper- 
ature ranges only a few degrees the }-ear through, the extremes being 
forty and sixty degrees. The prevailing westerly winds come laden with 
the warm vapors of the Gulf Stream, so that vegetation is always green, 
and the Emerald Isle is not poetic license. 

The spots of supreme freshness in Ireland are, therefore, very many. 
The loveliness of Irish scenery, so the world has decided, is concentrated 
in the Lakes of Killarney, in the extreme southwestern part of the 
island. The country around them receives not only the charm of their 
waters but the gentle influences from the western ocean, so that the 
wooded shores of the lakes and the gracious mountains beyond are 



THE BRITISH IN AMERICA. IOO3 

painted with all the shades of color from the light green of the arbutus 
to the dark firs of the highlands. 

From Killarney lakes to the Giant's Causeway is through Ireland, 
in a diagonal line, and no two pictures could present a stronger contrast. 
In place of the rounded lines of the Killarney hills and the green shadows 
which fall over the lakes is a dreary coast piled thick with rocky col- 
umns, presenting the appearance of a stupendous array of piles, stretch- 
ing out into the sea in rows and masses. The Causeway proper is a 
platform of these rocks which extends between rugged mounds and 
groups of pillars from a cliff down into the sea. The name is given to 
it because of the Celtic tradition that the walk was built by giants as the 
commencement of a causeway to the opposite coast of Scotland. 

The remains of antiquity which are found in every part of Ireland 
make it a most interesting country to the curiosity-seeker and the stu- 
dent. They consist of mounds and burial stones, earthen ramparts, 
round towers and castles. Bronze weapons and gold ornaments are 
continually being turned up from under the soil. Of later date are 
houses built of stone and earth, like beehives, and religious buildings of 
various styles of architecture. The warlike spirit of the middle ages is 
also shown in many huge fortified castles. But from mysterious, pict- 
uresque, unfortunate and never-despondent Ireland we cross the ocean 
to a land which has thankfully received many of her bright and noble 
sons. 

THE BRITISH IN AMERICA. 

The French explored the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and 
founded Montreal and Quebec. The English coveted New France, and 
after the fortunes of war had for many years swung back and forth 
before Quebec, the French concluded that the colony was not worth 
holding, and made it over by treaty to their rival. This magnificent 
fortified city, guarding the entrance to the St. Lawrence River and the 
Dominion, contains fair memorials to the gallant Englishman and the 
brave Frenchman who lost their lives on the lofty Plains of Abraham. 
Where Wolfe conquered and died there is a plain, round column, and 
in the garden of the fortress a monument stands to the honor of both 
Wolfe and Montcalm. 

Up the broad river, hardly ever less than two miles in width, the 
passage to Montreal is one of the most invigorating of fresh water 
voyages. This gray, growing city is built upon an island, where the 
Ottawa comes down to join her more stately sister from the handsome 
young capital of the Dominion above. The metropolis of Canada 



I004 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Stands at the head of navigation for the great se.a ships, and h-er massive 
stone wharfs extend through the city to the entrance of the Lachine 
Canal, which is the first of those fine artificial works which avoid the 
rapids and falls otherwise obstructing the free navigation of the lakes 
and the river to the ocean. The Lachine and other rapids are circum- 
vented by several canals, so that Montreal is in communication with 
the thriving American ports of the lakes, and by means of the 
Victoria bridge (two miles in length), the property of the Grand Trunk 
Railway, she holds commerce with New England and the United 
States. - 

A further ascent to the headwaters of Lake Ontario spreads out 
to view as wonderful a panorama of fresh water scenery as the world 
affords. The Thousand Isles are a thousand wonders of fantastic 
stone formations clinging wealth of foliage, dark caves, and every 
striking comoination of earth, stone, water and vegetation. The vast 
cataract of Niagara, whose thunders and whirlpools represent the power 
of four inland seas carried on to the ocean, is divided politically between 
two of the mightiest nations in the world ; but it is as difficult to sepa- 
rate the Falls of Niagara in reality, and say, "This b'elongs to England, 
this to America," as to divide the Americans from the people of Britain. 

The region around the lakes is the garden of Canada, and within 
this term is included the country beyond Superior, whose clear, bracing 
airs give a wonderful freshness and soundness to the wheat berry. The 
fisheries and fur companies of Newfoundland, Labrador and the vast 
stretches of country around Hudson's Bay, form also rich mines of 
wealth. Manitoba is the chief agricultural province of Canada, its capi- 
tal, Winnepeg, being a flourishing little city, with water and sewerage 
works, railroads and well-graded streets. It is the headquarters of the 
Hudson Bay Fur Company, and the executive center of the Northwest 
Territories, or all of the Dominion of Canada outside of the eastern 
provinces. 





THE AMERICAN ANGLO-SAXONS. 

iNLIKE the Anglo-Saxons of Great Britain, the Americans 
have found their own land to be large enough and diversified 
enough to engage, virtually, their entire attention in its develop- 
ment. Seventeen hundred miles from north to south and over 
three thousand from east to west ; with a soil fitted in some 
sections to nearly every known product in the world ; with 
natural water-ways, barring a few miles, from its northeastern 
boundaries to its southern extremity, via the Great Lakes and 
the Mississippi River ; with three splendid transcontinental 
railways and innumerable minor lines spreading out from every~ 
large city like the rays of a sun ; with whole States of wheat, of corn, 
of sheep, of coal, of silver, of cotton ; with chained lightning flashing- 
over the telegraph wires and binding together a seething people of 
divers individual interests, and yet all working for the nation's advance- 
ment ; a country with as many literatures as there are idioms of the 
lano'uage ; a wonderful digestion of Europe, Asia and Africa ; a grand 
combination of mechanical and financial genius — this is the United 
States, and these are its people. 

THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 




Periodically, some newspaper or magazine starts the discussion and 
Invites the opinions of the public, as to what is, or will be, the Typical 
American. No two persons agree, except in saying that he will com- 
bine those qualities of the German, the Englishman, the Frenchman, 
the Scotchman and the Irishman which are to endow him with the most 
powerful nationality of modern times. How long the amalgamation 
will go on before the immigrant will be fashioned into the native, and 
all the natives have a general type of character and physique, is 
merely a speculation. The most that can be done, under existing cir- 
cumstances, is to present some pictures of the United States and its 
people as we find them from Maine to California and from Washington; 
Territory to Florida. 



1005 



IOo6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

MAINE. 

Much of the best blood of Maine which can make of it a great State 
has been drawn to the West, Michigan and Wisconsin, with their great 
forests so similar to those of the Pine Tree State, being especially 
favored. Two-thirds of Maine is still primeval forest, and a tenth of it 
is ornamented with picturesque inland lakes. The sturdy lumbermen 
who spend half their existence in her vast forests, and appear in her 
settlements in the spring with their pockets full of money and nearly 
blinded by the glistening snow, have seen more than once a lonesome 
wigwam with the smoke struggling through the trees, or a stolid Indian 
plodding through the snow, followed by a gaunt-looking squaw with a 
pappoose upon her back. 

ALL THAT IS LEFT OF THEM. 

There was hardly a settlement on the shores of her beautiful lakes 
or rivers which did not, until within late years, receive a periodical visit 
from a roving band of Penobscot Indians, the pitiful remains of the once 
famous tribe of Canibas who once ranged so destructively along the New 
Enpfland coast and carried desolation to the settlements of Maine. 
There is now at Norridgewock, on the Kennebec, a granite obelisk, 
erected by the Catholic Bishop of Boston, in memory of Father Rale, 
who was murdered at the foot of his altar by these savages, who also 
burned his church. He was the first missionary to venture into their 
domain The few families who are the sole representatives of the pow- 
erful Penobscots have been collected by the State on an island in the 
river by that name, just below Oldtown. There they have a govern- 
ment of their own, at the head of which is a descendant of a former Can. 
iba chief; they are well educated, peaceable, and conform to all the best 
customs of such a staid place as Oldtown. They have left the marks of 
their former occupancy upon the rivers, towns and lakes of the State, 
There are Lakes Mooselucmaguntic, Welokenebacook, Mollychunka- 
munk, etc., etc. 

MAINE SCENERY. 

Moosehead Lake, the largest and most picturesque of all the inland 
waters, is a reminder of the time when the huge antlered kings of the 
forest ranged through its forests of pine and spruce trees, or over its 
frozen surface and beneath the overhanging cliffs of the great granite 
hills v/hich rise from its shores. There are several lines of approach to 
the lake, but they are all over rugged hills and mountains partially 



THE SCHOLARLY DISTRICTS. IOO7 

clothed with the everlasting pine spruce. Mount Katahdin, the Squaw 
Mountains which appear blue and mysterious in the distance, still press 
the fact upon us that we are treading on the hunting-ground of the 
Indian. Halfway up the lake, on a peninsula, is a great mass 
of rock which pushes out into the waters, and at its base, separ- 
ated from it by a fringe of forest, is a large hotel. This stamps 
the present character of Moosehead Lake. It is one of the famous 
summer resorts of New England, and when the substantial Bos- 
ton merchant or the industrious manufacturer of Maine tires of his count- 
ing-room or his looms, he takes a run up to Moosehead Lake, and 
breathes the spice of its hemlock forests, or views the beauties of the 
little wild waterfalls of its numerous inlets ; or takes a guide and goes 
deer and moose hunting and fishing. 

The eastern coast of Maine is also rich in attractions for seekers 
after vigor and rest. Mount Desert, with the caverns of the sea, and 
the rocky islets of Passamaquoddy Bay, all swarm with tourists, though 
unfit for a great settled population. As one of the most gifted and 
enthusiastic of the lovers of the locality has said, " to come hither is to 
find in one both Newport and the Catskills." But in and out, in and out, 
for twenty-five hundred miles the coast line winds, and every cove has its 
schooner and every little settlement its fleet. 

In Southern New England you strike a new order of old things. 
The country is on a direct line of travel with the great interior of the 
United States, and it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the first 
great courses of development should be Massachusetts, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and so on to the West, down the Atlantic 
coast, and up and down the Mississippi Valley. 

THE SCHOLARLY DISTRICTS. 

It is while traveling through the old, mellow, scholarly districts of 
New England that the fact comes home with force that this section of 
the country is so appropriately named. You have left Portsmouth 
behind, on the ocean, and manufacturing Manchester inland, products 
of " New" Hampshire. Two Dovers and a Bath might also have been 
visited before Southern New England would proclaim its English origin 
in its Boston, Dorchester, Cambridge, Plymouth, Worcester, Sheffield, 
Yarmouth, Tewksbury, Lynn, Birmingham, New Haven, Norwich, New 
London (on the Thames), and a host of other cities, towns and suggest- 
ive localities. Simply as a matter of curiosity, it would prove a most 
fascinating work to trace back the origin of every New England town 



ioo8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



and also to see how, as a rule, the physical surroundings and locations of 
its English prototypes are very similar. A portion of the site of Boston 
proper, or old Boston, was one© overflowed by the tide. A few years 
after John Cotton, John Winthrop and their friends settled in the vicin- 
ity, Cambridge or Har- 
vard University was 
founded, and as to the 
beauty of its elm-shaded 
grounds, the magnificence 
of its buildinors and its 
educational advantao-es it 
does not shrink from a 
comparison with either 
Cambridge or Oxford, 
England. 

Harvard is synony- 
mous with Lono-fellow 
and Emerson — cultured, 
philosophical, scholarly 
and classical, without 
ponderosity. They are 
as American in spirit as 
Whittier, yet broader. 
Wherever national litera- 
ture — American scholar- 
ship—is mentioned, the 
names of Lono-fellow and 
Emerson will be pro- 
nounced with the same 
breath ; wherever the 
pure, homelike, religious, 
moral and political spirit 
of New England is con- 
sidered Whittier's mild, 
earnest Quaker face will 
pass into the mental vis- 
ion. But Whittier was 
not of Harvard, nor of 
Boston, although as truly in its current of thought before the war as 
any of the Harvard scholars or philosophers. Everett and Evarts, 
Holmes, Hale, Channing and Parker — they were Harvard students 




EVANGELINE. 



NEW YORK. 1009 

of whom the land is proud. If Boston and her ^reat university could 
only claim a Hercules, whose sweep of patriotism and ponderous blows 
were self-taught and self-inspired, it would be glory enough ; but 
Webster did not come within the shades of the Harvard elms, as a stu- 
dent, although his glory shines as brightly around the Hub as the national 
capital. 

In Boston, and throughout Massachusetts, there are scores of law, 
medical and theological schools. Among those which are denominational, 
but also of a general character, may be mentioned Amherst College, 
Williams and Tufts. Unlike the college and university towns -of Eng- 
land, those of Massachusetts and America are usually within walking 
distance of stirring city or town life ; so that even the scholar breathes 
the vibrating atmosphere of commerce and trade. 

After Harvard comes Yale in point of importance and time. It is 
the Oxford of America, New Haven, the city of its location, being set 
tied by a company of Englishmen, principally from London. The uni- 
versity laws are founded partly upon those of Harvard and partly upon 
those of Oxford, England. The buildings of Yale College cover several 
acres of ground near the city park, or the " green." This latter is six- 
teen acres in extent and seems, from a distance, but a solid forest of 
stately elms. The king of shade trees also stretches his arms over the 
delightful avenues of the whole city, being one of its greatest attractions. 
A walk under the elms of New Haven has cooled many a student's hot 
brain. He is, furthermore, in the center and primary city of the clock 
and carriage manufactures of New England. 

An invigorating dash over the salt water is that from New Haven 
to New York by steamer through Long Island Sound. The Connecti- 
cut shore slopes gently toward the water and is beautified by many 
charming summer and country residences, the coast of Long Island 
being the broken base of a line of hills which extends almost through it. 
Numerous bays and inlets cut the shore into the most picturesque forms, 
and the boldest scenes usually have stanch and defiant lighthouses as 
practical center-pieces. During much of the course these features of 
the landscape are diversified by forests of pine which extend along a 
comparatively level tract of country. Beyond the hills and forests are the 
fertile tracts which slope toward the ocean and toward the sandy beaches 
which, in the west, have become so well known as bathing resorts. 

NEW YORK. 

Long Island was claimed by both English and Dutch, the western 

portions being settled by the Hollanders a few years in advance of their 

64 



lOIO 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



rivals. The English did not crowd out all the Dutch names when they 
destroyed the power of Holland on the Hudson River. It is true that in 
approaching the metropolis, past Long Branch, Sandy Hook and the 
New Jersey coast we find Gravesend at the very entrance to New York 
bay, and we remember that Gravesend is the official gate to the port of 
London ; but, 
choosing the 
approach, by 
way of Long 
Island Sound, 
there is Har- 
lem to remind 
us of the Hol- 
land flats and 
sea. Harlem 
River connects 
with Spuyten 
Duyvel Creek, 
the two sepa- 
rating Man- 
hattan Island 
from the main- 
land. Brooklyn, is to New 
York what the West End 
is to London, although 
separated by a river. It is 
even more difficult to de- 
termine what should be legitimate- 
ly considered the population of 
New York than of London, for 
although the bounds of the Amer- 
ican city are a matter of legal 
record, hundreds of thousands of 
people reside in Brooklyn, Long 
Island City, Hoboken, JerseyCity 

-'' -' \ ^ AN AMERICAN PALACE, 

and outlying territory and yet 

depend for their support upon the metropolis. As the suburbs, towns 
and cities are separated by bodies of water and State lines it would be 
difficult to cover this great and populous territory by any such con- 
venient body as the London Board of Works or Metropolitan Police ; 
yet, short of a common name, the gigantic settlements at the mouth 




NEW YORK. lOII 

of the Hudson are connected by every tie of mutual interest and some 
of the crrandest mechanical and enorineerino- works of the aee. 

The city, located on Manhattan Island, is connected with the 
main land by a number of magnificent bridges for passenger and 
railway traffic ; while the Brooklyn Bridge is thrown across East 
River for over a mile, Waterloo and all similar structures in London 
being cast into the shade by its mighty foundations, spans and towers. 
The largest vessel passes beneath it. Until this gigantic work was com- 
pleted the communication was by numerous steam ferries, whose move- 
ments were often impeded by fog and ice. On a like scale of grandeur 
was the removal of a mountain of rocks, at Hell Gate, which obstructed 
navigation between East River and Long Island Sound. The work of 
honeycombing the rock progressed for many weary months, and at its 
conclusion everything appeared on the surface as before. The touch of 
an electric button released a volcano ; the mountain heaved at its foun- 
dations and was pitched into the sea. 

Within the city the restless streams of people are carried on the 
ground and above ground by the most effective of known railway sys- 
tems, though still inadequate to relieve the pressure of travel. The 
Croton aqueduct, which brings pure water to Harlem River from a small 
stream (artificially formed into a lake), does not compare with those old 
Roman monsters found in Italy, France and Spain, but it is a great public 
work for this age of the world. The water, in iron pipes, is carried 
across the river over a massive granite bridge, and then the aqueduct 
takes it again and brings it to the Central Park reservoir. 

The public works of New York stand for the practical advancement 
of the country, and the European immigrant as he lands at Castle 
Garden finds himself, without introduction, in the midst of the most 
complex form of American city life. New York, in its general charac- 
teristics, is Paris and London thrown together. Paris is Celtic in its 
lightness and brilliancy ; so is New York, with its Fifth avenue and 
other gorgeous exhibitions of wealth — with its Irish Stewarts, its German 
Astors, its Dutch-American Vanderbilts, and its English and American 
merchants by the scores. There are stores, hotels and residences which 
are palaces in the old world. There are districts which are packed closer 
and are more squalid than the populous haunts of the poor classes in 
East London. The two extremes meet. You see the Charles O'Con- 
nors on one side of the street and the newest arrivals from the Irish bogs 
on the other. 

But a passing glimpse is all that we can take of this most substan- 
tial evidence of the republic's greatness. With a regretful gaze up the 



IOI2 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

Hudson, that we can not enjoy its magnificent mountain and highland 
scenery, its rapids, its paHsades and pleasant banks and villages, we give 
a look of admiration at the Government fortresses on the islands of the 
harbor and at the last of the world's great works of art, the Goddess of 
Liberty (which they are obliged to accompany), and skirting the sandy 
shores of New Jersey, enter Delaware Bay. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

By following the river, we find, in Philadelphia, the same narrow, 
quaint and scrupulously clean Dutch houses, which are washed, like 
childrens' faces, in Holland. Although founded by the English Quaker, 
Penn, during the first few years of its establishment the Dutch immi- 
grated to Philadelphia in great numbers, being drawn to it, as were the 
German and the English Quakers, by the principle of universal tolera- 
tion upon which the colony was founded. At Kensington, within the 
city limits, is a plain stone monument which marks the site of the elm 
tree under which Penn made that oral treaty with the Indians which he 
never violated and which is the large white spot in the history of our 
dealinors with the natives. The most momentous of the ante-revolu- 
tionary events circled around Philadelphia, Carpenters' Hall, where was 
held the first Continental Congress, is open to visitors in substantially 
the same condition it was during the rebellion against England. Inde- 
pendence Hall, in the old State House, is where the declaration of inde- 
pendence was adopted. Its walls are hung with the portraits of patriots, 
and other historic relics placed there make it, with Faneuil Hall, Boston, 
the most precious structure in America. Within the past century 
Girard College has arisen to exhibit to the world what has been pro- 
nounced the finest specimen of Grecian architecture in the world, and 
also to exhibit in its founder the combination of the miser in private 
and the prodigal philanthropist in public. 

Philadelphia is unique. It is old and wealthy like Boston, but its 
people and its capital are more intimately associated with the West. It 
is less an Eastern and more an American city. 

THE IRON AND COAL REGIONS. 

Many of the Dutch who came to Pennsylvania, drawn thither by 
tolerant spirit of the Quaker colonist, settled in the fertile valleys of the 
Alleghany Mountains, where thousands of their mild, comfortable 
descendants are now located. The English, Welsh and Scotch are in 
the coal and iron mines and manufacturing districts. Both in Central 



THE IRON AND COAL REGIONS. 



IOI3 



and Eastern Pennsylvania, the deposits of iron ore are so rich that most 
of the blast furnaces upon the banks of the rivers depend upon them for 
their products. The anthracite coal beds are simply inexhaustible, and 
the entire range of mountains is being honey-combed by the industry 
and capital of the country. The life of the miners is such as it is in 
other countries. The villages will generally be found on the banks of 
runs, as they are called — small creeks coming down from the moun- 
tains — and are dreary enough. They look as if they were placed there 
for a day only. The mining companies own many of the houses, and 
also most of the general stores at which the miners trade. Provisions 
and articles of 
clothinof are held 
firmly to the mar- 
ket price, and it is 
not unusual, with a 
large city only a 
few miles away, for 
the proprietors to 
virtually force their 
wares upon them 
at prices higher 
than those quoted 
in town. 

The immense 
coal fields of Penn- 
sylvania first came 
into general use 
during the Revo- 
lutionary War, the 
product being tak- 
en from near carved oak settle. 

Wilkesbarre, down the Susquehanna, to near the Government Arsenal 
at Carlisle. Since then, mining for coal and iron and boring for petro- 
leum, with the dependent industries of transporting and manufacturing, 
have built up one of the most prosperous States in the Union. 

Pennsylvania is a repetition of the manufacturing districts of Eng- 
and, with the ancient villages, ruined castles and Roman walls omitted. 
Pennsylvania, also, has the clear sky and air which often are not to 
be found around the picturesque manufacturing centers of the old 
country. But from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh — especially in the 
autumn — the scenery is purely American. The ponderous machinery 




IOI4 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

of the mines, gigantic petroleum tanks, square miles of smoking char^ 
coal houses, like large ant hills, thousands of tramways running out 
from the hills to the railroad track, whole cities covered with smoke 
and the banks of the great rivers flaming as if they were afire with the 
labors of iron mills and manufactories, are a few of the works of man 
which appear on the surface. As if striving to add to the impressive- 
ness of the scene, or at least to conform to its general character entire 
valleys and mountain chains are aflame with the red and yellow of the 
dying year, the oak trees and the maples marshaling their colors in huge 
rriasses and battalions. Nestling in the valleys are also fertile farms 
and comfortable houses, many of them furnished with old and quaintly 
carved furniture. In fact, in this central and broadest portion of the 
great Alleghany, or Appalachian system of mountains, which extends 
from the Upper St. Lawrence to the Tennessee River, are combined 
the beauties of the granite hills of New England and the streams of 
the Adirondacks with the rich treasures which they do not hoard. 

THE CUMBERLANDS AND THE POTOMAC. 

The Cumberland range is the next important link in the system 
going south, and at its head is the commencement of a magnificent coal 
field, extending west to the Ohio. There are fewer fertile spots within 
the Cumberland region than in the Alleghanies, the scenery being most 
severe ; but the Tennessee River and its many tributaries draining the 
eastern slopes of the mountains, and finally cutting through to the west, 
draws a green ribbon through the rugged hills of the Cumberland and 
is a sight never to be forgotten. For river scenery, which is as varied as 
it is noble, the Potomac rivals the Hudson. It possesses the additional 
charm of being the historic stream of America, near whose banks were 
enacted some of the most momentous events of the war, from first to 
last. From Harper's Ferry to the Rappahannock, sweeping one hun- 
dred and fifty miles on either side, would include ground not unlike that 
lying along the Rhine between France and Germany ; but the American 
soil is consecrated to peace, and North and South look upon the clear 
waters and the broad sweep of the Potomac with reverence and love. 
The headwaters of the river boil among rugged mountains, with little 
green valleys playing in their shadows. At Harper's Ferry where the 
Shenandoah joins it, it breaks through the Blue Ridge Mountains and 
becomes grand in its character. The cliffs and rocks hang over it, as if 
loth to allow it to escape, and at the feet of some of the loftiest of them 
is the village of Harper's Ferry. This passage of the river through the 



THE CUMBERLANDS AND THE POTOMAC. IOI5 

mountains Thomas Jefferson pronounced "one of the most stupendous 
scenes ui nature, and well worth a voyage across the Atlantic to witness." 
and, as proof that his admiration was honest he indulged in the romantic 
and boyish occupation of carving his name on one of the grandest of the 
rocks. 

The lower course of the Potomac is tranquil and majestic, and it is 
little wonder that George Washington marked such scenes for life and 
death. Mount Vernon came to him from his elder brother, Lawrence, 
and his was merely one of the fine old mansions and plantations which 
still make the Lower Potomac the dearest spot on earth to the descend- 
ants of those grand old Virginia families whom American history has 
embalmed. The house is a two story wooden building with a welcom- 
ing portico in front, supported by great pillars and reaching to the 
dormer windows. Washington's librar)^ and bedroom have not been 
disturbed since his death. The ground in front of the house slopes to 
the river in a rich lawn of several acres, the body of the patriot being 
laid within view of his restful home and the fair river, in a cool, wooded 
dell. Let us here mention, in admiration and reverence, without fear 
of being misunderstood in these days, the name of Washington's great- 
est descendant who lived and died a Virgrinian — Robert E. Lee. 

Beyond Mount Vernon is Washington, as grand in its proportions as 
St. Petersburgh, without being oppressively stupendous. The capitol, 
covering nearly four acres of ground, sends up its splendid dome nearly 
300 feet, and its statue of Liberty looks serenely toward Europe and the 
rising sun. The great department buildings, the monument, the Gov- 
ernment institutions — such as arsenal and navy yards — the magnificent 
boulevards and palaces along them ; the bustle, life and gayety and the 
freshness and picturesqueness of the surrounding country, advance 
Washington's claim to be the most perfect city for national legislation 
in the world. Before its geographic location is raised against it seri- 
ously, it would be well to see how many of the capitals of the world 
from China to Russia and England are centrally placed. 

One is inclined to linger too lono- on the banks of the Potomac. 
Virginia has hundreds of other natural attractions. The Cumberland 
Mountains, in the west of the State, exhibit a number of wonderful caves, 
some being brilliant and grotesque with stalactite formations, and others 
filled with crystal bodies of water. From one of them a strong current 
of cold air issues during hot weather, and in winter the outer air is drawn 
into it as through a suction pipe. Then there is the natural bridge, 
near Lexington, whose one arch is one hundred and sixty feet in height 
and sixty feet in width. A little stream flows through it, and gigantic 



IOl6 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

forest trees grow underneath, which are nearly a hundred feet below the 
roadway which passes over the bridge. The many mineral springs in 
the vicinity, with their high temperature, and the position of the rock 
strata, suggest the force which fashioned this gigantic arch out of the 
flint-like ridge. • . 

OHIO IRON AND WOOL. 

Beyond the Potomac River, the Cumberland Mountains and the 
Ohio was considered, not many years ago, the far West, Just a cen- 
tury ago Dr. Manasseh Cutler located the first colony at Marietta, start- 
ing from Connecticut. He had a large wagon built and covered with 
black canvas, on which were painted in white letters the words " Ohio, 
for Marietta or the Muskingum." The circumstances under which it 
left New England and reached that then uncultivated wilderness have 
placed this exploring wagon historically by the side of the Mayflower. 
This was the basis of Ohio and the frontier State of the East. It is not 
now even in the Middle West. It is rather the connectinor link between 
the manufacturing East and the agricultural West. The coal deposits 
and petroleum wells of Eastern Ohio rank with those of Pennsylvania. 
Iron is obtained, but her extensive manufactories depend for their sup- 
plies chiefly upon the iron country in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan, 
near the shores of Lake Superior. There are entire ridges and ranges 
of iron, and rivers whose waters are red with their rust. Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and Cleveland have immense mills and iron manufactories, and 
are also distributing points for quantities of ore. 

Although Ohio is second in America as an iron-producing State, she 
is first as a producer of wool, California standing almost shoulder to shoul- 
der with her. She pastures about a sixth of the sheep, and sends to 
market a fifth of the wool. The oil of her coal lands, which has not run 
into her petroleum wells, seems to have penetrated the land and made 
it rich and productive to animal and vegetable life. That expression, 
" the fat of the land," is particularly appropriate to both Pennsylvania and 
Ohio, whose oils are not only collected in reservoirs and carried to dis- 
tant cities in pipes, as so much water, but the land yields most abund- 
antly to animal life those elements which cover the farms with plump 
sheep and cattle. Ohio is a great dairy country, the Western Reserve, 
in the northeastern part of the State, being the banner section. 

CINCINNATI. 

Naturally the growth of Ohio's cities has been rapid, especially of 
Cincinnati, which is one of the great commercial centers of the country. 



THE QUEEN OF THE LAKES. IOI7 

Its location is one of grand beauty, the plateaux upon which it is built 
lying a hundred feet above the Ohio River (which divides the plain), and 
being surrounded by a circle of hills. The hill-sides are covered with 
houses, and the suburbs of the city are picturesque and clean. Cincin- 
nati is no exception to the rule that all the populous cities of the country, 
lying on the great lakes and rivers between Buffalo and St. Louis, have 
a very large German element. The flood commenced to pour over the 
western country at the time of the Revolution in Germany of 1848, and 
to this cause the States between the Ohio and the Mississippi owe a vast 
proportion of their unexampled growth and present prosperity. In fact, 
with due regard for the mental and physical influences of other national- 
ities, the ethnologist is forced to the conclusion that the descendants of 
the English and German colonists of the East and South, with those of 
the West, are the strongest and most vital elements in the American 
type; and this consideration led to the adoption of the topic title, Amer- 
ican Anglo-Saxons, there being little difference between the English 
and German types. 

THE QUEEN OF THE LAKES. 

The site of Chicago was not worse than that of other large cities of 
the world, and her geographical position in the center of the grain fields 
of the Northwest ; at the foot of a lake which heaves at the borders of 
four States, and in the direct line of travel westward from the old New 
England States — these advantages predestined her present standing, as 
second to New York, in commercial importance. New York is King, and 
Chicago is not only Queen of the Lakes but of America. If the parallel 
is allowable, she is New York's great middle-man for the staples of the 
West from the Ohio to the Pacific Ocean. She is the general store- 
keeper for the Northwestern States. From the time Chicago was a 
garrison, a few families and a canal town, to the present, whatever may 
have been the fortune of its individual people, no one thought that 
Chicago would fail. In the history of cities there has been no such 
sublime confidence in the possibilit}^ of the supremest height of achieve- 
ment, as has marked the career of Chicago. A dozen Chicago fires 
could not quench it. Chicago is as grasping a city as the universe 
knows anything about. There is no parallel to her generosity when 
flames, floods or hurricanes sweep the land. Whatever wickedness can 
be found in any city, is in Chicago ; but her charities cover it. Her busi- 
ness houses, commercial and financial structures and public buildings are 
vast. Her hotels rival those of New York, and there is now in course of 



ioi8 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



construction a square block of architectural stateliness for the use, prim- 
arily, of national conventions, which is one of the most magnificent works 
of the century. The continual sound of the saw and the hammer 
is heard not only in the centers of population, but the reverberation is 
carried along from building to building, until the seeming echo dies in 
the distance. For a dozen miles north and south there are charming, 
populous and growing suburbs which will eventually be a part of the 
city. South of Chicago are her great iron districts, and this outlying 
territory is growing so rapidly around the foot of the lake, that the time 
may not be far in the future when the city will have no important body 
of water between it and the Eastern sea-board. 

No one who has taken the trouble to investigate will be misled by 
the trite remark that Chicago is merely wheat and pork; a city whose 




SCULPTOR'S HOME. 



whole existence is in trade. Her literateurs, painters and sculptors are 
legion, many of them with national reputations. 

Yet as long as Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dakota, 
Nebraska and Kansas continue to raise wheat and cattle, the Queen will 
live. In years past Milwaukee, further north on the western shore of 
the lake, rivaled Chicago as a primary wheat market, and St. Paul and 
Minneapolis have drawn from much of the far northwestern territory. 
They are beautiful, prosperous cities, but of late years have concentrated 
their energies upon various lines of manufactures. 



WHEAT HARVESTERS. lOig- 

WHEAT HARVESTERS. 

On the great prairies of the States of the Northwest lying along the 
Mississippi and Missouri valleys are conducted the most extensive agri- 
cultural operations in the world. Here machinery takes the place of 
manual labor almost entirely ; for the soil is so soft and free from stones, 
that not only can the land be plowed for miles at a stretch without meet- 
ing a foreign substance, but the grain may be reaped and threshed by 
horse and steam power without the possibility of anything being caught 
up which could injure the most delicate machine. When the harvest is 
ready for the reapers the wheat-fields of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wiscon- 
sin and Dakota, resemble so many encampments, and the systematic way 
in which the armies of laborers prepare for the campaign adds strength 
to the impression. When operations commence the very machines seem 
to have life. The grain falls in wide swaths before the sharp teeth of 
the mower, and is laid nicely upon the platform behind from which it is 
either raked and gathered into bundles by the harvesters, or cut and 
bound into sheaves by the machine itself. The wonders of wood, steel 
and iron do not end with this. At times the driver will mount his little- 
iron seat, give his steeds the word, and the grain will not only fall before 
him, but will be threshed at the same time. 

Usually, however, the threshing is an after-work, and steam-power 
is called into play. At this stage of the operations the square miles of 
land which have been shorn of their wavinof wealth are transformed into 
a species of outdoor manufactory. The rattle and clangor of the 
machines fill the air. Thousands of tons of refuse go upon a moving,, 
inclined plane and disappear. The buzz, rattle and clangor progress,, 
the refuse falls into a sort of revolving drum and a moment later a 
confused mass of straw and wheat falls upon a rack below% The straw 
is carried off by an endless platform and carefully placed in a mow or 
rack, the grain sifting through into an apartment where it is winnowed 
by a strong air blast, which, strange to say, is already there to do its 
work. With all this improved machinery, which accomplishes the labor 
of armies of men, the wheat harvesters of the Northwest are not only 
drawn from the immediate country, but many of them are wanderers over 
the face of the land who, from the south, follow the line of verdure and 
the harvests of the country through the Mississippi States into the wheat 
districts of British America. 

LIFE ON THE PLAINS. 

Life on the plains, such as adventurous boys used to dream about, 
is a thing of the past since the Pacific roads have gone beyond the Mis- 



I020 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

sissippi, and the Missouri, and the Platte, and Salt Lake, and the Colorado 
to the Pacific coast. By stretching a point and going down into Indian 
Territory, Texas or New Mexico, a taste of the old excitement may be 
obtained, but the life upon the plains of Nebraska and Kansas is of 
another kind in our day. It is the same existence as the pioneers of Illi- 
nois enjoyed fifty years ago. Along the banks of the Missouri River, 
which forms the eastern boundary to Nebraska and a portion of Kansas, 
are the most enterprising of the manufacturing and receiving points for 
much of the grain and cattle of the plains. They also make the cars, the 
engines, and even the bridges of the old and new roads which connect 
the States beyond the Missouri River and the cities, towns and hamlets 
of this newest West. Life on the plains is now what the railroads make 
it. They plat a town and build a station on the plain with not a farm- 
house in sight; but their agents are at New York, Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul, and by and by there comes along a train loaded with burly 
Russian farmers, red-faced Swedes or heavy-browed Germans. The 
immigrants get out at the little wooden house on the plains, with their 
rope-bound trunks, their wives and children, and proceed to occupy the 
rough houses which have been erected for them. When the train returns, 
everybody is housed in some sort of shape, and the heads of families 
have selected their farms under the guidance of the railroad agent, or 
one of those sharp, omnipresent land agents, who was already on the 
ground, having scented his prey from afar. 

Many of the towns which are blessed with fifteen years or -more of 
life contain substantial manufactories — principally flour-mills — large 
public buildings and blocks of stores, and as polished and warm a grade 
of society as is met with in the country. The great ambition of the new 
places is to get to be either the county seat, or a section town. In the 
latter case machine shops are established, the town becomes the head- 
"\^uart^rs"df many railroad employes and officials, good hotel accommo- 
'dMiohs are required, additional stores start up, commercial travelers 
abound, and the place becomes that most desirable of all things to a child 
of the West — "a live town." Of course such cities as Kansas City, 
Topeka, Lincoln and Omaha have graduated into the metropolitan class, 
showing an enterprise and exhibiting magnificent business and public 
structures as an evidence of their permanent prosperity. Kansas City 
is rapidly gaining the position of the most important commercial point 
between Chicago and the Pacific coast. Her railroad connections are 
masterly, Kansas being not only tributary to her, but large portions of 
Missouri, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico; and yet Kansas City is 
built upon rocks and sand, as Chicago originally rested upon a bed of mud. 



THE WESTERN MINING COUNTRY. 1021 

THE WESTERN MINING COUNTRY. 

After crossing the plains of Nebraska and Kansas, the great mining 
country of the West is entered by way of Colorado. The entrance to 
this sublime region is by gradual steps. First there is a vast elevated 
plain, cut up by the streams of the Platte and Arkansas Rivers, and diver- 
sified by valleys. A lofty ridge sheds the waters of these rivers, disap- 
pearing in the great masses of the Rocky Mountains near Pike's Peak. 
In other localities the furrowed plain merges into the foothills of the 
mountains, which, in Colorado obtain their greatest altitude. The 
mounds, pyramids, pinnacles, towers and monuments lifted two or three 
miles into the pure air, some of them rifted by ragged gorges from 
summit to base, inclose a number of fertile tracts of land whose physical 
characteristics are similar to those of the plains to the east. The differ- 
ence, if anything, favors the mountains. The hills and mountains sur- 
rounding them are clothed with pine forests, and the valleys which 
follow the headwaters of the noble rivers breaking from their prisons, 
east and west, are green and flowery. Some idea of the extent of these 
domains, which Nature has walled about with such grandeur, may be 
obtained by a statement of the fact that three of the Colorado parks are 
larger than Delaware, and one of them is equal in area to Massachusetts. 
The parks are splendid pasture lands. They are, in fact, the oases of 
this great region of rocks and canons, and lie almost within sight of the 
extensive mining operations of the State. Northwest through Wyom- 
ing, Idaho and Montana into Canada, south through New Mexico into 
old Mexico, and westward to the coast is the territory which com- 
prises the Western mining country. Since the discovery of the fa- 
mous Comstock lode, thirty years ago, the Sierra Nevada Moun- 
tains have been the dividing line between the silver and the gold 
regions. These minerals are generally found together, but in the 
ores extracted east of the mountains, silver, as a rule, greatly pre- 
dominates. 

It would be a waste of words to enter into a detailed description of 
the various processes of mining for gold and silver — to take one to the 
streams and mountains, to the long drainage tunnels, the ponderous 
crushing mills and furnaces, the enormous iron pans where the chemical 
changes are made to take place by which the silver bullion is obtained, 
to be afterward melted and cast into ingots ; or to visit the gold wash- 
ings and tell, step by step, the various processes by which from streams, 
hills and the shores of the ocean is separated the precious stuff which 
men call gold. 



.I02 2 



PANORAMA OF NATIONS.- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

The tourist whose aim is to inspire the saHent features of the 
•country will lightly pass the gold and silver, and return to the feast of 
Rocky Mountain scenery. Other countries, from J apan to South America, 
have boasted of immense deposits of gold, the fabulous hoards displayed 




FALLS IN NATIONAL PARK. 

by the Incas of Peru even shaming the productions of California — but 
there is but one chain of Rocky Mountains and it can have no parallel. 
This would stand secure, as a solemn truth, were the Rocky Mountains 
but the one series of spurs which they strike out into Northwestern 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



1023 



Wyoming to grasp Yellowstone, or the National Park. The mountain 
ranges, which are covered with perpetual snow, tower above the valleys, 
through which run the headwaters of the Missouri, Mississippi's brother, 
and child of the Gulf of Mexico; the Columbia which Avinds to the 
Pacific, and the Colorado which finds its way to the Gulf of Mexico. 
The Yellowstone River, the Missouri's tributary, repeats the vault-like 
canons of the Colorado for those who can not see the stream, which 
makes a specialty of furnishing these wonders ; and, if there were not 
startling phenomena in another direction, the falls of the Yellowstone 
would be absorbing attractions. The Great Falls are 350 feet in height. 
Yellowstone Park is in the path of a volcano district which includes 
Western New Mexico and Colorado and portions of Utah, Wyoming, 
Idaho and Montana. Lava rocks, hot salt springs, mud volcanoes and 
geysers, scattered throughout these States, with earthquake shocks in 
the upper districts of the region, make the Rocky Mountains one of the 
most pregnant fields of investigation for the geologist ; but he may con- 
centrate all his earnestness in Yellowstone Park, which holds out to him 
the most active evidence of the earth's interior forces which can be found 
on itssurface. The geysers of Iceland and New Zealand are humbled in 
comparison. There are water-falls, hot mineral springs (some of which 
are over 200*^ in temperature), caiions and sulphur hills along the Yellow- 
stone River and Lakes ; the geysers are found further west, near the Madi- 
son River. They are of all varieties — those which are tranqu il, those which 
are always boiling and those which periodically spout vast columns of 
boiling water to a height of 200 or 250 feet. Around the rim of the 
crater are often seen the most fantastic and beautiful deposits. Some- 
times the diameter is only a few feet ; at other times from thirty to sixty. 
The basin may be circular, or shaped like a shell, or ragged and shape- 
less ; almost level with the ground or built up so that it appears like the 
stump of a gigantic tree. The water may be blue or colorless, and in one 
instance the deposit around the rim of the basin is black instead of white. 
Some of the geysers maintain the water at a uniform level ; others spout 
to an enormous height at regular intervals, the water receding into the 
fearful cavern and disappearing with a hiss and a roar. One remarkable 
geyser sends tons of water into the clouds and nothing returns — the 
evaporation is instantaneous and complete. There are also boiling mud 
springs, the color of the contents being white, blue, brown or black. 
Acres of mineral springs may be visited, but with hundreds of geysers 
boiling, steaming, hissing, gurgling, roaring and spouting like so many 
infernal monsters — the ground seeming to tremble as with the vibra- 
tions of hidden engines — little time is devoted to the milder mani- 



1024 ' PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

festations of the earth's anger. If that grand natural park, upon the 
side of Pike's Peak, ornamented by the hand of nature with castles 
and cathedrals of bright red sandstone, may be called the Garden of the 
Gods, what fanciful name shall be given to this region? It is the battle 
ground of gods and devils. 

UTAH CIVILIZATION. 

As if the sights of Colorado and Wyoming were not sufficiently 
unique, Utah, the next political division to the west, furnishes a desert 
and the Great Salt Lake. This most concentrated deposit of salt water 
in the world is over four thousand feet above the sea. To the southeast 
is a small fresh water lake, and the river Jordan connects them. It has 
other fresh water inlets, but no visible outlets. The country around is 
impregnated with salt, a decided crust being frequently seen upon the 
surface. A ridge of the Rocky Mountains — the Wahsatch — follows, 
at a little distance, the eastern shores of the lakes and rivers, and between 
it and Great Salt Lake has sprung up that civilization which redeems 
the country from being a Dead Sea district, but places a greater burden 
upon the Nation than if it were still a wilderness. 

The Mormons and Salt Lake City constitute an Eastern civilization 
within a Western, the Prophet having very much the same visions as 
Mohammed, in order to launch upon the world a " reformed " marriage 
system. The difference was that Mohammed's tendency was to limit, 
and, if anything, to reduce the number of wives. 

The ingenious methods of irrigation by which the clear water of 
a mountain stream flows along both sides of the broad city streets, 
and the orchards and gardens which smile from every yard, might 
lead the traveler to believe that he had, in truth, blundered upon a 
country of the Moors. Even the gigantic tabernacle, with an inverted 
bowl resting upon pillars for a roof, has an Eastern air to it. Many of 
the houses are of one story, with separate entrances for the different 
wives. They are built of adobe, or mud, and not materially different 
from the huts of the Egyptian Mohammedans. Public schools are more 
at a discount than they are in Turkey, education being synonomous 
with Mormonism. There is a large Gentile element — probably a third 
of the population — but in the conduct of public affairs the Latter-Day 
Saints completely overshadow it. 

Besides its Tabernacle and stupendous temple block, erected at a 
cost of $10,000,000, Salt Lake City has many imposing public edifices 
and private residences. But the chief object in going to Salt Lake City 



SALMON FISHING. IO25 

is not so much to see a large, refreshing settlement in a desert, as to see 
a Mormon city — the City of the Saints upon the banks of the Jordan. 

THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 

A short distance from the northern bend of the Bear River, which 
flows into Salt Lake, the Upper Snake River takes a grand sweep 
toward the west, on its way to join the Columbia, in Washington Terri- 
tory. In this portion of its violent passage through Southeastern Idaho 
the river casts itself over several steep precipices, the falls being com- 
pared to those of the Yosemite and Niagara; the last noteworthy one 
called the Great Falls, being especially compared to the cataract of the 
East. Above the falls the river is divided by a number of islands, and 
descending with great rapidity the volume of water is soon reunited and 
pitches over a precipice, two hundred feet, into its bed below. The 
river has cut its channel through a region of volcanic rocks, whose per- 
pendicular walls stand hundreds of feet above the water, and in places 
its tributaries, which run down from the mountains, have worn their way 
beneath the strata of lava rocks and come spouting out of the sides of 
the canon into the main stream. 

The Snake River flows north between Idaho and Oregon, being 
navigable below the falls to the Powder River, which it receives from 
the Oregon side. For one hundred miles farther, or to the Washington 
boundary line, the river rushes over stones and through gorges at almost 
railroad speed. At the little town of Lewiston steamers are found 
lying at their docks which have ascended from the Columbia River. 

From the point where the Snake and Columbia join forces the cur- 
rent is powerful, and, broken by cascades and cataracts, continues its 
wild career between perpendicular walls of rock. The limit of naviga- 
tion for small steamers is Cascade City, where the Columbia forces its 
way through the Cascade range of mountains. Fifty miles below, the 
ocean steamers lie at the wharves of Vancouver, 115 miles from the 
mouth of the river, where the noble body of water is a mile from bank to 
bank. The effect of the ocean tide is seen at the cascades, at Cascade 
City, but the current of the river is so powerful that water dipped from 
it at Vancouver is fresh and pure. 

SALMON FISHING. 

During the summer and early fall, when the vast shoals of salmon 
are ascending the streams to spawn, the Columbia River is a scene of 
great activity — activity both on the part of the fish and the fishermen, 

65 



1026 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

for a salmon will stem the strong current and surmount a cascade 
which is fourteen or fifteen feet in height. The females ascend first, 
the males following. They spawn late in the autumn, most of them 
returning to the sea before cold weather sets fairly in. Hundreds of 
fishermen, with rods, lurk for the delicate fish at the foot of the water- 
falls and rapids, and the violence of the water does not detract from the 
advantageousness of the locality ; for if the cascade can be leaped the 
salmon will make any number of attempts to reach higher water. By 
night the rivers for hundreds of miles are lit up by torches, which guide 
the boats of the spearing fishermen over the restless waters. This Is 
perhaps the most exciting of fishing sports, Indians and white men vie- 
ing with each other in the chase. The fisheries, however — those 
which produce the bulk of the canned salmon which is sent from the 
northwestern districts of the United States and from British Columbia-^ 
are generally conducted at the mouths of rivers, by means of gill nets. 
What is considered the mouth of the Columbia River is an expansion of 
its channel into a bay or harbor fully five miles across, and here are the 
great salmon fisheries of the West, the canning establishments and 
other evidences of the prosperity of this extensive industry. The chief 
point for the shipment of salmon is Portland, a beautiful little city on a 
branch of the Columbia River in Oregon, flowing from the south 
between the Cascade Mountains and the ocean, 

Oregon has a few fertile valleys, but her chief features are, in the 
east, a desert of sand, ashes and lava terraces, and in the west, dense for- 
ests of pine, fir, cedar, maple and ash, which creep up the steep sides of 
the mountain chains to the perpetual snow fields at their summits. The 
climate of Oregon is variable, but that west of the Cascade range is more 
like that of California. 

THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The climate of California is also variable, the two lofty mountain 
ranofes, which traverse the State northwest and southeast, and the natural 
differences of temperature occasioned by the degrees of latitude over 
which California stretches, produce many varieties of climate In the Kla- 
math Valley, Northern California, there is sometimes sleighing during a 
month of the year, and some of the mining towns of the Sierra Nevada 
fight with Colorado drifts. In the interior valleys, such as the Sacramento 
and Colorado, which are shut away from the ocean breezes by the Coast 
range, the dry heat sends the mercury as high as 1 20 degrees. Yet, as 
a rule, the summers of California are cool and the winters warm, and 



SAN FRANCISCO. 102/ 

although, even on the coast, the temperature may vary 30 degrees in 
twenty-four hours, the mean temperature of the winter and the summer 
months will differ but a little. The nights are always cool, whether they 
are passed on the coast or away from it. 

But the climate, which has made California a western heaven to the 
weary and sick, is that delicious product of ocean, sun, mountain and 
valley which hovers over the land south of San Francisco. For six or 
ten months of the year steady winds blow from the ocean, and they are 
always warm and dry. Roses bloom and trees are green the year through. 
In the San Joaquin Valley, and along the coast at Santa Barbara, Los 
Angeles, San Diego, and other localities, frost is a fearful dream. The 
tropics are brought to America without their miasmas, unwholesome 
vapors, serpents and uncouth beasts. The vineyards of France, the 
pomegranates of India, the cypress, the orange and the lemon groves 
stretch down the valleys and up the hill-sides, encircle houses and villages 
and venture with their wealth of color and fragrance into lawns and 
gardens. There are fat flocks of sheep in a thousand valleys and crop- 
ping the tender grass of a thousand hills. Even the autumn winds do 
not need to be tempered to them. The wheat fields of California are 
other gold mines, while the splendid, happy, cultured people who find 
their way to her smallest and her newest towns, make stronger her claim 
to the title of the Golden State. The riches of the temperate zone flow 
from the valley of the Sacramento, in Northern California, and the pro- 
fusion of the tropics swells from the valleys of the Pacific and San 
Joaquin, in the south. 

SAN FRANCISCO. 

The San Joaquin and the Sacramento rivers are supposed to be 
all that remain of an inland sea whose bed was between the Sierra 
Nevada and the Coast ranges. Flowing through the State from opposite 
directions they meet and force their way through the intervening barrier 
to San Francisco Bay. Sacramento, the state capital, is north of this 
point of juncture. It is protected from the river, which sometimes rises 
twenty feet, by a levee. Sacramento is well worthy of such protection, if 
for no other reason than on account of the state capitol, which with its 
beautiful grounds covers eighteen acres of land. 

But the starting point from which to visit the natural wonders of 
California should be San Francisco, one of the metropolitan prodigies of 
the country and the age. At the time of the gold fever of 1848 it was 
a miserable village of 1,000 people, the houses being built upon low 
sandy hills lying at the foot of steep and lofty elevations, into which run 



I028 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

deep ravines. In front of the principal settlement was a cove, contain- 
ing forty feet of water, and extending one-half mile inland. With the 
gold excitement came the emigration overland and, by sea, from the 
world over, so that great ships rode at anchor in the cove. But the hills 
were thrown into the gullies, and the cove and broad, paved streets have 
taken the place of the ocean's waters. San Francisco stands upon a sandy 




A SPECIMEN ROOM. 

and rocky peninsula, at the Golden Gate of the Golden State, a magni- 
ficent city of 400,000 people ! Like New York she has extended her 
territory to several islands of the noble bay, having also reached out into 
the ocean for thirty miles and taken a plat of land into her domain. 
The lofty hills which overlooked the miserable village of 1848 have their 
wrinkles and irregularities smoothed away and embrace the populous 
sections of the city. There is but one road which leads from the penin- 
sula out of the city. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



1029 



But there are attractions which might keep one upon it for many a 
day. The Palace Hotel is the largest and handsomest in the world, 
with superb appointments. Two of its nine stories are below the 
ground and the foundation walls are twelve feet thick. Its most strik- 
ing architectural feature is the court, roofed in with glass, guarded 
around by handsome balconies, accessible from every room of the 
hotel. The banks, theatres and public buildings are on a par with the 




CARMEL MISSION. 

Palace Hotel. Not far from the great business centers of the city are 
French, Spanish, Mexican, Italian and Chinese quarters. The latter is 
especially one of San Francisco's drawing cards. In this American city 
the Chinese theatres and the temples, with Buddhist and Taouist idols, 
are fac similes of those found in the parent country. 

Opposite to the Chinese rookeries and gambling and smoking dens 
are the palaces of the bonanza and the railroad kings, on " Nob Hill," 
California street. The cable road ascends the elevation and the sig-ht 
is well worth the ride — this sight of the palaces of the West, some of 



1030 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

them among the most costly, without, and the most luxuriously fur- 
nished in the country. 

The suburbs of San Francisco recompense one for its unattractive 
site, the drives along the bay and ocean affording marine views of sur- 
passing magnificence, in which hundreds of seals snorting and gliding in 
the sparkling waters or basking on the rocks form a unique feature. In 
an outer district of the city is the adobe church of the old Catholic Mis- 
sion, built in 1778. Adjoining it are other buildings nearly as old. 

OLD CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 

From the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to those of the Pacific, 
through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, are strewed 
remains of Spanish civilization, in which Catholicism held a leading 
part. Some of the ancient cathedrals, with their heavy walls, square 
towers, arched bodies and mosque-like domes, present striking character^ 
istics of Spanish-Moorish architecture. One of the grandest ruins of the 
Mission buildings are those of San Jose, near San Antonio, Texas, and 
one of the most picturesque those at Monterey, eighty-five miles south 
of San Francisco, on the coast. The town, which is decrepit and sta- 
tionary, was the capital of California previous to the rise of San Francisco, 
and Carmel Mission was the center of great religious activity. 

NATURE'S WONDERS. 

From the petrified forest north of San Francisco — about seventy 
miles — to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, causes for wonder and admiration 
spring up at every step ; but as the range throws out its advance guards 
in the shape of foot-hills, the stupendous curiosities come thick and fast. 
In the very region of those mammoth oaks whose areas are those of fair- 
sized houses and whose heights are those of great cathedrals — 30 feet 
through and 350 feet high — we approach the panorama of the Yosem- 
ite Valley, which only requires Mount Shasta, standing sentinel at its 
entrance, to be to the Sierra Nevadas what the Yellowstone Park is to 
the Rocky Mountains — the essence of their character. The enchanted 
and enchanting region has been transferred to paper and canvas 
so many times that the long Bridal Veil, caught by the trees at the base 
of the cliff, its upper part swaying with every breeze ; the cathedral 
of granite which needs no bell to call to the worship of its three 
thousand feet of massive architecture; the granite Spires and Senti- 
nels ; the Virgin's Tears opposite the Bridal Veil, which fall a thousand 
feet to the base of an adamant wall ; and beyond them all the Yosem- 



THROUGH TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 



IO3I 



ite Fall which, with two brief rests, makes a plunge of 2,600 feet — all 
these, and the tints of the sky lying like a shell behind the grayish- 
white rocks, have made Yosemite Valley not the property of California 

but of a universe of enthusiasts. It 
is not only the Valley of the Gods 
but the Valley of the Angels of 
Light. 

Throughout nearly the entire 
length of the Yosemite one walks as 
if on a Brussels carpet, but the figures 
are real flowers and shrubs. They 
creep to the very feet of the stately 
pines which fringe the valley ; then 
come the cliffs towerino- into the fra- 
grant air and the bright sky, throw- 
ing and scattering the light from their 
veined sides, which are often colored 
and mapped into stupendous geogra- 
phies by the waters coursing from 
their summits to their foundations. 

THROUGH TO THE MIS- 
SISSIPPI. 

A straiofht line drawn from Sac- 

ramento to the Mississippi River 

would fall about ten miles south of St. 

Louis, and if the State of California 

were placed on its banks it would lay 

from near Vicksburo^ to the northern 

boundary of Illinois. 

Commencing the journey eastward from Southern 

California the most interesting route is through Northern 

Arizona and New Mexico, traversing the great canon 

country of the Colorado River and passing through the 

old Spanish settlements of Albuquerque, San Marcial, 

Santa Fe, etc., etc. Santa Fe, is, in many respects, the 

most interesting town in America; it is the oldest, and 

CATHEDRAL ROCK, docs uot desirc to take on any new ways. Its streets, 

its houses entered by ladders at the top, its brick and mud churches, 

its Spanish and Mexican costumes, its plaza shaded with cotton- 




1032 PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 

wood trees and surrounded by mercantile houses and the Gov- 
ernor's palace mark it as belonging to the middle ages, as irreclaim- 
ably as any town in old Brittany^ France. The Governor's palace, one 
story in height, contains the mansion of the chief executive, the legisla- 
tive hall and the court room. For 300 years it has been the meeting 
place of governing bodies, being erected in 1582. It is the oldest build- 
ing in America. In the northern portion of the town are two unfinished 
stone buildings which would have constituted the Territorial headquar- 
ters, if Congress had not for thirty years neglected to send on the nec- 
essary appropriations to complete them. Yet the streets of Santa Fe 
present signs of animation, for the town is the center of Fupplies for the 
surrounding country and the freight wagons, oxen and donkeys, or bure 
ros, generally monopolize the thoroughfares. 

If one has any desire to taste the bitter and the sweet of life on the 
plains, from the famous summer resort and springs of Las Vegas, south- 
east of Santa Fe, he may leave behind the border land of the mountain 
country and soon touch the northwestern rim of the vast Staked Plain of 
Texas. The entire western portion of the State is given up to the herd- 
ing animals — cattle, sheep, horses, buffalo and deer. Savages, also, who 
have not tasted the delights of reservation life, scour the plains. 

From Las Vegas to Atchison, the Santa Fe road skims over the 
northern plains. The journey from Kansas City to St. Louis by way of 
the Missouri Pacific is along^ the southern bank of the Missouri River. 
The unsightly clay bluffs which stretch along the Kansas and Nebraska 
boundaries are left behind for bold, wooded elevations, cultivated and 
adorned with spacious, modern residences. 

SAINT LOUIS. 

The metropolis of the Central Mississippi Valley, and one of the 
five largest cities in the country, is old and rich, dignified and prosper- 
ing. It probably ranks third as a manufacturing city and its wholesale 
trade extends into every town of the western country. St. Louis is 
largely a German community and its growth and present financial condi- 
tion show the evidences of solid substance. The bridore which connects 
it with East St. Louis, across the Mississippi River, is not only an archi- 
tectural and engineering triumph, but has brought the railroad termini 
to the western shore. 

St. Louis' trade is national in its scope. She is a large grain market 
and first in the manufacture of flour. Not only do live stock and provis- 
ions pour into her channels of trade, but as a port of delivery in the New 




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RENEWED LIFE OF THE SOUTH. 1033 

Orleans customs district, she has, within the past fifteen years, become 
the doorway through which many foreign goods reach the people of the 
West. From the time (a century and a quarter ago) that an Indian 
trading-post was established on the present site of St. Louis by the 
Director-General of the then Territory of Louisiana, the city has had 
the most intimate connections with New Orleans and the South, and is 
one of the leading cotton markets. 

The city is built upon three terraces, the last one rising 200 feet 
above the river level. It is well and regularly built and contains many 
handsome public buildings, residences, parks and boulevards. 

NEW ORLEANS. 

Down the river by steamer to New Orleans would mean a journey 
four hundred miles more in length than the trip from Chicago to New 
York. The city lies between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchar- 
train, in the midst of a district of swamps and lagoons, being protected 
from inundation by large dikes, or, as they are called in the United 
States, levees. It ranks next to New York. in its foreign commerce, is 
the greatest cotton market in the country, and has shared in the business 
revival of the South. Along its levee are lines of cotton and sugar 
sheds, while its harbor shelters bulky steamships from Cuba, Florida, 
Philadelphia, New York, Liverpool, Havre and Bremen. The populace 
comprises specimens of many nationalities and colors, the quaintest and 
most concentrated exhibition of New Orleans' odd characters being 
found at the French market, which has a world-wide fame. 

RENEWED LIFE OF THE SOUTH. 

Within the past few years the country has commenced to realize 
that the South has been neglected for the West. Tourists haye traveled 
the country ; have gone into the mountains of North Carolina and 
Tennessee, and have rested at Asheville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Savan- 
nah and Birmingham. They have been inclined to regard the cities of 
the South as so many sad reminiscences, and return to the North and 
the West, enthusiastic over the grand scenery of the Cumberland Moun- 
tains. The cotton, sugar and tobacco plantations were changing hands 
many of the old southern mansions were falling into decay — but what 
remained were very picturesque and their decay was like that of mellow 
russet apples. The sportsman, tourist and the invalid would pass on to 
Florida and sail on the St. John's River, fishing in its waters and hunt- 
ing on its banks. They would look up at the lofty palm, cypress and 



I0^4' PANORAMA OF NATIONS. 



; " / 6 

palmetto trees, walk in the orange groves and toil, with fJleasure, through 
tangled beds of ivy and yellow jasmines. Strange birds, plants, shells, 
bulbs and parasites, fine hotels and boarding houses added to the gener- 
ally-expressed opinion that as a dead or dying land, in which to be 
refreshed and amused, the South was superb. 

But a change has come over the spirit of such dreams. Not only is 
fresh capital flowing toward the neglected plantations of the South, but 
the mountains which cut the States in two are yielding up their coal 
deposits and rich ores. Chattanooga, Birmingham, Atlanta, and so on 
to the sea, are springing into a brisk manufacturing life. Land specu- 
lators whose toes were always turned westward are scattering through the 
iron districts of the Southern States. They may not be a desirable 
addition to the population, but are like straws which show that the 
wind lies in a favorable quarter. The friendly relations between north- 
ern and southern capitalists, between northern and southern littera- 
teurs — the hearty after-dinner speeches which Georgia makes upon the 
soil of Massachusetts — the meeting of the Blue and the Gray upon the 
battle-fields of the war to consecrate monuments to the brave of either 
household — all these, and many more evidences of a returning brother- 
hood point not only to a new era for the South but for the North. 



FINIS. 




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